ALWAYS BEEN THERE: A Lloyd Hansen Story

chapter twenty-seven*

We decided to invite Amy and Britney to come shopping with us. Joe came with too. They had gotten a nanny for their twins. They said that they hadn't been able to take brittney out so they were excited.

Max was in my arms as we walked through central park. Lloyd was talking with brittney the whole time.

Max whined as he saw Lloyd. I smiled and looked over and Lloyd. He grabbed him before continuing to walk.

"You thinking about another kid?" Amy asked. She was holding joes hand as they walked. I looked up at Lloyd who was ahead of us with max and brittney.

"No. Not yet at least."

"Well max is pretty cute. You two work well on parenting together." She said.

I smiled. "Thank you. Yeah he does really well being a father even with his busy schedule. When he found out about brittney he knew he wanted to make her feel welcomed too."

Amy smiled. "Hey and about the whole..everything. That was years ago and towards the end of lloyd and I he told me about you. He's always loved you Camille. Trust me."

I nodded and played with my hands. "I'm sorry for that whole time frame."

"Please. Even if he thought we were dating, I was using him for his money and I was fucking other guys."

Weirdly that made me feel better. I took a deep breath.

Max waved at me. I waved back. Lloyd looked over at him. Brittney laughed.

I watched as lloyd set max down to walk with him and brittney. I smiled. God having a kid made me soft.

I smiled a deep smile. Hope.

•••

Lloyd hugged brittney tight. I hugged Amy.

"So I'll see you in six months." I said.

"Of course. And hey, you know if you ever need someone to talk to...I don't know share parenting shit even..you just seem..."

I smiled. "Thank you."

Lloyd came over, rubbing my back. Brittney came over with a little glass beaded bracelet.

"Here you go Camille. Thanks for being nice to my real dad."

I smiled, kneeling down to hug her. She hugged me back.

I put the bracelet on. "Thank you." I whispered. She smiled.

I stood back up and grabbed Max. He giggled.

"Well..cab is here. Thanks again." Lloyd said as he hugged Amy. Lloyd shook joes hand.

And eventually, we were on our way to Croatia. I got into the car with Lloyd and max. I strapped him in as we went to the private airport.

Max played with his stuffy. Lloyd moved to look at me.

"How you feeling?"

I shrugged. "Kinda better."

He nodded. He grabbed my hand and rested ours on his lap. I looked out the window.

"Cammie." He said. I looked at him.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

I nodded and smiled. It kinda worried me that Amy could tell I wasn't right. I hated when people knew.

He kissed my cheek before moving to whisper. "I'm sorry. I know you aren't doing great and I'm sorry. When we get home, take a few days. I'll take max. You need to relax and just breathe for a bit."