Ellie thought she'd never find love again, especially after having her son, Noah, and the love of her life leaving her to raise their child alone. Ellie found contentment in being a single mother until she meets Daniel on a night out.
He's charming...
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"You only need a small amount of hair wax, otherwise, your hair will be stiff and gross," Daniel comments. "Learn from my mistakes, buddy."
I lean against the bathroom doorframe and cross my arms over my chest. Noah's standing beside Daniel on a stool copying him. They run their fingers through their hair, twisting and styling it with frowns of concentration. Daniel lets Noah do it, but he helps fix his fringe so it isn't all spiked up.
Noah spots me in the mirror and his face lights up.
"Mummy look, I did my hair," Noah shouts, pointing to his hair.
"It looks good, baby."
"I'm not a baby." Noah pouts.
"Sorry, you're a big boy." I chuckle.
Noah runs and jumps into my arms, so I give him a kiss on the forehead. Wax and a faint smell of Daniel's aftershave overwhelm my senses.
"Are you two ready to go?"
"I need my shoes." Noah holds up his bare feet and chuckles.
"Can you put your shoes on? Then we'll be ready to leave."
Noah runs to his bedroom while I stand up and look at Daniel. He closes the space and I wrap my arms around his neck and peck his lips.
"You're great with Noah," I comment.
"Is that making you clucky?"
I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him.
"It's nice watching your confidence grow with him and the relationship forming."
"He's a pretty cool kid."
"That, he is," I smirk.
* * * * *
Noah has Craig and Daniel wrapped around his little fingers, quite literally, as he drags them through the aquarium. He drops their hands and runs over to a tank and peers through the glass and points to the fish.
"Look Nemo and Dory!" He shouts.
Craig and Daniel pander to him by talking about the fish and their names but to Noah, it'll always be Nemo and Dory. He takes their hand and leads them further through the aquarium with me trailing behind. It warms my heart to see them getting along and happy.
The aquarium leads us to an outdoor section with a small undercover touch pool. The sides of the touch pool are clear, so you can see all the sea animals swimming around.
Daniel lets Noah's fingers slip from his and the two walk ahead to the touch pool. I catch up to Daniel and he lightly rests his hand on my lower back. I subtly lean against his side, drawing in his warmth and comfort.
Noah presses his face against the glass which I can just imagine how crazy it would look. Craig taps on his shoulder and whispers something. Noah nods his head, and then Craig hoists Noah up and he reaches into the touch pool, and slowly wades his hands through the water.
Daniel's hand slips down my back and his fingers weave through mine. He leads me to another section of the touch pool and I lean over the side and peer at the fish swimming around. Daniel places his hand on my lower back and gently rubs it.
"You should pat the starfish," he comments.
"Mm." I frown, watching all the other sea life swimming around."
He rubs my lower back and smiles.
"There's nothing to be afraid of."
"I'm still scared."
"Don't be, I'm right here." His breath is warm and it tickles my ear.
I peer back for reassurance and he kisses my cheek.
I poke the tip of my finger into the cold water to test it. When nothing nips my finger, I float my fingers through the water before reaching down to the bottom. I gently stroke the prickly surface of the starfish and look at Daniel. He's wearing a big, proud grin. Something slimy brushes past my hand and I yelp.
Daniel pulls me flush against his body and holds me tight while my heart races. His eyes search mine and we chuckle.
"See, I'm right here."
Daniel's lips inch closer to mine, but the sound of my child yelling has me spinning around.
"Mummy, I touched a fish," he shouts, a big smile on his face.
Noah leaps into my arms and wraps his cold, wet arms around my neck. I pick him up and he hooks his legs around my hip.
"Did you touch a fish?" I gasp. "You must be so brave."
"It swam past my hand." He giggles.
"Should we go downstairs and watch the fish swimming?"
Noah nods with a big grin.
He wiggles out of my grip and runs ahead to Craig. We follow them down downstairs and into the underground area which allows you to see into the tank and watch the fish. It's dark and there's some calming ocean music which takes the edge off my mood.
Noah sits by the tank and presses his nose against the glass. Craig sits beside him and points to the different fish swimming around.
"It's the calmest I've ever seen that kid, other than when he's sick," I chuckle.
"Perhaps we need pet fish?" Daniel raises his eyebrow.
"Only if you're taking care of the fish." I shake my head.
"We could put a fish pond in the backyard with some goldfish."
"Hm."
He bumps his shoulder into mine and we smile at each other.
"Daddy, I'm hungry."
"There goes our peace and quiet," I whisper.
Craig looks at me and I nod, signaling we can get food. We wander to the food court which isn't too busy for a Saturday. I give Noah a menu and he pretends to look through it like we do.
"Hey, I think I'm going to head off, I'm not feeling great." Craig stands up and rustles his fingers through Noah's hair. "I'm sorry bud, maybe we can come back another time and get ice cream like I promised."
Noah pouts, but Craig looks at us and frowns.
"It's okay, maybe you two can do something next weekend when Dad is feeling better."
"Okay." He nods.
Craig waves goodbye and darts to the exit.
Daniel and I share a glance, then he nods his head. I chase after Craig and tug on his hand.
"Hey, are you okay? Do you need a lift home?"
"I'll be fine."
"What's wrong? You seemed fine five minutes ago."
Craig scratches the back of his head and casts his gaze to the ground.
"It was harder seeing you two together than I thought it was going to be."
"I'm sorry." I frown.
"You're allowed to be happy and move on, Ellie. I'm just not ready to admit we're really over and that's something I have to work on."
I'm left stunned by Craig's comment which he uses to escape to his car. I take a couple of calming breaths before marching back inside.
He needs his space to move on, and I respect that.
