loml

five

I moved into Travis' spare bedroom. He was right; I couldn't spend time away from Poppy, and it was so much easier to all live together for now.

Once I'd unpacked my things into the spare room, I went to see if I could find Poppy anywhere. She wasn't in her room, but Travis' house was pretty big so she could be anywhere. Tucking my hands into the back pockets of my jeans, I walked down the big, open hallway. Just as I was about to reach the living room, I heard voices and paused.

"No, I understand." Liv was saying. "Of course you offered for them to stay here."

"I just didn't want you to feel uncomfortable." Travis said.

"I'm not uncomfortable." She said. "I trust you Travis. You're just trying to help Taylor out, and I'm not uncomfortable with that. I think it's really sweet that you offered her a place here until she can figure something out."

"So it's okay?"

"It's okay." Liv said with a laugh. "It's not like I'm your girlfriend or anything." She was hinting, even I could tell that she was, and I was only listening in. Travis was silent for a moment.

"Be my girlfriend." He said, and I leaned back against the wall, my heart throbbing. "I really like you Liv, and you've been such a good friend to me. I really want you to be my girlfriend, so will you?"

"I would love that." Liv whispered, and then I heard her laugh before being cut off, which could mean only one thing. He'd kissed her.

I had no right to be upset about it. We'd been divorced for over five years. I had no claim over Travis, but the sound of him tying himself to another woman made tears well up in my eyes. It was completely unreasonable, and I knew that. I certainly didn't want to be with him, so I shouldn't have a problem with anyone else being with him. Maybe it was just because I felt so awful about Poppy and I needed comfort, and right now the arms of the man I wanted to fall into were busy with someone else. No, I had to get over myself. It was a good thing. Healthy.

Wiping my sweaty palms on my pants, I turned and went back down the hallway the way I'd come. Going the long way to the sunroom, I cracked the door open and smiled to myself when I saw Poppy sitting in the hammock, talking quietly to herself as she played with a doll. I went inside, walking over and crouching down next to my daughter. She refused to look at me, but I knew she was listening.

"Hi Poppy munchkin." I murmured. "I'm sorry I upset you. I really am. And I promise you it will never, ever happen again okay?"

"You promise?" She mumbled, turning her head towards me as she rested her doll down on her stomach.

"I promise." I lifted a hand and stroked some blonde hair off her forehead. "I made a bad choice and I won't do it again."

"Thank you for saying that." Poppy whispered with a small smile. I smiled back.

"Can I come in?" I asked, and she nodded eagerly. Very careful, I got into the hammock with her. Poppy cuddled up mostly on top of me, turning to rest her head in the crook of my neck. Letting out a sigh, I rested my arms around my daughter and kissed her hair. "I love you munchkin." I murmured. "So much."

"I love you too Mommy. Please don't go away."

"I won't, I promise." I rubbed her back gently. "I'm going to stay here with you and Daddy until I can find us a place to live."

"Why can't we live with Daddy forever?" Poppy protested a little unhappily. "I want us all to live together so we don't have to go to two places."

"Oh I know munchkin. But we just can't." I said quietly, hating this just as much as she seemed to.