i had some help | book four

chapter one

"Luna," Laney scolded her as she waddled through the house with her muddy boots on, leaving a trail of footprints.

Luna whines throwing her shoes, and splattering more mud on the wooden floors before bursting into tears. For a three-year-old, she sure was a little menace, to say the least.

Laney could feel her incoming migraine and gave Luna the iPad, something she wasn't proud of doing as a parent but it would have to suffice so she could withhold another migraine.

Morgan strolled through the house, taking his boots off before looking at the floor, "Damnnit Luna," shaking his head and grabbing a rag to clean the floor.

Laney went back to the beeping oven and took out the cake she made. Placing it gently on the counter, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Ok babe, can you watch her? I need to finish painting a piece before my trip," Laney spoke as Morgan threw the rag in the trash.

"Wait which trip?" Morgan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he looked at the calendar on the fridge from afar.

Laney sighed, "My trip to New York. For my gallery auction, it's a delivery".

He nodded, "Right right... yeah. I might call the sitter again. With the remainder of the tour starting up again, we need to talk".

She dropped the knife in her hand and handed him a plate before sitting next to him and directing her attention to him. His tour was placed on pause and this was the most they both had been home in a minute. This was a long-awaited talk they had been holding off for weeks.

"So what are we going to do with Luna? Are you staying here or are we doing a split arrangement?" he asked casually making Laney nearly choke on her sweet tea.

"Babe, she wouldn't survive without me. Also, what about the paintings I have to commission? You know I want to join you," she explained calmly trying not to lose her shit.

He frowned, "Babe you can do that on the road?".

She nearly scoffed at his disregard for occupation, "With Luna? No way. We would need a sitter full-time".

Luna began to babble a little at the mention of her name while clapping along to a CocoMelon video playing on the iPad. Morgan began to think about the situation at hand. How badly did he want her to join him?

"How about you guys join for two weeks?" Morgan suggested, "Then we can decide on what we want to do. Management will find us a sitter. I just can't imagine leaving Luna for that long".

Morgan's phone began to ring disrupting the conversation but he let it ring after looking at his phone and redirected his attention back to the conversation. This was their rule when it came to having serious conversations. No phone calls. No excuses. Sitting down in one place. Come to an agreement at the end of the conversation if necessary.

The two had found that nothing ever got done due to their procrastination and prioritization of their own occupations. The serious conversations and decisions were made on a limb or forgotten about until the last minute. That was how Laney left for work and Morgan thought Laney was sleeping at home and left, leaving Luna all alone for two hours. It was quite the argument but that's when a serious conversation with bourse rules was had. The fridge calendar was implemented seriously after that incident and tears were shed by Laney at the thought of Luna being alone.

Laney glanced at Luna. She didn't want another stranger spending time with her daughter, watching those big moments that she was supposed to watch with Morgan. Trust was an issue she had especially with Luna. Their current babysitter had to go through four extreme screening processes. A call with Morgan. A call with Laney. A sit down with just Laney and references. A supervised visit with Luna. She didn't mess around, her anxiety would be through the roof otherwise.

There were even cameras that Laney periodically would check when the babysitter was over. Morgan could see the hesitation in her eyes and written all over her face, but he just wanted to be close to her. Grabbing her hand and giving it a light squeeze, he caught her attention, "It's going to be okay Lane". He rubbed light circles on the top of her hand to soothe her mind.

"Okay," she nodded caving into his antics, "Will you take care of the bus art studio then?".

He nodded as he jotted down the plan in his Notes app, checking the time on his watch he mumbled under his breath, "OK I'm going to run and talk with the team in Nashville but I'll be back tonight".

Before she could say anything, Morgan got up and gave her a slight half-ass kiss, and Luna a kiss. Laney tried to open her mouth but he was already out the door, "Ok love you too Morgan," she said to the door that slammed shut. And that's how most days were. She would work and take care of Luna, he would work and play with Luna. Two separate things. But she didn't know if he knew that. Another conversation that was too hard to have but needed to happen at some point, sooner would be better than later.

She looked at his plate which remained untouched with the cake she had made. A frown was planted on her face as she took a bite from her own plate, it was pretty good. The familiar-looking cake made her reminisce to what she was trying to recreate with the cake. Looking at the box on the side of the counter they both failed to acknowledge, she picked up Luna in her arms and sat on the couch with her, getting ready to wait for him to come back.

Happy wedding anniversary to them, right?