The Heartbreak Factor - Part Three

Chapter Seventy-Eight.

Sat on the sofa, I watched Friends as I cradled Katy in my arms, giggling at the funny faces I was pulling at her. “Aren’t you perfect?” I hushed to her, hugging her tightly. “You’ve got a perfect little face and a perfect little giggle and a perfect little smile and a perfect little button nose and two perfect little eyes and two perfect little ears. You’re just a perfect little baby, aren’t you?”

As she began to suckle on her bottle, I found myself staring at her. She was perfect. Everything about her was perfect.

“I’ll be back before her bath time,” George smiled to me as he poked his head around the door.

“Bath time?” I asked, standing up with Katy still in my arms. “What? It’s Katy’s check-up today with the midwife.”

“That’s today?” George asked.

“Yes,” I said. “I did tell you last week.”

“Alright, I’m sorry,” he huffed. “I’ll go with you to the next one.”

“Why can’t you come to this one?” I asked. “You said you’d be there for all her appointments when we first found out we were even having her.”

“I know I did,” he snapped. “But I’ve got rehearsals for the concerts.”

Placing Katy down on her play mat in the middle of the lounge floor, I smiled at her and surrounded her with all her teddies. As she laid on the play mat, being amused by her toys, I grabbed hold of George’s hand and dragged him into the hallway, shutting the lounge door behind us.

“I don’t wanna go to the appointment on my own because you promised,” I said.

“Can’t you just reschedule then?” he asked.

“What happened to her coming first?”

“Nothing happened. She still comes first but these rehearsals are really important and..”

I interrupted him. “More important than your daughter?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he snarled at me.

“But it sure as hell did come across like that,” I said.

“You always do this,” he shouted as he made his way towards the front door.

“Do what?” I asked, following him. “Put our daughter before anything else? Well, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, fuck off, Sammy,” he snapped. “You know I didn’t mean it like that and you know I wouldn’t have said yes to the rehearsals if I knew it was the appointment today.”

“Katy will be at my mum’s then because I’ve got studio after the appointment.”

“Fine. Whatever,” George said before slamming the front door after he walked out of it.

I stood for a few moments in the hallway, trying to understand what had just happened. I expected myself to burst into tears but instead, I took a deep breath and walked into the lounge to see Katy grinning away at me as she chewed the ear of her bunny rabbit teddy.

“I don’t think Mr Bunny appreciates a soggy ear, Katy,” I laughed, pulling the teddy from her mouth, leaving saliva hanging from her lip. “You’re such an attractive kid.”

 Lifting her up, I carried her into her bedroom. Placing her down on the changing mat, I smiled down at her. As I rummaged through a pile of clothes on top of the chest of drawers, I stopped and looked at her. It took all my strength to not let a tear roll down my cheek as I looked at her grinning back at me.