Escape

Chapter 20

Tuesday, January, 25, 2010, 2:54 a.m.

By this time Julia and I have watched Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and half of Toy Story 3. We've also gone through 2 bags of popcorn, three bags of skittles and four cans of CocaCola.

I hear Austin's cries through the monitor and stand up.

"Don't be long." Julia calls after me as I walk down the stairs.

I pick Austin up and his cries soften. In a matter of about two minutes he is back asleep. I go to put him back down and then he wakes up and starts to cry again. I try to put him down about three more times but give up and bring him upstairs with me.

"He wouldn't lay back down...sorry Jules." I say bounce walking towards her.

"It's alright. I was missing the little man." She says, extending her arms.

I hand Austin to her and then sit back down beside her. She sits Austin down in her lap and makes him face me. She bounces him up and down as I make faces and hold his little hand. Austin grins and giggles at me. Then he opens his mouth and with his tiny little voice he starts to babble. But then as I listen I realize what he is saying.

"Ma ma ma ma ma ma." He chants and Julia looks at me.

Julia lifts Austin up and looks at him.

"No." She says. "You're supposed to say 'Auntie' first."

I laugh and look at her.

"Well I mean c'mon Cass are you really surprised? I mean you have been the one taking care of him." She says looking back at me.

"Yea I know... I just can't believe he said it." I say looking at Austin and touching the back of his head.

"Well Mommy we should get to bed." Julia says.

"No we still have 45 minutes left of the movie. We have to finish it." I demand placing my free hand on her chest and pushing her back down beside me.

After about 34 minutes Julia passed out. I sit with Austin sleeping in my arms and watch what's remaining of the movie. After the credits start rolling I grab the remote and click off the T.V. I roll onto my right side and lay Austin down in front of me, pulling him close enough that I can feel his arm lay beside my chest. I focus on his breaths and then soon drift off to sleep.

7:31 a.m.

I wake up and realize how late Austin slept in, most likely this is because he was up for a while at about 2:00 this morning. I turn over to see that Julia is already up. She is laying with her head phones in and her phone in her hands hovering above her face. She looks over at me and smiles then returns her gaze to her phone. I stretch and then stand, leaving Austin to lay in a mound of blankets, in which he looks quite content. I walked over to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of orange juice. I take small sips as I walk back to Julia and Austin. Just as I sit back down Austin starts crying. I put down my drink and awkwardly pick him up and try to hold him in my arm that isn't broken. He calms down enough that I can pick up my iPod with my cast arm. I click on Mason's name and send him a text.

"Hey Mason:)" I say and get an immediate response.

"Hey Cassy, how's your wrist?" He asks.

"Broken, but its got a cast now." I reply.

"Is there any way I could see you today?" He asks.

"Jules?" I ask, looking over to her.

"Yeah." She says, still sounding sleepy.

"Do you think you could watch Austin so I can go out with Mason?" I ask.

"Yeah sure." She replies, rolling over to face me.

I mumble a 'thanks' and then return to texting Mason.

"Yeah Julia's going to watch Austin so that we can go out." I type and wait about five seconds for my iPod to buzz.

"Okay, movies?" He asks.

"Okay, it's a date."