Come Back

Part 4.

August 26

Finally, one week of school is done with. It wasn’t all that bad, actually. I thought it would be way different, but it wasn’t a bad different. Especially after meeting Shiloh, Theo, West and Julia, school got way more fun; especially lunch. We always went out to my pick up and sat in the tailgate. Shiloh can’t hang out a lot outside of school which I understand considering Shadow and Lily need us, but I’d like to talk to him one on one again sometime soon. Or sometime period.

Lily and I fell asleep last night reading a bedtime story. Layla used to read it to her all the time when she was a baby. She brought up Layla last night while I was reading. She said, “Mommy used to make a funny face when the caterpillar turned into a butterfly.”

“What kind of funny face?” I asked her.

“Like this,” she made the face. It was a face of amazement and awe. She looked exactly like Layla and my eyes filled up with tears. I almost let them escape, but blinked to get rid of them.

“That’s not a funny face,” I smiled. “It’s a beautiful face.”

“I miss mommy,” she looked down at the hem of her purple night gown.

“Me too,” I agreed with her. She looked up at me, then. “What?”

“Daddy,” she batted her eyelashes at me. I smiled. “Will you ever find me a new mommy?”

I took a deep breath. “Lily, no one will ever replace your mom. But I hope one day I’ll find another girl I love. And I hope you’ll love her too.”

“Okay.” She seemed pleased with my answer and started to hum. I fell asleep listening to her melody.

This morning, I awoke to an empty house and a note on the counter. It read, Went to Johnston Towne for the day. Have fun with friends! Our treat. A wad of cash was next to it along with a note from my dad asking, Did you ever find a job? Get one.

I rolled my eyes at that, but decided it was a good idea for me to get a job. Just then, my phone started to ring. “Hello?” I answered.

“Calvin!” Logan chimed.

“Logan!” I mocked her.

“Not funny,” she laughed. “Do you want to go on an adventure with me today?”

“Hell yes!” I agreed.

“Be there in twenty minutes, then!” And the line went stale. Now, I run upstairs to get a pair of basketball shorts and a tank on considering it’s like ninety degrees out today. By the time she gets here, I’m all freshened up and ready to go. She comes up to the door and I open it. “Hey!”

“Hey.” I invite her in. She enters and I give her a tour of the house quickly. She stands in the living room in awe.

“It’s so beautiful!” she reaches her hand out to the window without touching it. “If I had a backyard like this I’d never have to watch tv again.”

“We only have a tv in the basement and I haven’t even watched it once yet,” I tell her. “My parents are really big into reading.”

“That’s so cool,” she still stares out at the forest. “I’d like to meet them one day.”

“No,” I tell her. “You definitely don’t.”

“Why not?” she asks.

“My dad’s an asshole and my mom is too judgemental.”

“I’d still like to witness it myself,” she smiles.

I shrug and give her a tour of the rest of the house. We reach my bedroom and I realize she’s the first girl my age in it. Hopefully she’ll always be the only girl in it for a while.