"Mommy?" Maddy entered the kitchen and hopped up on a bar stool to face Carrie who was busy cleaning up dinner.
"Yes baby?" She sat the plate she was washing down and looked up at her daughter.
"I miss daddy." She muttered, sighing as she rested her head on her elbows. "Can I see him?"
Carrie was taken aback by the question. It had been over two weeks since the court date and Maddy hadn't said anything about him.
"Of course sunshine. If that's what you want to do. I'll talk to him." Carrie faked a smile.
"Can you make sure Emily isn't around? I don't want to go if she's there." She mumbled.
"I'll talk to him tonight. Why don't you go on upstairs and put your pj's on. I'll be there in a minute." Carrie grinned. Maddy hopped down and ran up the stairs.
Carrie sighed, putting the last dish into the dishwasher. She was really hoping Maddy wouldn't want to see Matt anymore, but she knew she couldn't keep her from seeing him if she wanted too.
After putting Maddy to sleep, Carrie sat down and made the dreaded call to Matt.
"Hello?" He picked up after two rings.
"Hey uh, it's Carrie." Carrie stuttered. She was secretly hoping he wouldn't answer. "Um, Maddy decided she wants to see you."
"Really?"
Carrie sighed deeply. "Yep."
"I'm assuming you're going to let me see her then?" He asked.
"As much as I don't want too, yes. I'm not going to keep her from seeing her father if she wants too." Carrie stated. She took another sip of wine and turned the tv on. "But this is your last chance. Don't blow it."
"I won't. How about I take her to get ice cream tomorrow?"
"Yeah, that sounds good. What time?" Carrie asked. She scrolled through channels on TV and finally settled on a batchelorette rerun.
"Um like 1? I can come pick her up." Matt said.
"Let me just drop her off there, I have some errands I need to run that should take about an hour so I can drop her off and then come get her when I finish. Sound good?"
"Yeah, I'll be there at one." He replied.
"Thank you Carrie." He added.
"Mhmm. I'll see you tomorrow." Carrie hung up before he could reply. She sighed, letting her head fall back against the couch. This was all a mess.
~~
Carrie followed her daughter into the ice cream shop near their house. Matt was seated at a table near the front waiting for them to arrive.
"Daddy!" Maddy squealed, running towards him. She gave him a big hug and kept a huge smile on her face.
"Hey princess! I've missed you." Matt smiled, bending down to hug Maddy.
"I'll be back in about an hour. Have fun pumpkin." Carrie kissed her daughter's forehead and smiled at Matt. She exited the ice cream shop and headed to the grocery store, trying to ignore the pain in her heart. She was so worried that Matt was going to screw up again and cause Maddy even more pain. She just wanted to protect her little girl and keep her safe.
An hour flew by and next thing Carrie knew she was back in the parking lot of the ice cream store without getting hardly anything done. All she had done was walked through the isles of the grocery store aimlessly and thought about whether Matt and Maddy were having fun or not.
She locked the car and headed into the ice cream shop just in time to see Matt standing over her yelling.
"What the hell are you thinking?! Look what you did Maddy! Now my phone is ruined! You need to be more careful, my god!" He shouted, towering over a crying six year old.
"What the heck is going on?" Carrie ran over to them and busted in between them.
"She spilled her water and it went all over my phone and my wallet and now my phone won't work!" Matt shouted.
Maddy grabbed onto Carrie's leg and started crying.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean too." She cried, gripping Carrie's leg and shaking her head.
Carrie just looked at him, completely speechless.
"What the hell?" She mouthed, running her hair through Maddy's hair as she cried.
"She broke my phone!" He protested, trying to whisper.
"So get a new one! She's six years old! She can't help it!" Carrie was ready to smack him right across the face.
"You blew it. That was your last chance." Carrie picked Maddy up and sat her on her hip and walked out.
"I'm sorry mommy, I didn't mean too." Maddy sniffled through her tears.
"Don't cry baby, I'm not mad. You didn't do anything wrong. Daddy shouldn't have yelled at you." Carrie buckled her into the car and wiped the tears off her face.
"I don't want to see him again, he scares me mommy." She mumbled.
"I know sweet pea. You don't have too. It's okay."
She kissed her daughter's forehead, wiped the tears off her little face, and smiled. "It's just you and me against the world babe."
