Unintentional

Imprudence

Nyree

   It felt like forever waiting for Jacey to fall asleep. I knew what he was doing; he was trying to keep me here as long as possible, hoping I would still be here in the morning when he woke, but I couldn't stay here. I needed to get Lacey and get out as quickly and quietly as possible. I slowly slipped out of bed in a frantic search for my clothes. I tiptoed down the hall and snuck in to gather Lacey so we could leave.

I didn't even bother waking her up; I simply put her shoes on her feet and headed toward the front where my shoes were sitting. So many thoughts were jumbled up in my head, leaving me so preoccupied and ready to leave that I didn't realize I had been caught. "Morning Sunshine", he smiled with a knowing look. The sound of Monty's voice startled me. I forgot that this particular nephew never really got much sleep at night due to a mild case of insomnia. He was always somewhere in the dark, lurking in the shadows like a creep.

   I got the feeling he took pleasure in seeing me like this; he was childish that way. I accidently woke Lacey when I jumped, making me shoot daggers at him. He was ruining everything just by being awake right now. "Leavin already?", he asked. I looked down at Lacey who was rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She looked around for a minute as if she forgot where we were which was natural given that this was her first time being here.

She looked up at me, and then down at Monty. "Mommy, are we leaving already?". I can't lie, it kind of hurt my feelings the way she looked at me when she asked me that question. I really didn't want to stay, and I preferred if she felt the same; I didn't want to feel like the bad guy if she really didn't want to leave. She had made a new friend, and I know she was eager to be around somebody at least close to her age.

   "Yea, leaving already?". I glared at Monty and his ignorance; sometimes he never knew when to shut the hell up. I fixed my gaze back on Lacey, replacing my frown with a smile. "Yea baby girl, we're leaving". Just as I figured, Lacey's bottom lip began to stick out in a pout. "But I wanna play with Jr today! He promised me he would show me how to do flips", she announced.

I sighed in frustration, but it was only my fault; I should've seen this coming. Of course she would be bored always in the hospital sitting still or in our hotel room, laying around with nothing to do. She was a very active 3 year old that loved to stay busy, it would be wrong for me to try to keep her from having fun. God I wished I could've given her a sibling. I would give anything for that to happen, but Jourdin doesn't want anymore kids. At least not right now is what he claims.

   Lacey herself is a handful enough, so I understand why he feels that way, but at the same time I can't. I just don't want my baby girl growing up without that kind of companionship; being an only child sucks, and that's me speaking from personal experience. I know life would've been different for me if I my parents had chosen to have more kids. Growing up I had no one to play with, no one to really talk to.

My parents and I were close before I moved away, but now we barely speak. They call every now and then to check up on us, but that's about it. My parents are weird like that. I guess you can say their the source of my own weird behavior. I stooped down to Lacey's level, trying to come up with the best solution that would still involve us leaving without her putting up a fight. My daughter wasn't one of those spoiled kids that threw temper tantrums when they didn't get their way, but when she felt passionate about something she fought diligently.

   "I tell you what. We can come back later on today so and you and Jr can play again. First we gotta go home and get clean. You don't wanna be all stinky when you come back to play, do you?" I smiled. Lacey thought about it for a second. It made me laugh how she acted like such an adult at times; she was too smart for her own good. "I guess that makes sense. Can I call daddy too? I wanna tell him about my new brother".