A New Chapter

Chapter 9

I wake up to a very giddy four year old jumping up and down repeatedly on my bed.

I groan and pull Amelia down beside me; tickling her mercilessly.

"M-mommy! S-Stop!" She breathes in between bursts of infections giggles.

I release her from my grasp while she breathes heavily. A huge smile on my face.

"When are we going to the park with Ethan?" She asks after her breathing comes back to normal.

I check my phone to see it's already 11:14.

"I'll have to check if I have his number monkey."

I search threw my contacts to the letter 'e' and come up with nothing.

After I huff and scroll to the top, a name at 's' catches my attention.

'Sexbomb Spencer <3'

I let out a laugh catching Amelia's attention as she looks at me curiously from behind Eli, her teddy bear.

I type a quick message asking him to come to the park and that Amelia has something for him.

He replies almost immediately, "Alright sure. Would it be cool to bring my little brother and sister? I have to mind them :)"

"Yeah of course. See you in twenty."

~~

After dressing Amelia in a pair of cute black skinny jeans and a thick grey jumper with a matching grey hat, finishing the outfit with her favourite black ankle boots.

We're sitting on a park bench waiting for the Spencer's.

Amelia enthused about her masterpiece of Ethan the whole walk here, and like the good mother I am I listened intently responding when necessary.

"There he is mommy!" Amelia suddenly squeals jumping from the bench and waddling over to a nearby Ethan.

"Hey kiddo!" I hear Ethan greet her as he crouches down to her level to give her a hug.

"I made you this!" She exclaims shoving the painting staright into Ethan's face.

"Wow! It's amazing! You're like a modern Picasso!" He tells her with an impressed tone.

"That's what Ms McCall said!" Amelia tells him with a smile.

I stand back watching the exchange with a smile of my own.

"Hey, I know you! Ashley?" A young girls voice says from behind Ethan, I didn't notice them until now; a young boy and girl.

"Elena?" I ask her, now remembering where I know her. She's the girl from the other night at the park; Evan's twin sister.

"You know my sister?" Ethan asks, confused.

"You know my brother?" Elena asks with the same questioning edge to her voice as Ethan.

"Yeah I met Elena and Evan here the other night -" I tell Ethan. "-and I go to school with Ethan." I say looking at Elena and Evan.

"Huh weird." Ethan replies after a moment, gently placing Amelia's painting into his back pack.

~~

After messing around in the park, pushing Amelia on the swings and playing a good old fashioned game of tag we all decided some pizza was in order to finish off a lovely day.

Spending time with Ethan was surprisingly fun. Plus, when a guy plays with kids that makes him ten times more attractive. I guess the mother in me is loving how he plays along with his little siblings and even Amelia.

We walk downtown to a little pizza joint that Ethan claims makes the best pizza I'll ever have.

'Slice guy's pizza' is written in a cursive font above the small pizza parlour. The smell of freshly baked pies fills my nose and I sigh in content; you can't go wrong with pizza. Except if you're putting pineapple on it, that's just plain wrong.

We order three simple pepperoni pizzas with extra cheese.

Watching Amelia eat pizza or should I say attempt to, is just about the cutest thing you'll ever see. When she takes a bite, a mile long string of melted cheese comes between her and the slice itself. Adorable.

"Do you guys have a daddy?" Amelia randomly asks as she colours in a colouring sheet provided to every child.

I choke on my bite of pizza before turning to her, "Amelia you can't just ask that sweetie, that's rude."

She mumbles a halfhearted apology before Elena speaks up, "It's fine. No we don't, he died."

"Oh. Mommy says my daddy is not nice and had to go away." Amelia mumbles still concentrating on her drawing.

I let out an awkward cough then look up to see Ethan already looking at me, as if he's trying to figure out a complicated puzzle.

"He died back in London. Car accident." Ethan adds still concentrating on me.

His gaze is strong, making me squirm. I feel like he can see right into my soul. Reading into all my secrets.

I feel exposed under his stare.

~~
We're currently walking back towards the park as I decide to grab Ethan's forearm to slow him down and let the kids walk ahead.

"Sorry about Amelia. She sees all these children in movies and real life doing things with their dads, and well I guess she doesn't understand why she doesn't have one."

Ethan nods along, his hands stuffed into his jean pockets but I know he's dying to ask the whereabouts of Amelia's father especially since I had her so young.

But I can't even bring myself to think about him. It's bad enough Amelia got his sharp green eyes, the same ones that haunted me in my nightmares.

I clear my throat after a moment before speaking; "Okay baby girl, time to go." I call out after Amelia as she rants to Elena about how cheeky her teddy bear Eli is.

"But mommy!" Amelia stops walking to stomp her foot dramatically. Here we go.

She's even pouting with her pleading eyes.

"No Amelia. Today has been fun but it's time to go home. Maybe Elena can come by sometime to see just how cheeky Eli is for herself." Her eyes light up at my suggestion as she looks at Elena expectantly.

Elena happily nods making my daughter squeal in delight and Evan look up from his iPod to see what the fuss is about.

"Well thanks for coming. See you around Ethan." I give him a warm smile as I pick up Amelia.

"Yeah. Thanks for the painting sweetheart." He give Amelia a quick kiss on the cheek making her go bright red, before turning to me; "Bye Ashley."