Laney’s Point Of View;
“Nothing feels better than driving my own car.” Stating, Justin drummed his fingers on the steering wheel of his expensive Porsche. His mom finally gave it back to him and I was surprised when he told me that the car was fixed weeks ago but his mom was ‘grounding’ him. We were going to Mcdonald’s with Cara since Oliver went to Danny’s house and brought her back to Justin a few hours ago.
I held tightly onto the seat belt. “Oh God.” I groaned, I was scared to death. “Slow down!” I screamed when he swerved to the left lane very fast.
“I’m getting hammered tonight by the way.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me, he fifty percent of the time wasn’t looking at the road ahead of him. “You said you will stop me from drinking but as far as I know, ‘will’ means future, and future means not today.”
A sigh of frustration escaped my lips, he was sneaky. “Fine, but starting from tomorrow, no drinks.”
“Okay baby.” Justin shrugged, his head turning away from me.
“Mhm…” I stared at the dashboard in front of me. “How many beers do you drink every day?”
Justin’s eyes widened when I popped that question. “Ten to fifteen, it depends on how much I have in the house and I usually have a few glasses of wine.” He admitted, his voice barely audible. “Whatever you say though, I won’t go cold turkey on them, it will literally kill me.”
I nodded in agreement. “I think cutting down on them is the best.” I suggested. “Or maybe I should buy you crappy kinds so you would get disgusted and never drink them again.”
“Naw,” he cocked his head to the side. “I like cheap kinds too.”
“Damn.” I bit my lips, he was hopeless.
“I really love your optimistic side.” He said with sarcasm. “Let me tell you my sob story. My mom tried to do the same after my dad died. I couldn’t stop drinking and I have a bad temper like my dad, I was throwing a tantrum every five seconds until my mom hid everything from me.”
“She forced me not to drink alcohol for days and I was starting to have withdrawals which is something I can’t control. My doctor prescribed me a medication and it was the reason I was sober for years.” Justin explained, finally parking the car in mcdonalds parking lot.
After we both got out of the car, Justin lifted a sleepy Cara from her car seat and shut the door closed, locking the car after. I started to walk toward the glass door but Justin stopped me by placing his free arm on my should and pulling me closer to him. He kissed the top of my head while walking in his favorite fast food place.
“Find a seat while I order?” Justin suggested, Cara was struggling to free herself from his grip. “Wait, what are you going to take?” I stood behind him, entertained by Cara’s wiggling.
I pointed at the chicken nugget meal. “And I want coke with it.” I told Justin, I was about to hand him a 50 dollar bill but he stopped me with a grin.
“You know the rules baby.” He shook his head and turned away to order. “I think I will take the same.”
While he was ordering, I was still standing behind him watching Cara’s facial expressions. Her mouth was open and it looked like she was biting his shoulder, I wondered if he was feeling her bite him and just ignoring it or she wasn’t biting at all. Her big brown eyes were looking back at me curiously. I pressed softy on her nose with my index finger, causing her to close her eyes and reopen them, fits of laughter left her lips.
“Cara…” I cooed, taking my iPhone case off my iPhone and giving it to her. Sparks of curiosity appeared in her eyes as she eyed my colorful case. “What is that?” I spoke in a baby voice to her.
Justin turned around with a confused expression on his face. “What is what?”
I turned him around by his shoulder. “Wasn’t talking to you.” I smiled once Cara looked at me again. “Give me Cara.” I tapped Justin’s back.
After taking Cara from him, I walked over a booth and sat down on the edge to let Cara crawl. Ever since she started crawling, she hated being held, and the same thing happened with food. I noticed how annoyed she looked whenever Justin tried to spoon feed her. I saw Justin walking towards me with the tray in his hands, a waiter was walking behind him and dragging a high chair with him.
“Thanks.” Justin mumbled to the waiter once they both reached the table. He sat across from me and instantly opened his food. He took Cara from me and placed her in the high chair.
“I need to make a deal with you.” He spoke to Cara, cutting the piece of nugget that he got for himself. “No pooping okay baby girl? I don’t have the diaper bag with me so I’m begging you, no poops okay?”
I let out the giggle that I was holding back, he was actually begging her not to poop. His hands were clasped and he had a desperate look on his face, he was talking to her as if she actually understood him. When she replied to him with ‘dadadada’. He patted her head, giving her the small pieces of the nugget.
“I trust you.” He said to Cara again, giving her the rest of the nuggets. “I still can’t believe she’s eating alone.” He commented, his eyes fixed on Cara, admiring her independence. “I still can’t believe I’m her daddy.”
I mentally aw’d. “She’s such an adorable baby.” I complimented, taking a bite of my food.
“She was so tiny when she was born, I have no idea how did she get so chubby.” He stroked her chubby cheek with the back of his hand, Cara dropped the food from her hand to look at him. “No poops, remember?” He reminded her, returning back to his food.
“I want to hear the rest of your sob story.” I demanded, mimicking the way he said ‘sob story’ to me.
“Oh.” He looked surprised. “I only stopped drinking when my doctor gave me those pills. I don’t know what they were, I had no idea how would they affect me so I once found a beer and took a big gulp. I couldn’t stop vomiting for an hour, it was a nightmare. I will never, ever, take these pills again.”
“But you stopped.”
“It was either rehab or the pills, of course I stopped.” He looked at Cara. “I started drinking heavily again around the time she was born.”
I cleared my throat to speak, but was cut off by him. “Nooooooo.” He squealed, a painful expression on his face all the sudden. “She’s pooping.” My eyes narrowed to Cara, her face was flushed red and she wasn’t staring at anything in specific. “That’s a poopy face.” He pointed to her face, I broke into fits of laughter.
On cue, an old lady was passing by and stopped by us. I heard her say ‘awh’ at Cara and she lowered herself to Cara’s eye level, she was looking at her in complete adoration.
“What a beautiful girl!” She beamed, earning a weird look from Justin. “Aren’t you just a bundle of joy?”
“Yep.” Justin agreed, sarcasm lacing his words.
