Pride

11

A few hours after Adrian and I spoke, I started playing silly games with Charlotte. I was sitting comfortably on the couch with my knees bent so Charlotte could recline on them if she wanted to. I held a blanket between us, bringing it up and down with every round of peekaboo.

"Peekaboo," I smiled. "Peekaboo! Peekaboo!" Charlotte giggled and clapped every time I pulled the blanket down.
"You make me sick," Adrian teased.
"Why? Peekaboo!"
"You used to be cool and fun. Now you're just lame."
"I'm loving. Peekaboo!" Charlotte laughed some more—I swear, her laugh was the most intoxicating thing ever.
"Can she talk yet?"
"Yes she can," I said in a baby voice. "Charlie, who am I?"
"Dada!" she beamed.
"Good job, goose." I kissed her forehead and went back to our game.
"I don't understand! How on earth did you read our boarding time wrong?" Mum rolled her eyes.
"Mum... dad..."
"Dan," mum gasped.
"Hi..."
"Hello."
"Can I stay here for the holiday?"
"Yeah... yeah, of course."

I nodded and went back to playing. In the middle of a 'round', Charlotte started whining. I tossed the blanket to the side and picked her up.

"What's wrong?" I mumbled.

I went through her list of cries in my head before I figured out what was wrong with her. Unlike her hungry and changing cry, this one was filled with pain. I let her rest on my hip as I walked into the kitchen and snagged a half-frozen teething toy out of the freezer. I stuck it in her mouth and she suddenly stopped crying.

"How did you know what she wanted?" mum asked.
"Oh, well, she has a specific cry for when she's upset, hungry, needs to be changed, or when she's in pain. Then with pain, I have to break it down a bit more to see if it's general or related to teething."
"That's amazing..."
"You never recognized my cries?"
"I mean, I'm sure I did, but not to this extent. I'm very impressed, Dan."
"Thanks," I beamed. "Hey dad..."
"Yeah?"
"I just realized that you've never held her."
"Yeah, I guess I haven't."
"Do you want to?"
"No, Dan, I don't think–"
"Come on," I insisted, "she's a sweetheart."
"Dan–"
"Come on." I started placing her in his arms.
"Dan, Dan, D–oh my god she's so tiny..."
"Dad, she's six months; she's not that small."
"Compared to you boys she is." He gushed at the beautiful baby in his arms.
"God help her if she's the clumsy giant you are," mum teased.
"Cassidy's pretty tall too, so she's gonna be big eventually," I blushed.
"So how's school going?"
"It's alright, I guess," I shrugged.
"Find any university's nearby that you like?"
"Yeah, I actually looked at Manchester and it seems like a good fit."
"How so?" dad asked.
"Well, it's close to home, it's close to work, and they have a lot of possible majors."
"What do you plan on doing with your life? Y'know, concerning your career?" dad asked. I just shrugged. "Do you even know what you want to do?"
"I like writing... I like drawing... something can probably come out of that."
"Those are mere hobbies," mum said. "Why not study law or something along those lines?"
"Because law bores the hell out of me."
"What about medicine?"
"I barley passed biology and I stunk in anatomy. I'd probably misdiagnose and kill every patient."
"Teaching?"
"Mum," I rolled my eyes. "I'll figure it out, okay? Don't worry about me."
"I'm going to worry! You're plates already so full because of this baby. How can you properly focus on school and her?"
"That's easy... she takes priority..."
"Dan–"
"Look, I'm not in the mood to have this argument today. Can't we just enjoy the holidays?"
"Yes, I'm sorry," mum said. "Okay, so your father and I are going out for dinner, since we missed out flight." She shot dad an angry glare. "You boys are more than welcome to join us."
"We actually ordered a pizza. Should be here soon," Adrian said.
"Oh, alright."
"Here y'go, Dan." Dad handed Charlotte back to me.
"Thanks," I smiled as I bounced her on my hip.
"We'll be back. Call us if you need anything."

They waved to us as they walked out. Adrian and I went back to the lounge and relaxed until our pizza showed up. To avoid arguing, we just settled on cheese. While we ate, I set Charlotte down on the floor to play around, just so she wouldn't fall off the couch.

"Aren't you scared she's gonna go wandering?" Adrian asked.
"Nah, she's good."
"Are you sure?" Adrian chuckled as he pointed to the baby crawling towards the kitchen.
"Shit." I set down my plate and ran after her. I snatched her up and set her on my hip. "Don't do that, okay?" I warned. I set her down in her playpen and returned to the couch. "Thank you," I sighed.
"No problem," he said.
"This is what I'm like without Phil. I don't have eyes on her at all times and she goes and does stuff like that."
"You're fine, dude."
"Ade... can I be honest with you?"
"Yeah, of course. What's up?"
"If it wasn't for Phil, I think I would have given Charlie up..."
"Who?"
"Charlotte," I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, why?"
"Cause I wouldn't have know what I was doing and I probably would have ended up killing her," I pouted. "I don't even want to mention the fact that mum would have been right..."
"What do you mean?"
"She said that I was unfit to take care of a child. She said that I couldn't do it–"
"And look, you're proving her wrong. She seems like a great kid."
"Yeah, but I couldn't have done any of it without Phil, and..." I started tearing up. "He's moving out when I graduate..."
"Oh my god..."
"I don't know what I'm going to do, Ade," I cried. "There's absolutely no way I can balance uni, Charlie, and work."
"Sure there is."
"No... I literally can't."
"Why not?"
"Because schools going to be from six to noon, then I have to go work two jobs to pay the rent and daycare and I just... I don't know what I'm gonna do... A-And I can't go to mum or dad with this shit cause then I'll get the 'I told you so' speech."
"Ask Phil to stay a little longer. Y'know, until you work out the schedule and shit."
"No, I can't do that. It already took everything I had to convince him to stay 'till graduation."
"Why is he so adamant about leaving? Does he not like you or the baby?"
"No, he likes us, it's just that he's engaged and he wants to get on with his life. He doesn't want to be stuck with some teenager and his kid."
"Then he's not a good fucking friend."
"Yes he is," I mumbled. "Just drop it, okay, Ade?"
"Yeah, sure, whatever."
"Dada," Charlotte whined.
"Comin' goose."

I set my plate down, walked over to the play pen, and grabbed Charlotte. I sat her on my lap and asked Adrian to grab her treats. He handed me the bag with all her food in it and I pulled out a small tub of cereal. I picked up a paper plate and poured a few out so she could eat.

She shoved a couple pieces in her mouth at a time. I had to make sure she paced herself so she wouldn't choke on a rogue piece. After a few handfuls, she started hitting the plate and eventually pushed it off my lap.

"Christ," I sighed. "I'm sorry, Ade."
"It's okay, I'll get a broom." Charlotte started crying as she watched her food spill.
"It's okay," I hushed. I coddled her and kissed her forehead. "It's only food... it's okay..."
"You'll be fine on your own," Adrian said.
"Huh?" I hummed.
"You have plenty of love for her... didn't that John Lennon guy say love is all you need?"
"Yeah, but–"
"Shut up... you'll be fine..."