Pride

12

"Phil! Phil!" I called.
"What?" He rushed into the lounge with his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.
"I-I walked into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee and I come back and look!" I freaked out.
"Oh my god!" Phil mumbled.

Charlotte was standing up, keeping herself grounded by holding onto the coffee table. She was looking around the room; she seemed to be amazed by the new, slightly higher view. As she tried to look being her, she stumbled and fell on her bum.

She scrunched up her face and started to cry. I rushed over and picked her up; Phil headed for the kitchen so he could spit his toothpaste out. I gave the crying baby a light hug and started bouncing her up and down.

"It's okay, pretty girl. You did such a good job standing," I said.
"Yeah, you did," Phil added.
"We are oh-so proud of you." I kissed her cheek. "Guess what I can finally start doing," I gasped.
"No," Phil said. "No, no, no! Don't teach her how to walk so soon! Please!" he begged.
"What not?"
"Because she's so freakin' fast, and she's only crawling!"
"Yes, but she needs to know how to walk," I chuckled.
"Can't you hold it off," he pouted.
"Why are you so adamant about her not walking?"
"I just don't want her getting hurt... that's all..."
"All kids get hurt," I shrugged. "It's how they learn. If a kid never touches a candle flame, they'll never learn the fire is bad. I can't be a helicopter dad... I can't put her in a bubble."
"I guess you're right..."
"Can you watch her for literally five minutes? I need to get ready for school."
"Yeah, no problem."

***

"Just hold my– no, goose, don't be scared, I got you."

Later that evening, I held onto Charlotte's hands as she stood on my feet. I took baby steps as she tried balancing on me, but she kept falling backwards. Every time she fell, she pouted and rolled onto her back.

"Sometimes, I swear to god, you're just like a dog," I teased.
"Dan, you have to get her one of those cruising toys," Phil said.
"What do you mean?" I asked, resetting her back on my feet.
"I don't know, they're all over the toddler room at daycare. They're just these little toys that they hold on to and push around. It gets them used to the feeling of walking, I guess."
"Can you try and snag one from work?"
"Um, no, I kind of like my job, so I'd rather not get fired for stealing."
"Fine," I rolled my eyes, "I'll go to Tesco after work tomorrow and pick one up."
"Wait, do you steal from work?"
"How do you think I only paid £20 for all the baby-proofing crap?"
"How on earth do you do that?"
"Well, when there's only one working camera, staff that doesn't give a shit, and you're good with the boss, you can practically do anything."
"Jesus Christ," Phil sighed. "Hey, did you do all your homework?"
"No, but I'll get to it."
"Dan!"
"What?"
"Your teacher emailed me and said that you haven't done homework in nearly a week. What's going on?"
"Nothin'," I shrugged. "And why are my teachers emailing you? How do they even know that I live with you and shit?"
"Some forms had to be filled out when you transferred. I guess the school thinks I'm your guardian or whatever. Anyway, it doesn't matter how they contacted me or why—what matters is the fact that you're not doing your work."
"Why do you care all of a sudden?"
"Because I want to see you get into uni and be successful so you can give Charlie a good future."

My face fell a bit as I stared at the confused girl looking up at me. I let go of her arms and picked her up. I let her rest on my hip and pressed a kiss into her cheek.

"You're right," I mumbled.
"Do you wanna talk? Tell me what been going on?"
"I've just been focused on Charlie rather than school."
"Yeah, but you've been doing that all year. What's been going on with the last week?"
"I've been stressed a bit more..."
"What's up?"
"I'm supposed to hear back from the schools I applied to, but I haven't heard anything. I've been in my head and I've just been trying to distract myself."
"Has anyone else heard back yet?"
"Yeah, everyone I've talked to..."
"Do any of them have the same schools as you?" I nodded. "I'm sorry, Dan. I'm sure our mailman is just a bit behind. You'll get your acceptance letters eventually."
"I dunno," I shrugged.
"Don't think like that," Phil said. "You're gonna get accepted to Manchester and–"
"And if I don't?" I whispered. "That's been another concern of mine... what if I don't get accepted to Manchester and I have to move? I barely have enough money to pay for my share of the rent!"
"It's okay, calm down," Phil insisted. "I know you'll get accepted."
"You don't know that," I spat.
"Yes, I do."
"How?"
"Because you're a smart kid. Now give me the baby and do your homework."
"Yes, dad," I teased. I handed Charlotte to him.
"Shut up." He let out a laugh as he nudged me. "Do your work."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm going."
"Oh, your maths teacher also told me you have a test on Monday. Promise me you'll study."
"Jesus Christ, yeah, whatever I'll study."
"Thank you," he beamed.

I walked into my room to do my work. Phil looked to Charlotte and smiled.

"See? A little assertiveness can get you far in life."

He kissed her head and sat her down on a play mat. Phil kicked up his legs and relaxed on the couch. He turned the tv to a random channel and started watching Friends reruns. As he tuned in and out of the show, he started getting messages from PJ.

PJ: hey man, guess what!
Phil: ???
PJ: I got accepted to Manchester !!!
Phil: how exciting! are you gonna go?
PJ: hell yeah! they're giving me the most money why the hell wouldn't I go ?
PJ: did dan get his letter yet?
Phil: no, we're still waiting
PJ: shit
Phil: what?
PJ: all Manchester acceptance letters were sent out like a week ago. if you didn't get it by now then you didn't get in
Phil: and how do you know this?
PJ: because they sent me an email apologizing for the delay and they explained everything
PJ: y'know when the letters were sent out and stuff
PJ: that's what I mean by 'everything'

Phil threw down his phone and cupped his mouth. He shook his head in disbelief as he read the messages over and over again.

"Shit..."