Neighbors

34

April 2016

Lin's POV

I sat in the living room watching Max while Pippa folded the laundry on the floor. I don't know why we had to watch him all the time. He wasn't mobile yet. It's not like he could just get up and walk over to her and make a mess. 

"Peekaboo!" I smiled at Max. He was sitting up and giggling at me. "Where's daddy?" I asked while covering my face. "Peeka--Max?" I looked and saw him scooting his way over to Pippa. "Pips! Look!" I pointed. She looked up at me for a second then back down. Of course she did a double take at Max scooting towards her. 

"Oh my goodness!" She smiled while putting the shirt down. "Look at you go!" She laughed. Max squealed and reached out to grab the clothes. "Oh, no, no. That's daddy's shirt." She said while picking him up. "Daddy doesn't like it when you chew on his shirts." I laughed at her remark and watched them... Pippa was doing better with her PTSD and didn't really jump when people dropped things... We just couldn't watch a lot of movies where things like that happened. Maybe one day we could. I still remember the big fight we had... 

"What are you talking about?" I yelled. She was sitting on the bed crying and hugging her legs. She just shook her head at everything I was saying. I didn't understand her. All of a sudden she just lashed out at me for not caring and never there anymore. "Phillipa." I grabbed her hands and forced her to look at me. 

"You don't have to pity me.." She whispered. "I'm not worth your time... I'm not worth anyone's time." She cried. I pulled her onto my lap and held her tightly. She continued to cry, but at least she was in my arms. 

"I love you Phillipa... I'm never going to abandon you or leave you for some girl. I'm in love with you. No one else. Well, maybe Max too but that's a different love." I kissed her head and rubbed her arm. 

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm so sorry." She kept repeating her apologies. I hushed her by kissing her and rested my forehead on hers. 

"You don't have to be sorry." I whispered. "Just please don't ever think I'm going to leave you. I put that ring on you for a reason. And it wasn't just because it looked pretty on you." I kissed her again and smiled. "Okay?" 

"Yes..." She let out a little smile and I wiped her tears away. 

That fight had lasted a few hours... But all because she thought I didn't love her. I did love her. So much. I wasn't going to give that up just because she didn't look the same as she did when we first started dating. To me she looked even more beautiful because she had my kid with her. 

"Go get daddy." She said while putting him back on the floor. I held out my hands and smiled at Max. He giggled and scooted his way over to me. I couldn't wait to teach him how to walk one day... He was going to be great.

"Come to daddy!" I laughed. He started squealing and blowing bubbles with his spit... Yup. That's my boy. 

~~~~

"I promise I won't mess anything up." Javi smiled while holding Max. My parents had something to do so they couldn't watch Max while we performed. Pippa came around the corner in her beige dress and smiled at Max. 

"Oh, I just wish we could use him on stage... That way I wouldn't have to put him down ever!" She said while taking Max from Javi. Jasmine laughed at the sight and walked over to us. 

"I'm surprised that you guys brought him here. Why did you actually?" She asked while playing with Max's hands. 

"My parents fell through on babysitting. So Javi is going to watch him down here while we perform." I shrugged. Pippa nodded and walked around getting the things she needed ready while holding Max. 

"Dude, she's a good mom... Look at her." Javi pointed. I looked up and saw her doing last minute touch ups on her hair while Max played with the frills on her dress. "She's like super mom." He laughed. 

"I know. Isn't it great?" I smiled widely. She was amazing. Balancing everything in her life with a kid and me. I was surprised that she was still holding up so well after everything. Well, not really surprised. I know my Pippa. She's the strongest person ever when it comes to everything. 

Pippa's POV

After the opening number, I quickly went down to change into my Eliza dress for my next numbers. Javi was trying to calm a teary eyed Max by walking with him. I frowned and walked over to him. 

"Here." I said while taking Max from him. 

"Aren't you worried about making your cue?" He whispered. 

"I have time." I said while giving Max his pacifier. I bounced him while walking and he rested his head on my shoulder. I literally had a lot of time. Well, like eight minutes, but it was enough to get Max to fall asleep long enough for Javi to take over again. 

"What are you doing?" Renee asked. 

"Helping." I laughed. Renee walked over to me and placed her hand on Max's back. "He's been trying to get him to sleep ever since I went up to sing. I can only imagine how that has been." 

"He's probably not used to him at all. It's a natural reaction. Once he's asleep he'll be fine." Renee said while playing with his hair. He had so much hair... So much hair that I didn't know what to do with it. "Get ready, we have to be up there in five minutes." She said while walking up the stairs. I groaned and saw Max was closing his eyes already. I placed him in his car seat and covered him with a blanket. 

"He should sleep until we're done performing. If not, just give him his bottle and just push the stroller back and forth. It'll work like a charm." I said while walking passed Javi. He nodded and looked down at the sleeping Max. I hurried up the stairs by myself and found Renee and Jasmine up there watching the guys singing. 

"He down for the count?" Renee smiled. 

"Down for the count." I smiled.