Vibrations

Chapter 8

My phone rang as I was pulling out of the parking lot at the school. Looking at the display I saw it was Casey. I turned the radio off and looked over at Roo, who was wearing my sunglasses to comedic affect...

I held my phone up, "Mommy's calling."

She reached her little hands out, "I want to talk to mommy, I need to tell her about my Olaf shirt!"

I swiped the phone to answer the call and handed the phone to Roo. "Hello mommy!" Cute little Roo answered.

I couldn't make out what Casey said to her, but Roo beamed, "No, it's Roo!"

More mumbling from the phone, "No mommy. Jakey's right here. No mommy, no, listen..."

Roo went quiet as she listened to her mom talk. "Yeah, I'm having fun mommy. Jake bought me an Olaf shirt!"

I watched her as she held the phone to her too little face, her hand barely fitting around the flat black square. "Jakey does a good job taking care of me mommy, he fed me cereal, and he bought me an Olaf shirt, and he got me a new car seat!"

Roo looked at me, "Okay, I guess you could talk to Jakey, mommy."

She handed me the phone, "Jake here."

Casey's voice was like a cool drink of water on a hot summer day, like music to my ears... "I'm so sorry Jakey. I totally forgot that it was this week Adrianna had camp. I just woke up this morning and in the rush I... I'm really sorry Jakey."

I shrugged, "Don't sweat it. We're having fun," I looked at Roo, "Aren't we pumpkin?"

She smiled and nodded her head vigorously.

I said into the phone, "She agrees."

"I'll pay you back for the car seat and the clothes..."

I shook my head, "No you won't. Don't worry about it."

The line went quiet for too long to be comfortable. Finally, she said, "I go on lunch in about an hour. I'll race home and grab her and take her to my friend Cathy's."

"Don't sweat it, we're having fun." I repeated.

Then I realized I might be stepping over the line... this was her child I was talking about. It really wasn't my place to tell her she couldn't come get her, "I mean if that's okay with you?"

"Jakey, I trust her with you, I know you'll take good care of her. I just don't want to dump her on you."

I looked at Roo and noticed her having to pull at her shirt. It was comically too big. She was actually sitting on it, and it was pulling the collar down. "You're not dumping her on me. I'm having a blast with her, she's cool."

Roo stopped fidgeting and smiled at me. She waved at me, I waved back.

"Are you sure?" Casey's voice sounded pained.

I nodded and winked at Roo. "I'm sure. We're going to go home, clean up a mess, then go see my mom. We'll have a busy day today and she'll be all tuckered out when we get home."

A part of me stopped short, "We still on for dinner?" I asked cautiously.

She was quiet again for a long time. "Yeah. Dinner. Then we can talk."

I felt a lump form in my throat... I tried to swallow it, and couldn't...

"See you then?" I asked.

"Yeah, I have to go anyway. I'll see you tonight."

I hung up, my heart dropping into my stomach. Too late I wondered if I should bring something for dinner...