The Parent Project

Friday

Lauren hit the print button on her laptop, finally finished with her whole weeks' worth of homework. She glanced at the time on the screen and stifled a yawn. It was currently the early hours of Friday morning and in just a short period of time she had to be up for yet another day of school. After her date with Joey had gone so well she wanted to do something nice for him and decided that if she completed all of her homework before school she would be able to go to his swim meet and cheer him on from the side-lines. It had been a nice thought but now she was sleep deprived and grumpy.

The printer shuddered to a stop and Lauren practically crawled under her duvet, sleep overwhelming her the second her head hit the pillow.

Less than two hours later she was on Joey's doorstep fighting a yawn.

"Morning Lo," Joey smiled as he opened his front door, Samson already in his carrier just behind him.

"Hi," she flushed slightly as she remembered their kiss goodnight yesterday. Man, that had been a good kiss. She sighed wistfully as Joey opened the door for her to step inside and she made a beeline for her son, bending down to his level. "Hi Sammy, you ready for another fun day of lying in a box?" She asked.

"He was quite good last night; I reckon Mom wore him out with all the Disney films," Joey grinned as Lauren stood up straight and smiled back at him.

"So, you slept okay?" She asked, feeling ever so slightly awkward around him.

They hadn't really discussed the new status of their relationship or whether they wanted to pursue things further between them and as such Lauren wasn't really sure where she stood with him. They had ended on a goodnight kiss but that was just standard practice these days wasn't it?

"Not bad," he shrugged dismissively, running a hand through his hair, "How about you?"

"I didn't sleep really, I wanted to get some work done but now I'm exhausted,"

Joey hummed in acknowledgment, bending down to scoop Sam up as Lauren slid the backpack over her shoulder. Together they left the house and began the walk to school in silence. Joey reached for her hand, interlinking their fingers as Lauren looked up at him and offered him a small smile.

"Are you okay? You're too quiet," He asked as they turned down an alleyway.

"Just tired," she shrugged fighting another yawn. Why did he keep asking her if she was okay? It's not like it mattered, he was clearly doing wonderfully looking after Sam in the evenings on his own if his appearance was anything to go by.

"Looking after a kid isn't easy as we've discovered," Joey chuckled and Lauren scowled. He certainly made it look easy.

"I literally am so exhausted I can't even think straight," She whimpered pathetically.

"Is that why you didn't kiss me good morning?" He asked, squeezing her hand gently to let her know he was joking.

"You could've kissed me too y'know," Lauren countered. She wasn't really in the mood to be talking, let alone flirting. She was irritable from the lack of sleep and doing anything that required brain power was seriously testing her limits today. Joey came to a stop in the middle of the alleyway, forcing Lauren to stop too. "Now what?" She groaned.

The tall brunette stepped into her space and pressed a soft, swift kiss to her lips.

"Good morning," he said quietly.

On any other morning, she'd have found that super cute and would've probably pushed him up against the alley wall and made out with him but for right now? she was annoyed. The severe lack of sleep was getting to her as was Joey's permanently happy outlook on life and she breathed out heavily trying to tell herself this was not Joey's fault and she should absolutely not take out her frustration on him. Despite her best efforts she couldn't help but be irritated. Joey took a step back and narrowed his eyes at her carefully.