Returning Hearts

Chapter 17: Meeting Carter

August has applied for so many jobs throughout the day around town. She is reading the paper and drinking coffee at a small table in the coffee shop as her phone begins to ring. She sees an unknown number as she anxiously answers the call. "Hello."

"Good afternoon, is this Ms. Frame?"

"Yes. This is she." August can hardly contain her excitement realizing it is a call back.

"This is Mr. Johnson from the Johnson law firm. I was wondering if you would be available for an interview tomorrow?"

"Yes, I am available." August tries to not sound as excited as she speaks.

"Great. Let's see... how is eleven a.m.?"

"That will be perfect."

"Then we will see you at eleven. I usually do lunch interviews but you will need to come to the office building here first before we go out to eat."

"I will. See you then."

"Have a good day Ms. Frame."

"You too Mr. Johnson." August gathers her things excitedly before she leaves the coffee shop to go home and tell her mom the good news when she picks up Carter.

August is so busy trying to find something to wear for her lunch interview tomorrow that when she hears a knock on the door she just assumes it is her mom. "Come in." She yells from the bedroom as she slides a grey dress on. Moving into the living room where Carter is playing, she is surprised to see it isn't her mother. "Jackson!"

Jackson is standing at the door looking at Carter reluctant to approach him. Carter is playing with blocks as if he hasn't even noticed Jackson. August can see the nervousness on Jackson's face as he quietly watches Carter. She also feels nervous thinking about how he looked so upset this morning and wonders what is running through his head. "You can hold him, if you want."

Jackson rubs his chin as he slowly moves towards Carter catching his attention. "Hi." Jackson sits down across from Carter in the floor as he intently watches him continue to play. "You don't know me." Jackson sounds sad as he reaches over and picks up a block after Carter drops it handing it back to him. "But I hope we will be best friends soon." Carter smiles up at Jackson as his small hand takes the block and August feels her emotions begin to break as tears flood to her eyes.

The smile on Jackson's face, as he talks to Carter, takes her back to happier times before the accident when they were a family. She watches Jackson and Carter play together on the floor as she continues to cry in joy and pain. Carter seems to take up with Jackson quickly as he tries to use his knee to pull up and stand. "Can he walk?" Jackson asks never looking at August and in a cold tone, which she notices and it stabs her heart.

"Not yet. We have been working on it though." She tries to wipe her eyes as she moves over toward them. "Can you show daddy your new trick?" She holds out her hand to Carter so that he can hold her finger and stand up. After she sturdies him, she slowly pulls her finger out of his hand as Carter's eyes widen and he wobbles standing on his own for a moment. August cheers and claps. "That's my big boy." She looks over to meet eyes with Jackson and she sees the joy on his face disappear as he looks at her. Carter falls sitting back down, causing Jackson to break his eyes from hers. August knows she hurt him and can tell it is at a deeper level than she ever had before. She wonders if he will ever forgive her fully. "You want to try it again." She forces herself to focus back on Carter as she uses her finger to help him stand again. She looks over at Jackson seeing his smile come back as he watches Carter. "Mommy is going to let go, are you ready?" Carter gets excited from her words and begins to bounce. "Calm down, and I will let go." Carter stops jumping and August slowly pulls her finger from his grip.

"Yay! Good job." Jackson claps for him along with August. Their excitement excites Carter and causes him to fall before he starts crying.

"Oh no." August instinctively picks him up and begins to console him. Then she looks at Jackson and realizes she holds him all the time so she places Carter in Jackson's hands. She sees Jackson's surprise and fear as their eyes meet. "Can you hold him? I need to fix his bottle." She would usually breastfeed him but she wants Jackson to have the experience with Carter of feeding him.

Jackson tries to bounce Carter nervously but Carter starts screaming louder. Jackson stands up with him and begins to bounce gently around singing a song that Zuri always loved. Carter begins to quieten as he sings. Listening to him sing causes August to cry again as she realizes how much she too had missed out on by leaving and hiding Carter from Jackson. She had forgotten how it felt to share moments like this with him. She hands the bottle to Jackson as tears continue to roll down her cheeks.

Jackson seems surprised that she wants him to feed Carter but his expression changes as he sees her tears. He takes the bottle from her as Carter frantically reaches for it and begins to suck immediately. Jackson laughs. "He eats just like Zuri did."

"I need to change." August can't help but want to cry more as she turns and walks back into her bedroom. She closes her door crying softly trying to hide her pain.

A few minutes pass and as she hears a knock on the door she attempts to recover quickly. Jackson's voice echoes through the door, "We could really use some help here." Jackson's voice sounds slightly panicked. "I tried to change his diaper but..." She hears Jackson gag as she quickly changes out of her dress. "He peed in my mouth." August tries to cover her laughter as she goes over to open the door. Jackson is still gagging and coughing as he is holding Carter out away from him butt naked.

"Awe did you give daddy a drink?" She laughs as Carter bounces in response to her playful tone. As soon as she takes Carter, Jackson runs to the bathroom and she can hear him gargling with what she assumes is her mouth wash. "Where are your clothes?" She kisses Carter as she moves back into the living room and notices a wet line all down the hall wall and all over one of the walls of the living room where pee is dripping from. There is a pile of wipes close to his wet sleeper and four used diapers. "Woe!" She shouts back to Jackson. "I know not to leave you two party animals alone anymore." She turns surprised by the mess as she hears Jackson walking towards her down the hall.

"Does he always pee that much? It was like the never-ending fountain." Jackson wipes his mouth in disgust. "I didn't know what to do."

August laughs as she digs for Carter a new sleeper and diaper from the diaper bag. She points up to the pee all over the wall. "Grandpa is going to love his new artwork. You think we should frame it?"

"I will paint over it when I fix that wall I broke this morning in your bedroom." Jackson is flapping his shirt that appears wet from pee also causing August to laugh again. Jackson smiles at her laughing at him. "I forgot what it was like." His face turns more serious for a moment before he smiles a familiar smile towards her. "It always amazed me how you managed to never have a drop of spit up or pee on you."

"Changing three or four times a day helps." She finishes zipping up Carters sleeper. "There that is better." She puts Carter down in the floor as she gathers up the mess Jackson made.

"Sorry about the mess."

August smiles softly up at him. "It is okay."

Jackson looks over at Carter, who is playing again in the floor. "Thank you for letting me hang out with him."

"I really meant what I said in the text. You can anytime you want."

Jackson goes over to the door and looks back at Carter. He waves as he speaks, "Bye-Bye."

Jackson's face lights up as Carter waves back. "Bye-Bye." His little small voice mocks Jackson. August can see a sad look in Jackson's eyes as he stands at the door.

"I'm sorry Jax." August says in a soft tone. "I never meant for us to end up like this."

Jackson opens the door never looking back at August and disappears.