Struggles of a Single Father (Book 1 of the Struggle Puff Series)

Chapter 8

Edited 02/13/2020

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

October – Three-years-old

"Can we go on the hot-ted hayride, daddy?" Tilisia was pointing at a red pickup truck that had a detachable tractor with haybales on it. Above it there was a crooked sign that said Haunted Hayride.

I thought it over before nodding, "Yeah sure. Doesn't look too scary. Why don't you and Ain run ahead and get in line? We'll be right behind you."

Tilisia was getting ready to take off, but Ain grabbed her wrist before she could.

"It's best if we walk there and not run off where they can't see us." He said.

Tilisia wordlessly nodded as she let him lead her to the spooky attraction.

It was Halloween and Jake, Amy and I decided to take the kids the harvest festival. It was an hour before sunset, and we had been walking around all day.

"I just don't get it Amy." Jake stated out of the blue.

"What are you talking about?"

"That adult-child you have!"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"He's physically a child, but mentally an adult. It concerns me."

"He's just mature for his age. Don't make such a big deal out of it."

"You know who else was mature for his age? Itachi. And you know what he did? Murder his family!"

"Who the hell are you talking about? And why would Ain murder his family?" Amy was officially confused at this point.

I rolled my eyes, "Ignore him. He's just being stupid."

"I'm just sayin'. You should really watch your back with him." Jake said pointedly.

We finally caught up to Ain and Tilisia who were already at the front of the line.

I helped Tilisia climb onto the back of the tractor where she sat next to Ain and across from Amy. As I climbed on last, I noticed that Tilisia scooted closer to Ain. Clearly, I wasn't the only one to realize this because when Ain looked down and noticed the reduced space between them, he smirked.

As I sat down, I felt a jab in my side. I looked to Jake with a raised eyebrow.

"Did he just smirk?" He whispered. I nodded slowly, but he shook his head confusedly. "It always starts with a smirk."

I decided not to further engage him and his family murdering fantasy, so I stayed silent.

Once the truck started moving, we headed down a dimly lit trail. There were minor jump scares that made Tilisia nervous, but she'd made sure to recover quickly if Ain was watching her.

While the kids were distracted, Amy took that moment to start talking.

"Would you guys be able to come to Ain's birthday party in December?"

"Birthday? Isn't it a little early to be planning that?" I asked.

"Yes, but actually no." Amy said in a frustrated tone, "Julia is anal about stuff like this. If it isn't perfect, she'll lose her mind, so I have to finalize the guest list by November fifteenth."

"When and where?" Jake asked.

"December eleventh at twelve PM and it's going to be at my dad's house. I'll send you the address later."