Hayden's Shelter

Chapter 6- Meet The Parents

Night out in Phoenix: 

"I took your dad here to tell him I was pregnant with you!" Mom laughs as she pulls off of the ten freeway. It's dark out and just after the art night with Tank and his mom. I don't know why, but Tank's mom agreed to let my mom take him into Phoenix for the night.

"It's not too far from the airport and I drove my car. I figured that if he was going to freak out on me and run home to KSA then he could hop a bus to the airport from here," she laughs.

"Mom! You thought he was going to run? You never told me that!" I look at the rearview mirror to catch her eyes as she's driving.

"What's KSA?" Tank asks. He's snuggled into my side in the back seat. I keep my arm around him and he rests his head against my neck.

"Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," mom answers. "He was a study abroad student here in Tempe. He was just finishing his business degree when little Hayden decided to start growing in me."

"And did he freak?" Tank asks. He pokes his head up and my body groans at feeling him pull away. He's interested in this story.

"He did not. He was embarrassingly happy! It was right around Halloween and he was wearing a soccer costume that made his ass look exceptionally..." mom starts getting gross.

"MOM!" I yell again and she laughs as she zips up a wide boulevard lined with neon signs.

"Anyways. He didn't believe me at first. He thought it was a prank since we were kind of using protection, but not always. There's a lesson here, kids. You have to use it every time." She pauses like she's waiting for me to yell at her again for getting gross. I don't.

"Finally I showed him the print out from the clinic. I reminded him that we were definitely not ready to be parents, or even adults! But I'll never forget the look he got. He grabbed the paper from me and shook his head and got the widest, goofiest grin. He whispered 'I'm going to be a baba.' I nodded at him and he just had this look of pure joy. He leaned down and kissed my stomach and everything changed after that. He said, 'I will be a man my baby can be proud of.' And he was." She sounds wistful.

"It was like he grew up right then and there. He started making plans. He'd never done that before. He went from a playful, careless boy to a real man. He spent the next week contacting the companies he'd targeted and by graduation day we were loading up the car and heading to California." She turns into the parking lot of Red Bird coffee bar as she finishes the story.

"Right there on the patio." She points to their side patio with a covered pergola. We see a group of 20 somethings sipping drinks under a string of lights. "That's where your dad became a man."

Red Bird is one of those indoor/outdoor places and it's still 100 degrees outside but with a nice wind that makes it feel bearable. Inside it's a nice cafe with big couches and high top tables. There's a bar with coffee accoutrement at the front and beer taps lining the wall behind it. Above them is a row of wines and I spot mom's favorite near the center.

Mom orders herself a glass of white wine and italian sodas for us. I like strawberry and Tank tries the caramel. There's music playing over the speakers. It's that happy indie stuff; an acoustic party mix. There's two flat screens over the bar. One is showing the diamondbacks game and Tank stares up at it with intensity as the lady behind the counter is making our drinks.

"You two enjoy yourselves. We have about an hour or so until Sybil starts texting me to bring him home!" she laughs. She settles into one side of a couch. She slips off her shoes and tucks her legs under her. This could be any thursday night back home. Mom on the couch with a glass of wine browsing latest celebrity gossip on her phone. Usually she did that while dad and I played video games. It was our quality time.