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

Chapter 13

Edited 02/23/2020

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After being forced into hours of shopping, we finally went home at two o' clock.

Once we put down the bag of presents in my closet, Tilisia went to her room and I laid down in my bed to try to get a quick nap.

"Carter, is that you?" I heard in the distance.

Alas, I'll never be lucky enough to just leisurely fall asleep without risk of interruption.

"Yeah ma. I'm in my room." I shouted.

There were a few moments of silence before my door was opened.

"Ichiro and I are going shopping for a bit. Is it okay if Tilisia comes with us?"

An empty house and a nap?

"That's fine. I'll be here when you guys get back."

"Don't sleep too long, honey." She chuckled as she closed the door again.

Before long, I was drifting off to sleep and everything went dark.

.

.

It was eight o clock when I re-emerged from my slumber in a state of tired confusion. After carefully surveying my surroundings, I decided to stand up. I could hear voices coming from downstairs. One of them being oddly familiar. I quickly made my way downstairs and into the living room where I saw Amy sitting across from my mother with a mug in her hands.

She was laughing at something my mother said when she noticed me. Her eyes went wide as they made their way to my torso.

"Nice shirt Carter. Was it free?" She said jokingly, causing my mother to giggle along with her.

Confused, I looked down only to remember that I took my shirt off before I fell asleep. I lightly blushed before running back to my room to grab a grey shirt.

For the life of me, I couldn't think of what she was doing in my home.

"Sorry about that." I muttered when I came back down

"Nonsense. I should be thanking you for the peepshow." Amy giggled.

"Shut up." I grumbled, still a little tired from my nap, "Anyway, why are you here?"

"That is no way to talk to your friend, young man." Mom exclaimed.

"It's okay Jenna." She said before returning her gaze to me, "I ran into your mom and dad while shopping. I didn't realize who they were until I saw they were with Tilisia. One thing led to another and then your sweet mother invited me back here for some tea!"

"If you were still out shopping, where's Ain?"

"Julia told me to take him back home so they could talk about his party with the planner."

"From what Amy has told me, this Julia is not a very nice lady." Mom said in a matter of fact tone.

"Not nice is an understatement." Amy said with a roll of her eyes, "Anyway. I do have a favor to ask of you Carter."

I made my way to the armchair next to her and sat down, "I'm listening."

"Ain isn't excited for the party that Julia is planning, and he really wants to do something normal instead."

I gasped dramatically and put my hand to my chest in shock, "You're telling me that a child doesn't want a black-tie party for his birthday? The audacity of some children."

"Thanks for the Broadway performance but save it for later. We have a party to save." She replied flatly.

"And what action do you suppose we take?"

"I'm glad you asked." She perked up in her seat and put on a smile, "I was thinking we could do a second party!"

I raised my eyebrow at her, pushing her to continue.

"The party they're throwing is from twelve to three. Since it'll be a Sunday, I'll be taking Ain back to my apartment so I can take him to school on Monday. But instead of taking him to my apartment, we take him to a second party that's full of normal birthday stuff!"

I nodded along before a new thought came up, "Does Ain have any other friends?"

She placed her finger on her chin and looked up in thought, before slumping in her chair, "None that he's ever mentioned outside of Tilisia..."

"It's fine. We'll make it work. I know Jake will come."

Amy sighed heavily. "I know. I just don't want him to go from one party full of adults to another, ya know?"

"Jake would take great offense to you calling him an adult." I joked, "Besides, three adults that know how to have fun are better than fifty stuffy old people."

She thought about it for a moment before nodding, "Yeah. You're probably right."

"I'm always right." I replied smugly.

Amy rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Ahem..." We both jumped when we realized that mom was still sitting in the living room.

"I'm sorry! I just really want this to be a good birthday for my little brother." She explained with a blush.

"It's okay, honey. I completely understand." Mom got out of her seat and headed to the kitchen, only turning around to wink at me and then nodded over to Amy who continued to discuss her ideas.

.

.

When Amy left, I went to where my mother stood in the laundry room and glared at her.

"Why did you invite her over?"

"To have tea and a lovely conversation." She answered in her sweetest voice, "Why else would I?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe to fulfill your fantasy of me dating her?!"

Mom gasped dramatically, just like I had done to Amy, "How could you ever think such a thing of me?"

I knew that was the only answer I was going to get out of her, so I decided to move on, "Aside from the dream you've built in your head, what did you think of her?"

"She seems like a really sweet girl." She said with a gentle smile, "It's clear to me that she had to grow up quickly when her mom died. She took a tragedy and made it work for herself."

I nodded along to what she way saying as I was deep in thought.

Truth be told, I had never really thought about Amy's situation. I just accepted it when she told me. I always thought that I was the one who had to grow up quickly, but that was by my own design. I made my decision and I paid for it. Amy didn't choose for her mom to die, and she definitely didn't choose who her dad remarried. She even took in her little brother like he was her own kid like it was nothing.

She may have seen her apartment as a way of getting kicked out, but I think it helped her find freedom, and it serves as an indirect safe space for Ain.

She's beyond being an accomplished woman and she's only twenty-two. If Tilisia were to have any role models, I could only hope that Amy was on the top of her list. Just listening to her talk about her future makes me excited about the plans I've made.

Unfortunately, I'm fully aware of how I sound talking about her. But I don't care because what you're probably thinking is true.

Then why'd you say you felt nothing for her?

Because I knew she didn't feel anything for me. I'd rather have a friend that I secretly like than nobody because I ran my mouth. Besides, she was right about one thing. I probably won't get married until Tilisia is old enough to take care of herself.

For now, I'll just watch from a distance and work to be more prepared as a man and a husband.

And that's okay.