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

Chapter 2

Edited – 1/19/2020

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

July

It had been a month since Tilisia was born and I had hardly slept since then, but I didn't mind.

All the craziness had died down, at that point. Everyone stopped asking me where Kimberly was when they realized that I was just as uninformed as they were. I didn't dare tell them about the deal we had made, or they would have assumed that I knew where she went.

Jake, my best friend, was the only one that knew of the deal I made with her.

"Carter." The gentle whisper of my mom snapped me out of my thoughts. She gestured to Tilisia who had finally fallen asleep in her arms.

It was two in the morning, and I had been unable to get Tilisia to stop crying. Mom had heard me struggling and took pity on me. She was able to get her to calm down within a few minutes and got her to sleep soon after.

It was moments like those that I sometimes felt like I wasn't enough and that I shouldn't have done any of this. But when I see her look at me with grey eyes that resemble my own, all my worries fade away. Although I couldn't see her eyes at that very moment, I was still at peace. She was sleeping peacefully, and when mom passed her to me, a faint smile appeared on her face.

In that moment, I couldn't help but smile back at her.

August

"She's peeing everywhere!"

"Calm down, Carter!"

"What do I do?!"

"Stop freaking out is the first thing you need to do!"

That, my friends, was the sound of a distressed fifteen-year-old, an annoyed mom, and a peeing baby.

Allow me to explain.

For the last two months, my dearest mother had been taking care of the diaper portion of Tilisia because she knew I was terrified to do it. In her exact words;

"Since you're weak, I'll take care of changing her for the time being."

If you're smart, you already caught the problem here. If you haven't, let me repeat it.

"Since you're weak, I'll take care of changing her for the time being."

Now look closely at the end.

"Since you're weak, I'll take care of changing her for the time being."

"FOR THE TIME BEING"

Those four words are the fine print of asking your parents for anything. The second you hear those words, run. Run as fast as you can. I promise you, it's a trap.

I wish someone had told me that, because I was completely unprepared for it to stop being the time.

Mom decided that that day was the end of the time being, and it was then that I realized I never knew how much she was doing until I had to do it myself.

I had just returned home from babysitting, and I walked into the house only to see my mom wearing a large grin.

As I walked to grab a water bottle, I kept an eye on her, "Heeey....?"

Her gaze followed my every movement, "Hello, my sweet son!"

I was officially freaked out. I knew it was a trap, I just couldn't figure out how.