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

Chapter 42

Created - 04/14/2020

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"Wow. It's so empty in here." I looked around what was left in Amy's room and felt a pang of sadness.

"You're telling me." She replied with chuckle, "I didn't realize that I do everything based on muscle memory until I shipped it all to my new place. I can't tell you how many times I've tripped over nothing in the past couple of weeks."

I laughed at the thought of her confused and stumbling around.

"So is Ain going to take over this room or stay in his?"

"He's moving in here. Apparently, he needs the extra space." She rolled her eyes. "I'm actually leaving this bed here since I bought a new one in Portsmouth, so he's going to keep his room as it is and then design this one another way. That way, if dad comes over, it won't look too suspicious that there's only one room setup that's not the guest rooms."

"Makes sense." I said with a nod. "Anyway, is there a particular reason you wanted me to come over? I mean, it doesn't look like there's a whole lot to help with except maybe packing your suitcase."

"Honestly, I just wanted to talk. The last time we had a conversation with just us was... well..."

"Oh... right." I looked down awkwardly as I thought back to our last personal conversation. Her telling me that she was still in love with me. "I guess it has been sometime. Anything you want to talk about?"

"Not really. I just want to talk to my friend."

I felt relieved, "I'm so glad to hear you say that. I'm so tired of overly deep conversations, to be honest."

"Tell me about it." She replied with a small laugh, "It's like everyone has been in their feelings recently and it's been an absolute disaster."

I couldn't have possibly agreed more, and it felt nice knowing that someone else was feeling the same.

So rather than talk about a bunch of deep feelings, we instead had a leisurely conversation that carried us through the night.

I'm not sure when, but we eventually fell asleep in her bed and were woken up by her six AM alarm clock, telling us we needed to get up and go.

"Geez." I heard her mutter as she turned off the alarm, "What time did we go to bed?"

"Obviously not early enough." I stood up from the bed and stretched, "I'll get the kids up. Don't forget to check the bathroom to make sure you have everything."

I walked out of her room and down the hallway to the guest room Tilisia usually sleeps in.

I knocked on the door before pushing it open only to be greeted with an empty bed that was seemingly untouched.

Just as I was about to freak out, I realized that she was probably with Ain already, so I walked to his room and pushed the door open.

This time, I was met with a much more interesting sight than the empty room.

Ain and Tilisia were fast asleep in his bed, facing each other. One of his hands was entangled in her hair and his other was buried beneath the pillow his head rested on. Tilisia, on the other hand, had her hands pulled close to her chest. An obvious last-ditch effort to keep her walls up.

It was clear that unlike Amy and I, they were having a deep conversation last night.

I moved to wake them up, but I felt a hand grab my forearm and quickly pull me back. I looked back to find Amy smiling at the kids.