before he cheats | a.cole

forty seven

I'm woken up by Troy the next morning. He shakes me awake. I open my eyes and the three-year-old is sitting on his knees next to me on the bed. "Hey, buddy," I say, yawning. "What's up?"

Troy says, "Mommy and Daddy went to wrestle. Mommy told me to wake you up to make breakfast."

I yawn again and slowly sit up, looking at the time. It's eight in the morning. I look at Troy and he's not even out of his pajamas yet. I ask, "What would you like for breakfast? I can make something or we can order some breakfast from Dunkin."

Part of me hopes he says Dunkin because it's way too early for me to make something. Plus, I need coffee. Badly.

Troy thinks before he asks, "Can we get donuts from Dunkin?"

I say, "I can get you some Munchkins."

"Okay!" he says, getting excited. "Can you get me the Munchkins with the jelly in the middle? And the chocolate ones?"

I nod, reaching over and grabbing my phone off the table. I pull up the Dunkin app on my phone and say, "We're going to have to go get it so why don't you go put on an outfit for the day then we can leave."

Troy says, "Usually mommy picks an outfit out for me."

I quickly put in our order and I say, "Alright, I'll come pick an outfit for you. Wait for me in the living room. I have to get out of my pjs."

He nods and crawls off the bed. He walks out of my room, closing the door behind him. At least he understands privacy.

Quickly and carefully, I slide out of bed and walk to my closet. My brace squeaks as I limp over. I pull out a white cropped shirt that has the word "Vans" on it. I pair that shirt with a pair of light blue, high waisted jeans. I wear a pair of Vans with the outfit. I quickly brush out my hair before tying it up in a messy bun. I grab my crutches and head out into the living room.

Troy sits on the couch watching Spongebob Squarepants. He notices me and gets up. "How long do you need those for?" he asks, pointing at my crutches.

"Um," I say. "Just a few more days."

He walks upstairs. I stare at the steps before sighing. I can probably walk up the steps normally but it will be extremely painful. I don't want to be in pain this early in the morning.

I put my crutches in one hand and Troy calls, "Are you coming?"

"One second, Troy," I call back.

I use my good leg to pull myself up each stair, taking it one stair at a time. Eventually, I make it up the stairs. I find my way to Troy's room. "Okay," I say, walking to his closet. "Let's see whatcha got in here."

Troy says, "I wanna wear daddy's shirt."

I look back at him and I say, "Do you have one of daddy's shirts?" I hate that I just referred to Roderick like that.

Troy nods and gets up. He walks to his drawers and pulls out a kid-sized Undisputed Era t-shirt. I get it now. He probably doesn't know that it's called "merch".

"Ah," I say. "Put that on while I find you some pants."

I turn my back to Troy and I search through his closet, finding a pair of black shorts to go with the shirt. "Alright," I say, handing him the shorts. "Anything else I have to do?"

Troy shakes his head. "Nope," he says. "I'm a big boy so I can get changed on my own."

I smile and say, "You are a big boy. Come downstairs when you're dressed and once your teeth are brushed."