Taking Breaths to Stay

The next morning I woke up to Tyler poking my cheek. I just laughed and pulled her onto the bed with me, causing her to laugh.

“Good morning princess,” I said as I hugged her and gave her a cheek.

“Morning mommy,” she said giving me a hug, “What time do we get to go to lunch with Daddy today?”

“At 11 sweetheart,” I said smiling, “Which is in about four hours, so let’s have some breakfast, and then we can get ready.”

“Can we have French toast mommy?” Tyler asked bouncing up and down excitedly.

I gave her a nod, and she grabbed my hand and lead me to the kitchen. I turned on Spongebob for her, and started making our favorite breakfast.

Once I had finished making breakfast, we ate while watching more of her favorite cartoons. Once we were done, I went into the bathroom, and took a quick shower. When I got out, I threw on a pair of jeans and a simple black v-neck, before making my way back to the living room.

“Alright girly, time for a bath,” I said scooping Tyler up and taking her to the bathroom.

Lucky for me, Tyler loved bath time, so it was never a struggle with her. I washed her hair and body, before letting her play with her toys for a while. While she was playing, I dried my hair, and turned on the curling iron.

“Okay Mommy, I’m done,” Tyler said as I finished curling my hair.

“Alright sweetie, lets get you out of there,” I said grabbing a plush towel from under the sink.

I opened the drain in the tub, and scooped Tyler up, wrapping her small frame in the towel. I carried her to her room, so we could pick out an outfit for her to wear. I set her on bed, and started rummaging through her dresser. I finally pulled out a dark blue cotton dress with a red flower pattern on it, and grabbed a pair of underwear from her top drawer.

“Alright sweetie, let’s get you dressed,” I said as I finished drying her off with a towel.

Once she was all dressed, I took her back into the bathroom, and started brushing her hair. She told me she wanted pigtails, so I put her hair into them, and combed her bangs down.

“Alright baby girl, all done,” I said kissing the top of her head.

“Does that mean we’re going to lunch with Daddy now!?” she asked with her eyes extra wide.

“He should be here in about 20 minutes sweetie,” I said as we walked out of the bathroom.

She sat contently watching cartoons, until she heard a knock on the door. She quickly sprung up, and ran to the door, me hot on her heels.

As soon as I opened the door, Tyler was jumping into Alex’s arms. She gave him a big kiss on the cheek, and wouldn’t stop hugging him.

“Hey Alex,” I said as I let him into the apartment.

“Hey Katy,” he said shooting me a smile.

“Just let me grab her some shoes, and we can go,” I said as I went into Tyler’s room.

I grabbed a pair of dark blue cotton flats for her, and walked back into the living room. I smiled when I saw Tyler telling Alex all about her favorite stuffed Koala. I slipped her shoes on for her, and grabbed my purse, and we were on our way.

Once we were at the Diner, I let Alex get Tyler out of the car at her request. He placed her on the ground so she could walk, and she immediately grabbed both of our hands.

Alex opened the door for us, and I shot him a smile for thanks. He just returned it, and soon enough, Tyler had both of our hands again. She lead us to our normal booth, but this time, she sat next to Alex instead of me.

“Aunt Ashley!” Tyler practically screamed as Ashley walked to our table.

“Tyler Rose!” she said laughing, “And who is that next to you sweetheart?”

“This is my Daddy silly!” she said laughing.

“You’re Daddy?” Ashley asked looking at me with wide eyes.

“Uhm, Ashley this is Alex, Tyler’s father” I said gesturing between the two, “Alex this is Ashley, John’s fiancée.”

They both exchanged greetings, before Ashley took our orders. As she brought our drinks back, she asked to speak to me in private. I excused myself from the booth, and followed Ashley back to the employee break.

“Okay, spill,” she said as soon as the door was closed.

“About what?” I said eyeing her suspiciously.

“Oh come one, you now what I mean,” she said looking at me like I was dumb, “Tyler’s father is finally in the picture? And in less than 24 hours? How does that happen?”

“Trust me, I’m just as shocked as you,” I said looking at her, “I mean, it all happened last night after we left here.

“I decided to take Tyler to the park, because she had been begging me to lately. When she finally got tired, we started to leave, but she insisted on jumping in every puddle like she always does. I saw a guy walking towards us, and her aiming for a rather large puddle. I tried to stop her, but she had already jumped in the puddle, splashing water all over him. I told her to apologize, and when I looked up, I realized it was him.

“I talked to him for about 5 minutes, before telling him to just call me later, and come over to talk.”

“Wow, talk about a random chain of events,” Ashley said sighing.

“I know right?” I said trying to find humor in the situation, “But, I guess I’m glad he’s here in a sense. For her, I mean.”

“You still love him don’t you?” Ashley asked after a moment of silence.

“Wh-what?” I asked widening my eyes.

“It’s written all over your face Katy,” she said putting her hand on my shoulder.

“Is it that obvious?” I asked picking at my nails.

She just shrugged, before pulling me into a hug. I hugged her back, and told her I better be getting back to the table so she could work. We both walked out of the break room.

She made her way to the kitchen, and I rounded the corner to head back to my booth.

When the booth was finally in my sight, I felt my break catch in my throat.

Not only were Alex and Tyler at the booth, but sat directly across from them was non other than John. I took a few deep breaths before making my way over to them, and plastering on a smile.

“Hey guys, sorry about that,” I said as I got to the table, “I see you guys have met.”

“Yeah,” they both said quickly and sharply.

“So when were you going to tell me he was back?” John asked looking up at me.

“As soon as I saw you, he just got here last night,” I said fidgeting.

“Wow, that soon and he’s already back in your life like he never left?” John asked in a snooty tone.

“John, stop being such a jerk,” I said shooting him a stern look.

“I’m not being a jerk, I’m just being honest,” he said shooting me back the same look, “I just think you should be a little bit smarter.”

“Uhm, I should just go,” Alex said standing a little, “I’ll call you later or something.”

“Alex, don’t go,” I said turning to face him.

“No, he’s right,” Alex said standing up and giving Tyler a hug and kiss goodbye.

As he started to walk out the door, I shot John a deep glare, and ran after Alex.

“Alex! Wait!” I said as I saw him getting ready to turn the corner.

He stopped and turned to me, waiting for me to catch up. Once I was right in front of him, I wasn’t exactly sure what to say.

“I’m sorry,” I said finally finding the right words, “He had no right to be such a dick to you. I mean, none of the reason I was alone had to do with you at all. It was all my choice.”

“He’s probably just trying to protect you Katy,” Alex said looking straight into my eyes, “And Tyler. I mean, he’s been here her whole life, and probably doesn’t want to see her, or you for that matter, get hurt.”

“I guess you’re right,” I said quietly before picking at my nails once again.

We stood in a comfortable silence, before I couldn’t resist the urge to just give him a hug. I finally gave into my urges, and snaked my arms around his torso. I felt him stiffen a little, before his arms found their way around my shoulders.

“I really did miss you,” I said as I was still hugging him.

“I missed you too Katy,” he said releasing me and kissing me on my forehead.

“How about we finish our lunch now?” I asked as we were fully separated.

“Sounds good,” he said putting his arm around my shoulder.

I just smiled, and walked back to the Diner like that.

When we got inside, I noticed that John was still sitting with Tyler, but left as soon as we were sitting down.

The rest of lunch was filled with Tyler basically telling Alex her life story, and asking him questions about his own life.

I couldn’t help but to smile, knowing that an empty spot in Tyler’s life had been filled, as well as mine.