This Picturesque Life

The ride home was unbearably awkward and silent, the only sound was Ashley’s trashing around still throwing a tantrum about leaving her father. Olivia held back the tears as best as she could, but she being only human couldn’t stop them all; out of the corner of his eyes Tim saw the trails of water reflecting the sunshine and then her desperate attempt to wipe them away.

She didn’t notice when they parked in front of the entrance to her apartment building, she didn’t notice Tim grab Ashley who had fallen asleep despite herself and her bag; not until her door opened startling her. “Come on,” Tim smiled softly. He wrapped his free arm around her waist and led her into the building, into the elevator and even pressed the button for their floor.

He opened the door with the keys Eric gave him and ushered the empty shell of a girl inside, he closed the door and sat her on the couch before taking Ashley into her room and placing her in her crib. When he returned to the living room she was curled up in a ball heaving heavily as sobs wrecked through her body, he pulled her up and out of her fettle position and into his chest rubbing her back as he allowed her to cry into his shirt.

The knock on the door pulled them apart and she looked at it questioningly as he slowly made his way to it, opening it too see Tania and Allison there bouncing anxiously, and as soon as they could they ran into the apartment and tackled her into a group hug. They started cooing to her while Tania rubbed her back and Allison let the broken girl cry into her chest. Tania looked up at Tim and smiled softly “Go on back Tim, they may need you and he will need his car,” She sighed.

“Alright,” He nodded and almost left before turning around. The girls didn’t notice him walking into the master bedroom and make a duffle bag of some of Eric’s clothes, his manager traits coming out in the troublesome moment. Allison and Tania herded Olivia onto the couch where they continued to fuss over her as Tim walked out of the apartment. Tania had only seen Olivia remotely like this once, and that wasn’t a heartache, it was worry; over what her parents and Eric would say when they found out she was pregnant. It was Tania then who helped her out and she was desperate to help her friend once again, though she didn’t know if there was happiness at the end of this torture.

Allison felt slightly awkward, Olivia had been the strongest of the girls since she was welcomed into the group, and Olivia was often the one comforting them, not the other way around. She didn’t like the reverse of rolls, because it was obvious that Olivia’s problem wasn’t just going to be solved with tears and angry rants; and like Tania she wasn’t sure whether they were setting her up for false hope or not. But both girls knew that they needed to get Olivia past this stage, so that she could continue being the strong beautiful mother that they knew she was.

Finally the tears stopped and she looked up at her friends, and gave them weak smiles of thanks; as her throat hurt too much from crying to speak. “No problem babes,” Tania smiled “We’re always going to be here for you,” She said kissing Olivia’s forehead.

Allison hugged her quickly before jumping up and running to the kitchen pulling out three spoons and then the carton of ice cream she knew sat in the freezer for Ashley’s deserts. ‘We’ll buy more,’ she shrugged when she felt a bit guilty for stealing candy from a baby. Upon entering the living room she saw Tania had set up the room appropriate, Kleenex box out in the open – which Olivia was already using – and blankets strewn across the floor. The TV was on and the previews for the movie were already started. The girls took the cushions off the couch and placed them on the floor before grabbing Olivia and placing her in the middle of them the Kleenex and ice cream carton in her lap as they started watching ‘The Notebook’.

Olivia smiled appreciatively at her friends and got comfortable before opening the carton and digging in the others following her action. And they watched the movie in silence the only sound was their tears and sniffles as the movie progressed, Olivia always found it ironic how a girl grieving with heartache would watch a chick flick even though in those movies everyone always ended up living happily ever after.

Halfway through the second Bridget Jones movie the girls all started feeling their eyes grow heavy, but that didn’t stop them from continuing on in watching it. They fell asleep and the blue glow of the TV illuminated their sleeping faces once the movie was over.

John opened the door using Kevin’s keys, it was late but he hadn’t heard from Tania and decided to check up on the girls. He walked into the living room and felt a smile tug at his lips, the sight was adorable and he felt more like a big brother walking in on his sister’s sleepover.

The girls were all curled up together both Tania and Allison holding Olivia in a comforting manor, the empty ice cream carton was on its side at their feet melted ice cream pouring onto the mess of Kleenex that littered the floor. His eyes flickered to the TV screen to see the menu play for probably the hundredth time, he reached down and grabbed the remotes from beside his girlfriend and turned both the movie and TV off. He picked up the mess and threw it all away into the garbage bag in the kitchen, changing it and throwing the full one down the garbage shoot in the hallway beside the elevator.

He walked into Ashley’s room after washing his hands and saw the little girl sit up slowly, she looked at him with wide sleepy eyes before making the grabbing motion that requested to be picked up. He smiled and held the girl close kissing her forehead “Everything will be ok Ash, don’t worry I won’t let daddy mess it up,” He sighed.

She mumbled incoherently before yawning “Sleepy? Let’s get you changed into your jammies,” He smiled at her. He changed her diaper and put her into pajamas; he didn’t feel awkward changing his best friend’s daughter he knew it needed to be done and had babysat the little girl before as well. He picked her up once she was done and walked her back into the kitchen grabbing a bottle and making warm milk because he wasn’t sure if she ate before and it would help her sleep.

He tested it before handing it to her and walking back into her room laying her down in her crib and watched her drink, her eyes got heavy and finally she fell asleep. He picked up the bottle and wrapped her blanket around her kissing her forehead before leaving her room turning off the light – her night light was on due to its timer – and closed the door only a little bit. He wrote a note to the girls and left it on the kitchen table before leaving the sleeping apartment heading back to his house.