I'll Be There For You.

The next day, I went to the store and bought things that I thought we would need. I had to keep myself from going overboard; reminding myself that it was Jimmy and the rest of the guy’s job and limited myself to a couple books that had lots of pictures in them.

When I went to pick her up the next morning, I started to feel nervous.
What if she doesn’t want to leave with me? I thought. What if she doesn’t like me? Stop being such a fucking pussy Matt! I told myself as I got out of the car.
When I got to the office, Meghan was already there with her little bag. Caroline smiled at me as I sat down.
“Hey Meghan.” I said, looking at her with a smile.
“H…hi.” She stammered nervously.
“Meghan,” Caroline said and Meghan looked at her. “You’re going to be staying at Matt’s house for the weekend.”
“I…I am?” She said looking uncertain. I glanced at her and smiled.
“It’ll be like a sleepover, we’ll have lots of fun.” I told her. She gave me a wobbly smile and nodded.
“She needs to be back on Monday by three.” Mrs. Winter told me and nodded.
“It won’t be a problem.” I replied.
“Well Meghan is all ready to go, so I’ll go and get you a booster seat and then you can be on your way.” I nodded and we stood up.
“Would you like me to take your bag?” I asked Meghan. She handed it to me and followed us as we left.
Caroline gave me the seat, wished me luck and we left. When we got to the car, I put her bag on the floor and set her seat in place.
“Let me help you up.” I told her and she just nodded.
I lifted her and placed her in her seat. I buckled her in and looked down at her. Meghan looked like she was about to cry.
“It’s okay.” I told her softly. “We’ll have lots of fun, I promise.”
“Okay.” She replied quietly. I shut the car door and got it the driver’s seat.
I knew that it was probably hard for her, she was barely four and heading off to some strangers house for the weekend.

I showed Meghan around the house when we got there.
“Which room would you like?” I asked while we were upstairs.
There were two bedrooms down the hall from mine; they were across from each other.
“That one please.” She replied pointing to the one on the right.
“That one it is then.” I said smiling at her.
Meghan slowly followed me into what was now hopefully going to be her permanent room and glanced around shyly. I set her bag on the bed and looked down at her.
“What would you like to do now?” I asked.
“Umm…” She hesitated looking at everything but me, nervously.
“How about we go outside?” I suggested and she nodded.
We went downstairs and left the house. I lived a couple minutes outside the city limits and owned about twenty-eight acres of land. My front and back yard were both big fields of grass and then surrounded by trees.
Meghan and I played for awhile, and then I laid back on the grass out of breath. I watched as she explored the yard and smiled.
“Stay out of the woods.” I yelled at her as she neared them. She glanced back at me and backed away from the trees, running back to my side.
“Sowwy.” Meghan said quickly, fear flashing through her eyes.
“It’s okay, I just wanted to make sure that you knew.” I told her smiling, she nodded.
“Are you hungry?” I asked standing up.
“Yes.”
“What would you like?” I questioned looking down at her.
“Grill cheese.” She stated.
Damn, I thought. I hadn’t had one of those in a long time.
“Sounds yummy.” I told her smiling as we walked into the house.

“How would you like to meet one of my friends tomorrow?” I asked Meghan as I helped her put her pajama’s on that night.
“Umm, okay…” She replied sounding unsure.
“You’ll like him,” I told her. “He’s goofy and funny and super excited to meet you.”
“What’s his name?” She asked as I pulled her shirt over her head.
“Jimmy.” I replied. I threw back the blankets and placed her in bed.
“Would you like me to read you a story?” I asked as I placed the blankets back over her.
“Yes please.”
“I’ll be right back.” I told her and left her room. I found a book and went back to her bedroom.
I sat on the edge of her bed and leaned my back against the wall.
“Green Eggs and Ham.” I read the title then opened the book and began to read.
When I was finished, I got off the bed and kissed her forehead.
“Have a good sleep.” I said quietly. I shut the light off and left her room leaving the door open so that light could shine in.
I was in my room pulling on pajama pants when I heard faint crying. Frowning, I walked down the hall and glanced in on Meghan. She had her little hands over her eyes and was crying. I entered her room, when she saw me, she jumped and looked terrified. I knelt beside her bed.
“What’s the matter honey?” I asked gently.
“I…I forget him.” She stammered.
“Forgot who?” I asked frowning.
“My…teddy.”
“It’ll be okay.” I told her soothingly.
“I…I miss him.” She sobbed, I wiped her tears away.
“We can go and get a new one tomorrow.” I told her, wanting to make her feel better.
“No, I want teddy.”
“Honey, we can get you a new one to keep you company until you can see teddy again and the he’ll have a friend.” I said gently.
“Is that okay?” I asked and she nodded, sniffing.
“Push over and I’ll lay down with you.” I told her and she moved closer to the wall.
I laid on my side facing her, almost falling off the tiny bed and rested my head on my hand. Meghan rolled on to her stomach and looked at me.
“Why did you lay down with me?” She asked.
“Because you forgot your teddy, so I’ll be your teddy.” I told her.
“You aren’t a teddy!” She replied giggling.
“Can I pretend just for tonight?” I asked smiling at her.
“Okay.”
“Good, now why don’t you close your eyes and go to sleep?” I said and she immediately shut her eyes.
I put my hand on her back and she jumped, her eyes opening wide. I frowned but began to rub up and down her back, after a couple seconds she relaxed and I started to hum Warmness on the Soul.
When she was asleep, I slipped out of her bed, kissed her forehead and went back into my room.