In Over My Head Zack Merrick

Taylor
“Baby!” I screamed in a baby voice, hugging my son tightly. “Mommy missed you!” I kissed his forehead while he clung to me.

“Dada!” He squealed, and I let out a small laugh, passing him to Zack. Whenever Zack was home, Jason would never leave him alone, because he knew that he wouldn’t be around long.

“Hey Jason,” Zack beamed. This is what I loved most, when Zack was being the best father he could be. That’s all I wanted, for Zack to give it all, and for him to be here. Unfortunately, he couldn’t be here all the time… barely even half the time.

“I’ll go strap him up in the car seat,” Zack told me, kissing my neck before taking him away, leaving me with Kara.

“Have fun last night?” She smirked. I rolled my eyes.

“Yes, we did,” I laughed. “Anyways, thanks for watching him.” She flicked her wrist.

“No problem, anytime, he wasn’t any trouble at all,” She smiled. I gave her a hug. “I’ll call you later tonight,” I told her.

She nodded, and I walked back to my car, where my son was already strapped in his car seat, happy as can be watching Go Diego Go! On his travel TV system we had strapped to the back of the passengers seat, and Zack was sitting in the front seat, waiting patiently.

I smiled, climbing into the car and strapping on my seatbelt. “I love our family,” I said, to neither of them in particular.

“So do I,” Zack agreed, kissing my temple.

“EWWY!” Jason squealed.

We both laughed. I twisted in my seat so that I was looking back at Jason. He turned his green eyes away from the TV for a few moments t look at me. “Jay, baby, do you wanna go get something to eat?” I asked.

“Ice cream!” He yelled, clapping his hands.

“Can we get ice cream daddy?” I asked Zack, giving him puppy dog eyes.

He smiled at me. “Sure,” He said, urning around so that we could go to the nearest Dairy Queen. We parked in front of the fast food restaurant and got out, because the drive-thru line was extremely long, and we didn’t feel like waiting.

As soon as we entered the building, I could feel eyes on us. I hated this. I especially hated when people would ask about us, because then I would have to stand there and watch Zack lie about us. He would say I was his cousin, and this was my son. It made me feel like he was almost… ashamed, but I knew that wasn’t the case. But sometimes I wondered if Jason knew.

And of course, somebody came up to us.

“Hey, aren’t you Zack Merrick?” The woman asked Zack. She looked about 22. She didn’t dress out of the ordinary, just ordinary work clothes, carrying around a pad and a pen.

“Yes I am,” He nodded.

“Hi, I’m Elizabeth Millers, I write articles for the AP magazine occasionally, and I just wanted to ask about your lovely lady friend here, if you didn’t mind,” Oh God… here it comes…

“Oh, this is actually my cousin Taylor, and her son Jason. We’re just hanging out,” He told the women. I plastered on a fake smile and nodded, adjusting Jason on my hip.

“Ah, I see,” She nodded. Jason looked at me funny.

“What are you t-” Jason began to speak up.

“Come on baby I’ve got to go to the bathroom. Zack, I’ll be back in a minute.” I cut Jason off fast, taking him to the bathroom before he could say anymore, and leaving him to answer questions.

I set Jason down on the sink counter once in the bathroom, and locked the door, since this was a single stall bathroom. One tear rolled down my cheek, and that was all.

“Momma?”

“Yes baby?” I sniffled.

“Why did daddy say yous were cousins?” He asked innocently. I sniffled and held back tears. I didn’t know what to say.

“Ask daddy, okay? You can ask him when we get home.” I said. Jason nodded. I picked him back up, and he wrapped his arms around my neck tight. “Your such a good boy, Jason,” I kissed his head.

I let a few more tears stray from my eyes. I just wanted my son to have a normal life.