You're So Pretty On the Outside

“I don’t like that babysitter of yours.”

I just sigh. “William, he’s the only person that was good with Grace and he’s a friend of John’s. He’s also nice. I’m not firing him.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “He’s always flirting with you. I bet you’re fucking around with him.”

I just shook my head and turned away. He stopped me from leaving when he grabbed my wrist.

“Go pick up the brat. We’re not finished here,” he growled.

I didn’t answer. Instead I just yanked my arm out of his grasp and left the house before he could bruise me anymore.

I checked to make sure that at least one of the strollers and the car seat were in my car before making the short trip to Sam’s house. I jogged up to his front door and rang the bell. I heard baby gurgles and Sam cooing before the door was opened.

“So,” Sam began, “when are you going to leave that guy of yours and come to me?”

I bit my lip to hide a smile.

“I don’t think that Will would like that very much, Sammy. Maybe next week,” I joked.

“I’ll hold you to that.” He led me inside. “I think Grace is almost ready to crawl.”

I glanced up at him in shock. “Seriously? She’s only 5 months old.”

“Some babies can start that early,” he said with a shrug.

I smile and pick her up from the floor.

“You’re a strong little girl, aren’t you?” I cooed. “Thanks, Sam. We’ll see you again tomorrow.”

We said our goodbyes and I went out to put Grace in her car seat. I buckled her in before driving in the direction of the park.

I knew that Will was going to be pissed, but whatever. If I want to spend some quality time with my daughter, then I should be able to do it.

I pulled into a parking space near the playground and climbed out. I spend several minutes struggling with the stroller before it was finally stable. I transferred Grace from her car seat to the stroller and pushed her to the playground.

I thought that I spotted a familiar face out of the corner of my eye, but I ignored it as I placed Grace in one of the baby swings.

She giggled uncontrollably as I pushed her, making whooshing noises every time she went up in the air. I let her play and try to crawl around for an hour. Will had tried to call me several times, but I just let it go to the voicemail each time. I knew that he was going to kill me when I got home.

“Time to go,” I said, feigning happiness for the infant.

She didn’t have to know what was going on.

I buckled her up in the stroller and began to push her back to the car. I noticed the same familiar face and this time I actually paid attention.

“Son of a bitch,” I muttered to myself.

There, sitting on one of the park benches, was Sarah and Curtis.

I ducked a bit, letting my hair cover my face. I tried to make my way to the car as quickly as I could, but someone called my name.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I whispered.

I didn’t stop at the voice. Sarah, however, decided to speed up. She grabbed my arm and I stopped in my tracks.

“Angel, is that you?” she asked breathlessly.

I bit my lip and slowly turned to face her.

“Sarah,” I said, a smile plastered on my face.” It’s been a long time.”

She didn’t return the smile. “Why didn’t you answer my fucking phone calls?”

“Because I knew that you were just going to yell at me.”

“Of course I was going to yell at you! You broke Oli’s heart!”

I glanced around nervously.

“Could you be quieter? You’re causing a scene.”

I could just imagine that Will had somebody watching me. I didn’t need word about this getting back to him.

“I don’t care if I’m causing a scene,” she hissed. “If you hadn’t gone and gotten knocked up, then this wouldn’t be happening.”

She cast a fleeting glance at my stomach before looking back up. It was a few more seconds before she scrunched up her face in confusion and looked back down.

“You’re not pregnant anymore?”

“That generally happens when you go over a year without seeing a pregnant woman,” I deadpanned.

“Can I see her?” she asked, a bit anxiously.

I hesitated before nodding. When I pulled the blanket off of the top of the stroller, I saw that she was asleep.

“She’s beautiful, but why is she so big? Isn’t she only a month old?”

I felt myself pale a bit when I remembered that I had lied to them about how far along I was.

“She’s five months. She was born a bit early.”

Sarah scoffed. “A bit early? That’s four months early. Shouldn’t she be in the NICU still? And why is she so big if she was born so early?”

“She just got healthy fast,” I snapped, sick of her trying to pry. “Look, I have to go. My boyfriend just called and said that he needs me to come home and help him with something. Don’t tell anyone that you saw me”

“Whatever,” she scoffed.

I turned and began pushing Grace’s stroller as quickly as I could to my car. I muttered profanities under my breath as I put Grace into the car, trying not to wake her. I forced the stroller into the trunk before practically jumping into the driver’s seat and speeding out of the park.

My fists clenched around the steering wheel as I made my way home. I really hoped that Sarah wouldn’t tell anybody that she ran into me. It would ruin everything. My lies weren’t exactly good. What baby born 4 months early would be as big as Grace?

“Fuck,” I murmured when I remembered that Will actually was waiting for me at home.