Two More Lonely People...

When there’s a knock at the door at just gone 10am the next morning, I know it has to be Joe, and from my place in the kitchen where I’m trying my best to persuade Nate to put his shoes on, I call for him to come in.

“Where are you, Niamh?”

“In the kitchen! Nate’s being a stubborn brat this morning. Apparently 9am is not a good time to get him up after the amount of excitement he got yesterday.”

“Oh, well, he can sleep in the car, right?” He looks uncertain as I throw the left shoe in his direction so I can carry on getting ready myself.

If he’s so determined to be in my and Nate’s life, he’ll have to learn to do certain things, like, for instance, struggling with a whiney toddler to get them dressed properly.

“Yeah, he can, once you get that shoe on his foot. Make sure you lace them up tightly; otherwise you’ll be finding out the joy of it being thrown at the back of your head while you’re driving. I’ll be ready in two!”

Joe’s jaw drops as I walk away laughing, trying and somewhat failing to tie my hair back without it looking too messy, especially because I am, after all, a hair stylist.
There’s a triumphant cheer and a few claps as I emerge from the bathroom, now properly dressed and made up, Nate’s bag packed, as well as my own.

“How good am I?” Joe grins, his son resting on his hip, shoes on both feet, looking just the part, “No trouble at all, are you buddy?”

Nate shakes his head with a grin, which just widens when I hand him his BJ stuffed toy, “Keep hold of him until we get in Joey’s car ok?”

He nods, cuddling the dinosaur close as Joe heads out of the apartment, grabbing Nate’s little bag with juice and snacks in before I can protest, “You OK grabbing the booster seat, Panda?”

I glare at the back of his head a little, hating that he’s slipped into the role of Father so easy, when it took me months to actually feel like I could care for Nate, “I’m perfectly capable, thank you, Joseph.”

I lock up quickly when Joe’s already half way down the stairs, chatting away with Nate, and I rush to catch up, and wait patiently as Joe struggles to balance everything while trying to reach for his car keys, which he’d stupidly placed in his jacket pocket.

“Like some help?” I poke my tongue out and take my son again, placing the booster seat on the floor instead, instructing him how to strap it in and letting him buckle in his son, so we can actually get going.

“Shall we go to the realtors on Fifth?”

I shrug, “I haven’t been in California for ages, Joe, never mind looking around for realtors. I bought the salon over the phone and internet. You tell me where you think the best place to go is, and we’ll start there.”

Almost four hours, and three realtor offices later, Joe and I have a list of about six houses for me to look through, in a suitable area so that I can make it into work without having to set off too early, and with in walking distance of a decent day-care service (even though Joe protested about that, and promised that he would look after Nate during the week).

“Some of these a real expensive, Joe.” I sigh as I flick through the pages, “Even if I got a loan, it’d take years to pay off! I don’t get that much money.”

“That’s why I offered to buy it for you.” He shakes his head with a small laugh, “Think of it as me buying it for Nate, and not you, if that helps. I want my son in a nice spacious house with a garden, rather than a cramped flat where people get stabbed on the stairwell.”

“Hey! It’s a nice enough area! I wouldn’t have moved 'Impulse' out here if it wasn’t.”

“It’s nice to know you’re successful, you know? I was worried when my Mom told me that you’d dropped out of College.”

“Yeah, well what you didn’t know was that I didn’t do it by choice.” I smile, “I was about seven months pregnant with Nate when I dropped out. There was no way I could handle College and a baby.”

“Sorry about that. I'd take it all back, if I could.”

‘It takes two to tango’ pops into my head, but I bite my tongue, “I doubt I’d be a stylist if I’d have gone to College properly anyway. I only knew how to do stuff because of touring with you guys.”

Joe grins, “See, taking months out of school was productive for your future.”

I roll my eyes, seeing as there had been massive arguments with my Mother over my wanting to go with my best friend around America for two months, even though I was going to be tutored on the road, just like Joe, Nick and Frankie.
She’d finally agreed when Mrs Jonas had promised that I wasn’t going to be able to slack, and that she would send constant updates on my progress with work.
I’d be massively happy when I graduated just in time to travel through Europe with the brothers, and there was no reason for my Mother to say, especially because I was already eighteen, and if I wanted to spend my Summer in a cramped tour bus, then she couldn’t stop me.

“Yeah, one thing I didn’t learn is that babies are hell to look after twenty-four/seven.” I look back at Nate, who is sleeping soundly arms wrapped around his teddy, head lolled forward, now normally I’d reach back to fix that, but by the sight of the landmarks we’re passing, we’re about two minutes away from the Jonas house.

“He’s a little angel, Dora, don’t try to persuade me otherwise.” He smirks, “You OK with going to see my parents, right?”

“As long as your Dad doesn’t kick off again. I won’t hesitate to leave if he raises his voice around Nate, you know.”

“I won’t let him, I promise.”

You’ve promised a lot of things in the past, Joe, and the one that sticks in my head most is your promise to never regret.