Cause No One Is Perfect

Four days. I had four days with Malik before we drove to Dallas to have a family meeting. I paid Ekaterina and his medical bill in full and we were on our way. Off in a car full of people who were mad at me. I insisted that I sit in the back seat with Malik because he was the only living thing that didn't want to strangle me in this vehicle. It was a silent ride and it took 20 hours to get there. Eva took the first shift then I volunteered to drive for a while to let them sleep. I looked into the rear view a few times just to see Eva leaning against Malik’s car seat peacefully asleep. It was easy for me to imagine that Malik was ours. Just mine and Eva’s baby boy. I wished that that was true. That I had made wiser choices that night and had went to the hotel instead of her house. But, then I wouldn't have Malik and as far as I've seen he is worth it. A magnificent mistake.
Finally when it came time for someone else to take the wheel. Abbi decided to give it a go. She hadn't driven a car in over a year so I hoped that we wouldn't die. She was still an American citizen with a valid driver’s license so I figured we weren't breaking any laws. I climbed in the back with Eva who was still sleeping. Malik woke as I got back there and looked right at me and started to act like he was about to cry. I felt like he was saying man I am hungry want to feed me. I pulled out a bottle from his bag I had bought before we left Los Angeles. I had bought him a lot of things. Tons of funny baby bodysuit things. The one he had on now says lock up your daughters on it. That made me laugh when I saw it in the store. It makes sense though. He does have some pretty good looking parents. I held up the bottle near him hoping that he actually was hungry. He took it into his mouth and started to drink. I was used to this task already. Ekaterina wasn't really into the whole mothering ordeal. I don’t think she was too happy about having a baby. She didn't seem to be too proud that it was with me.
Malik fell asleep when I was feeding him. An hour later I was pretty sure he had dropped on in his pants. Thirty seconds later the whole car was extremely sure he had something going on in his diaper and it wasn't pretty. Abbi pulled off the highway and made a stop at a gas station. We were an hour away from Dallas at this point and it was about 7 am. Everyone was grumpy and hungry. Malik’s diaper did not make them any happier. I toted him inside to find the nearest restroom in hopes that the men’s room had a changing table or something. Luckily it did. Now this task was one I don’t think I’ll ever get used to. It would be nice if I didn't feel like such a single dad right now. But since Malik’s mother wanted nothing to do with this and his “step-mother” was ignoring me at the moment. I kind of was.