Where We Belong (A Touch of Fate #1)(30)
Levi: Sorry dude. Wasn't trying to laugh at you. You need to talk to Harley about Max. I promise that when you meet him, you'll love him. Just talk to Harley.
Ha! I doubt that I'll ever love him—he has what I want. I'm not even going to respond to that.
I look up when the door opens and Avery walks in. I watch her move about the room for a few seconds, allowing myself to admire her. She's a little bit thinner than I prefer and I really don't want to be with another blonde, but she's incredibly smart and really sweet. Maybe I should give her a chance after all. And it’s a long shot, but maybe if I'm with someone else, I'll be able to forget about Harley.
"HEY, DAD!" I SAY, slightly out of breath. I hold up my finger, gesturing for Max to give me a second as I sit down in the grass. "What's up?"
"Hi, sweetheart," I hear my mom say. These two crack me up. They always get on the phone together so that they can each hear what's going on. "Your dad and I were wondering what you and Max have planned for this weekend."
I watch Max climb his rock wall, stand tall, and bring his hand above his eyes, peering out into the yard. "Ahoy, Matey!" he yells at no one in particular.
"Oh, is that Maxy?" my mom croons. "Tell him Nana says hi."
I roll my eyes. I hate when she calls him Maxy. It makes me think of maxi-pads, but I never say anything because...well, because my parents are incredible and they help me out so much. So I just keep my mouth shut.
"Max!" I yell across the yard. "Nana and Papa say hi!"
"Aye!" he growls. "I'm not Max. I'm Captain Hook and you took my treasure." He points at me accusingly and looking as if he expects me to produce the ‘stolen’ goods.
"Alright...whatever," I murmur, waving my hand dismissively at him.
"Mom, Max is playing but I'm sure he says hello." I smile as I watch him take on a bad guy in a pretend sword fight. Holy hell, I want some of that energy. "Anyway, I don't think that Max and I have any plans for this weekend. Why, what's up?" I ask, lying back to enjoy the evening breeze. The sun is setting and it's at the perfect angle to light up the clouds in deep purples and reds. This is by far the best time of the year.
"Well—"
“Well, what?” I ask.
"We—" Mom and Dad answer at the same time, causing me to chuckle.
"Okay, you tell her," my mom says.
"Honey, I got tickets to the Cards-Cubs series this weekend. There is a Saturday game at eleven in the morning and then a twelve o'clock game on Sunday."
"Oooh, that sounds like fun!" I answer excitedly. "We would love to go."
"That’s just it. We only have three tickets and I was hoping to bring Max," my Dad says hesitantly. "But I don't want to hurt your feelings. You know you'll always be my Missy Moo Cow, but Max is young and all of this is new to him and he has so much fun. He loves baseball."
Tears sting my eyes and I squeeze them shut, holding back the emotion that’s clawing its way up my throat at the mention of my childhood nickname. Apparently when I was a toddler, I thought that every animal said, ‘moo.’ I'm not sure how he got the name, but ever since then my dad has always called me Missy Moo Cow.
My dad hasn't called me Missy Moo Cow since the night of my attack.
"He loves everything, dad," I murmur, mostly to myself. "It's okay, you can take him."
"Sweetie," my mom croons. "We aren't trying to take him away from you. We know we had him last Saturday, but...well...we aren't getting any younger and Max is growing up so fast." She sniffs lightly into the phone and continues. "One of these days he won't want to do things like this with us."
"It's really okay, Mom. I understand. It's not a big deal. So what's the plan? What time do you want to pick him up on Saturday and Sunday?" I ask, sitting up so I can keep a better eye on my little pirate.
"Well...” my mom drags out. Oh Lord, this should be good. "The games aren't in St. Louis. They're in Chicago."
I jump up, brushing the grass off my butt. "What? No. Sorry, I'm not ready for that." What the hell? I've never been away from Max for longer than a night. There's no way in hell I could go a whole weekend.
"See, I told you, Marie," my dad chastises.
"Oh, sweetie. You’re making a big deal out of nothing. We aren't going to let anything happen to Max. We're going to have so much fun! We'll go to the games, and I want to take him to Navy Pier and let him ride that big Ferris wheel," Mom says hopefully.
I grip my phone tighter in my left hand and throw my right hand in the air. "It's not about that, Mom!" I snarl. "You know that I trust you guys more than anyone else. Keeping him for one night is okay when you're just down the road, but keeping him for two nights when you're five hours away doesn't sit well with me. What if something happens?" I ask in disbelief.
"Its okay, honey," Dad says, followed by whispered words that I can't quite make out. Am I being irrational? "Your mom and I will go by ourselves; it's not a big deal."
Turning toward the swing set, I watch Max play. He stands about ten feet from his swing and runs at it with full speed. His little arms are pumping furiously and his legs are moving in rapid succession. Reaching his arms out, he leaps onto the swing on his belly and pretends he is flying. I hate missing out on this stuff. I don't want to miss out on anything.