He frowns, nodding. “Of course.”
“You’ll definitely come back and take me to school?” she pushes further.
Recognition flashes across his expression, and he bends down, knocking her chin with his knuckles. “One thing you should know about me, kid; I don’t break promises. I promise I’ll be back, and I promise it will be the best school run you’ve ever been on. We can listen to really loud music.”
“Can I bring my CD?” Jasmine asks, her excitement back.
He winks. “Of course.”
She races out of the room to get ready, and I turn to Maddox. “Thank you. You keep helping at every turn.”
“I’m getting fed in return, and she’s a cool kid to hang out with, so it’s a win-win for me.” He eyes me up and down, causing my cheeks to heat and my stomach to flutter. “Her mum isn’t so bad either.”
I ignore his comment, not knowing what to make of it. “Still, thank you.”
He takes a swig of his coffee. “Hey, after I’m finished doing what I’ve got to do, do you want to help me get these forms filled in?”
I shrug. I have nothing but cleaning to do. “I don’t mind. I’ll do anything to not have to listen to that for another night.”
“The guy I spoke to after my sister mentioned the petition said it should work. It’s not like they don’t have complaints against them already. I also gave them a list of housing they could go in, where they wouldn’t have neighbours to disturb.”
“Then I’m in,” I agree, giddy at the thought of a peaceful night.
And maybe spending time with Maddox.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
MADDOX
“Strap in, kid,” I order gently, lifting her easily. She drops her bag down on the floor, jumping into her car seat.
“Be a good girl,” Amelia orders, standing close to my truck. Asher is in her arms, making gurgling noises.
I walk over to him after putting Jasmine’s seat belt on her, and let him grab my finger. I chuckle. “Be good for your mum, little man.”
“Are you sure you’re okay taking her?” Amelia asks, biting her bottom lip.
“Sure. I need to go out anyway.”
She arches her eyebrow. “So you said.”
I grin. “Scared you’ll miss me?”
“Come on, we’re going to be late,” Jasmine calls from the truck.
I wave. “We’ll get there.”
“Without speeding,” Amelia emphasizes.
“Always safe,” I tell her.
She nods once, lifting Asher higher in her arms. She’s still in her pyjamas and is waiting for us to leave before she goes to get ready. “If she, um… if she tries to talk you into dancing with her, say no if you’re driving.”
I give her a sharp nod. “No dancing and driving.” I groan once I realise what I just said. “Not words I thought would be in my vocabulary.”
She chuckles, waving me off as I jump into the truck. “Have a good day.”
“Bye,” Jasmine yells as I get into the truck, starting it. “Sheesh, talk about not letting go.”
Laughter spills out of my mouth. “She’s going to miss you.”
“Yeah, but I’m a big girl now.”
“Right, so what are we listening to?” I ask, knowing she brought her own CD. Luckily, my truck has a disc player.
She pulls it out of her bag, then pops out the disc and slides it into the player. When classical-like music begins to play, I turn to her in horror.
“You’re going to love this.”
Something tells me it needs to be a desired taste.
I pull onto the next street, wondering what I should say or do. “So, um, school. Do you like it?”
“It’s okay. I miss my old friends.”
“Old friends?”
“We had to move when me and Mummy got out of the hospital.”
“When you were born?” I ask, taking my eyes off the road briefly.
Her voice is shaky when she replies. “When Daddy hurt her,” she reveals, blowing me off guard. All of a sudden, she smiles wide. “You can learn the dance we’re doing for our school play.”
I force a grin, my mind still on her words. My assumptions were right about the dad. “Not while I’m driving.”
Her head tilts to the side, her lips in a pout. “Mummy says that all the time too. It must be an old person thing.”
She begins to wiggle in her seat while I stew over her earlier words. I grit my teeth. I don’t know why it’s affecting me so much that he hurt her. But it is. She’s a good person. And seriously fucking hot. He was a fool to treat her like shit.
Men like that baffle and sicken me.
I’m not sure how long I listen to her sing or have to stop her from nearly pushing herself out of her seat from dancing, but as the next song comes on, I swear a tear leaks from my eye. It’s more Disney. These aren’t cool songs. And I’m pretty sure this one is about letting it go, or letting one go…
“You said we could have this loud,” Jasmine mutters for the tenth time.
People are staring already as we pull into the area her school is located. “Um, what about a bit of Tupac or Eminem?”
She folds her arms over her chest. “Nope. My music first.”
I grin at her spunk. “Alright, kid, turn it up. Let’s give them nosey fuc—fudgers something to stare at.”
She claps her hands, singing so loud I’m afraid she’s pierced my ear drums. I don’t care. She’s more fun than some of my mates. “You’re going to love the next one.”
“It’s not another one about water is it?” I ask, my lips turning down.
She giggles. “No, it’s the best one, apart from this one,” she explains, giving me nothing.
When the song ends and another begins, a grin spreads across my face. “I love this song.”
“I told you!” she screeches.
Hakuna Matata starts playing through the speakers, and as soon as the words begin, I’m belting out the lyrics alongside her.
We pull up outside the school, just as the song comes to an end. Onlookers openly stare, but I don’t care. When I turn to Jasmine, she’s grinning from ear to ear, bouncing in her car seat.
I turn the music down, looking over at the school. “Do I have to do anything?”
She unclips her belt before grabbing her bag off the floor, swinging it over her shoulder. “No. I’ve got it. The teacher is right there.”
The woman she’s pointing at looks around twelve. “That’s your teacher?”
Giggling, she nods. “Yes. She works with our other teacher. She’s so cool.”
I eye the girl in question, my lips twisting. “I dunno. She doesn’t seem mature enough to look after you.”
She tries to push open the door, and I chuckle when it doesn’t budge. I shut the car off before sliding out and running around the front. When I open her door, she exhales. “Phew, that door was heavy.”
I wink. “A princess should always wait for her door to be opened.”
I help her out of the truck and place her safely on her feet. She pats my stomach. “Thanks for the lift to school,” she tells me, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “Next time, I might let you play your music.”
I ruffle her hair, chuckling. “Go have a good day, kid.”
She scrunches her eyes and nose up. “It’s Princess Jasmine to you.”
I created a monster.
“Princess Jasmine,” I repeat, bowing a little.
I watch her run through the gates and up to the incompetent teenager. I keep my gaze on them until she begins to lead a row of kids into the school. Once she’s inside, I start to relax.
When I head around to the driver’s side, a woman greets me, holding her hand out. “I’m Natasha, Lucas’ mum. He’s in Jasmine’s class. I haven’t seen Jasmine with her father before. I assumed Amelia was a single mum.”
She say’s ‘single’ like it’s a bad taste in her mouth. I don’t like her tone or the way she practically made out bein
g a single mum is a bad thing.
I snort in the woman’s face, rolling my eyes. I don’t even give her a reply as I get back into the truck. She says something as I shut the door, but I tune her out, blasting Jasmine’s Disney CD.
I have one more thing to do before I can head home to get those forms sorted. And I need my mum’s help.
*** *** ***
When Mum walks up to me with Dad at her side, I inwardly groan. “Do you not have a job?” I ask him, arching my eyebrow. He’ll tell the others. He’s worse at gossiping than the mum’s sometimes.
Dad grins. “It’s my day off, and I wanted to know what was so important that you needed your mum to take time away to come and meet you outside Mother’s World.
I glance at Mum, who has the audacity to look away. “Really?”
“He’s your dad. Whatever is so important, you can say in front of him.”
I throw my hands up. “He wants payback for the food I took a few days ago.”
She chews on her lip before glancing at Dad. “Don’t embarrass him.”
He sighs, rolling his eyes. “Why are we here?”
I give him a glance. “I didn’t invite you. I invited Mum.”
“Maddox,” Mum warns.
I exhale. “There’s something Amelia needs, and I’m not sure what to get.”
Mum’s eyebrows pull together. “What do you mean?”
“She’s mentioned it before, but I’ve got a feeling she can’t afford to splurge on one.”
“It must be tough for a single mum,” Mum agrees.
I shake my head. “It’s more than that. I don’t know how I know, but I do. Will you help me?”
Her expression softens, and she smiles. “What is it you think she needs?”
I relax, but then feel my cheeks heat. “Well, I’m not sure what it’s called, but it’s something to help others feed Asher. She, um, she breastfeeds.”
Realisation dawns on her expression. “Ah, she needs a breast pump.”
Dad groans. “I wish I stayed at home.”
“Can you come in and help me? Do they come in sizes? I mean, she’ll need bottles too, right?”
Mum chuckles, slapping Dad on his shoulder when he groans again. “Let’s go inside. I’ll show you what you need to get her,” she starts, but then pauses at the entrance, a grin lighting up her face. “Oh, we can buy him some baby clothes and maybe some little toys.”
“Mum,” I begin, but she waves me off.
“No, we can—”
“Harlow,” Dad warns.
She huffs. “Let me buy some stuff. It will give us an excuse to go over and meet her. Maybe she’ll even let us babysit sometime,” she rambles, walking into the store. “Teagan never shares babysitting Sunday, and is always telling us about the stuff she’s buying her.”
“Mum,” I whine, yet smile.
She spins around. “She does. She got her this cute outfit the other day.”
“Alright, but if it makes Amelia uncomfortable, you have to take it back,” I warn, giving her a firm expression.
She exhales before relenting. “All right.”
When she grabs a shopping trolley, I can’t help but chuckle under my breath.
“Do you know if she has the correct nursing bras?” Mum suddenly asks.
I rub the back of my head. “What are they?”
“It’s to make it easier to feed the baby when you’re on the go. It pulls—”
“Down,” I finish, feeling my cheeks heat when my dad begins to bore his stare into me. “Yeah. She has one. I don’t know how many though.”
“We can pick some up just to be sure,” she tells me as she leads us down an aisle.
When she comes to stand in front of a section of different devices, I begin to wonder if I made the right choice in doing this. Each box has a picture of a mum breastfeeding, and one even has a device attached to the nipple.
“That can’t be right,” I murmur, pointing to the box. It looks painful, but the woman is smiling.
“That’s a breast pump. That’s what we need,” Mum explains.
I suck in a breath. “So, she literally gets milked like a cow?”
A woman scanning over the products next to us, clucks her tongue, giving me a dirty look. “Sorry. He has no filter,” Mum apologises. “We’re looking for a pump for his friend.”
The woman smiles, her expression softening. “It’s fine. If you are looking for the best one, I’d go with that set there,” she declares, pointing at a large box on the top shelf. “It’s a little pricey but it’s more comfortable on the nipples.”
Now this woman knows what she’s talking about. “And it won’t hurt her?”
She shakes her head, her lips tugging into a smile. “No.”
“And the bottles included—are they safe for the baby?”
“Yes.”
Mum steps up, rubbing my arm. “It looks just like a nipple.”
It looks nothing like a nipple to me. “Yeah, I’m not going to comment.”
“Bloody hell,” Dad groans.
“Thank you for your help,” I tell the woman, giving her a wink.
“You’re welcome,” the lady replies, but then stops before moving away. “Word of advice: don’t call mothers breastfeeding ‘cows’.”
I give her a sharp nod, turning back to Mum. “What else will she need? I don’t want to give her that and it turns out she can’t use it because she doesn’t have enough.”
Mum rolls her eyes. “Grab the box. I’ll grab extra stuff that is included in the box, so she has enough. And grab some different flow teats.”
“Different flow—what?” I ask, my eyebrows pulling together.
“Yeah, you had fast flow because you were a greedy little fucker. Madison, on the other hand, was happy to take her time,” Dad explains.
I puff out my chest. “I was a growing boy.”
Dad grunts. “You were greedy.”
“No, he just loved being cuddled to his mother’s chest.”
“Yeah, I didn’t need to hear that,” I tell her, grabbing the box down. I don’t care that it costs nearly two-hundred quid. She needs it.
“Are you sure she’ll be okay with you buying her this? You’ve not known her long,” Dad warns.
I give him a dirty look. “Of course she will be fine with it. She likes me. We’re friends.”
He snorts. “You’ve not known her long.”
“I’ve known her long enough.”
“As kind as I think this is, and I’m not talking you out of it, but I think your dad’s right. What’s going on with you?”
“What do you mean? Can’t someone buy a friend something they need?”
She nods. “Of course. But you don’t do this with anyone else.”
“I did it with Lily.”
Realisation dawns on her face. “You do know she’s still your friend. She just has other priorities now.”
“I know that,” I tell her, a little too harshly.
Dad slaps his hand down on my shoulder. “I think what she’s trying to say is you don’t have to buy someone things to be friends.”
“I’ve got loads of friends.”
“So, Amelia is different?” Mum concludes.
I shrug. “Yeah. No. Yeah.” I run a hand through my hair. “Can we not talk about this? We are just friends.”
“If you say so,” Dad mutters.
“I say,” I bark.
“Then let’s spoil your friend and her kids,” Mum states.
“Mum,” I warn, but it’s too late. She’s throwing things into the trolley left, right and centre.
CHAPTER TWELVE
AMELIA
Maddox text me to let me know he got Jasmine off to school okay, but I haven’t heard from him since. He said he was coming back over so I could help with the petition, but as I sneak glances through the blinds, I wonder if he’s had second thoughts.
He’s been pacing at the back of his truck for what must have been fifteen minutes now.
Each time he talks himself into whatever it is worrying him, he’ll step away from the boot.
Moving away from the window, I leave him to it and place Asher down in his bouncer, strapping him in.
My phone ringing distracts me from Maddox, and I walk over, answering my mum’s call.
“Hey, Mum.”
“Hey, sweetie,” she greets. “How are you?”
“A little tired,” I admit.
“Asher still didn’t sleep last night?” she asks, sounding a little concerned.
“Um, not at first,” I tell her, my voice sounding almost robotic.
“Amelia Taylor, what aren’t you telling me? You didn’t listen to your father about the whiskey, did you?”
I force out a laugh. “No, I didn’t. Maddox, my neighbour—he came over.”
“What?” she screeches.
“It’s not what you think. It was the early hours of this morning. Across the road were blaring their music. I think he came over to crash, but then he saw Asher crying, took him from me, and within minutes, they were both asleep on the sofa.”
“Amelia,” she warns softly.
“We’re just friends. I don’t ask him to come over, and he doesn’t ask permission.”
She chuckles. “I do like him.”
“We’re just friends,” I warn. “He even took Jasmine to school today because we slept in.”
“Maybe you should give him a chance. He’s a nice bloke, has values, is family orientated, and isn’t bad on the eyes at all.”
He’s gorgeous and she knows it.
“He doesn’t like me like that.”
“I’m sure that’s not true. He’d be lucky to have you.”
I let out a sigh. I know she just wants me to be happy, but… “Even if he does like me, I just had a baby. I’m not ready for any kind of relationship.”
“Let me set you up on a few dates.”
“No, Mum.” There’s a light knock on the door, and I interrupt her before she can speak. “Someone is at the door. I’ve got to go.”
“Think about it,” she yells.
“Bye, Mum.”
“Bye, darlin’.”
I shake my head, wondering when she will stop worrying about my dating life. She wants me to be happy, I get it, but I think she’s more afraid that I’ve let Cameron put me off relationships for life.
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