watching her disappointment. But that last attempt had produced me. I’d had a good childhood, especially after my cousin moved in and became more of a brother. Unfortunately, the years of perceived failure to produce an offspring had taken a toll on my mother, and in a lot of ways, she was old for her sixty-one years.
Jakey’s birth had been like a new-life infusion into her soul, and she’d chilled. She still coddled the boy; hell, she’d still pamper me if I let her, but she was way more relaxed with him than she’d been with me. My being her last chance at being a mother had caused her to be overprotective to the point that I was scared of my own shadow until I was way past the age that a child should still be holding onto his mother’s apron strings.
Since I’d reached adulthood, she’d been borderline intrusive, and so I’d avoided her as cautiously as possible so as not to hurt her feelings, but she missed J.J. and Haley as much as Jakey and I did, and I needed to be better about accommodating her. I didn’t normally work weekends, and she missed Jakey and getting to interact with me, even for the few minutes I came to drop him off and pick him back up. “We’d love to, Mom. What’re we having?”
“Oh.” Her eyes widened, obviously shocked by my easy acceptance, instead of her having to beg. “I have a shepherd’s pie in the oven, and I made rolls today to have with it.”
I spun to Jakey. “Did you hear that? Grandma has fresh rolls.” Jakey’s love of all things bread rivaled his love of sea life. He cupped his hands over his mouth to block a smile, his gaze shifting to his grandma. “You already had some, didn’t you?” His vibrant blue eyes, the same as his father’s, widened as he giggled, pressing his hand harder against his mouth. “You did.” I crawled over and pulled him into my arms, tickling his belly and making his limbs flail.
“I live for that giggle,” my mom said affectionately.
“Me too, Ma.” I looked over my shoulder and shared a smile with her. It was a nice moment that I’d cling to throughout the night as she harped on me that I should let them take Jakey so I could have a life or at least move in with them so she could help and I could go out at night. For some reason, it still hadn’t penetrated her thick skull that Jakey was my life.
We’d had a nice leisurely Saturday. Jakey and I had gotten up early and snuggled on the couch watching cartoons until my stomach growled. He’d poked my belly and snorted, so I’d left him to his TV viewing and made pancakes. We played, ran errands, had lunch, and dinner, and were now resting on the couch again to watch Finding Nemo.
When my text alert went off, I wasn’t shocked since Mom typically messaged me at this time to see how our day had been. I grabbed the phone and stopped short at the display. I didn’t recognize the phone number, but the Happy Friendaversary! the preview showed meant that it had to be one specific person. My heart raced. He’d been serious. Even though I didn’t want to appear desperate to talk to him, my desire for adult interaction—let’s be honest, further attention from Creed—had me unlocking my phone quickly to see the whole message.
Mystery number: Happy Friendaversary! It was exactly one week today that I laid eyes on you for the first time.
A glance at the time showed that he sent the message at the same time I hurried into work last weekend. It had been a while since I actively dated, and except for what I’d witnessed with J.J., I didn’t have a lot of knowledge of how straight men interacted when in pursuit of a lady, but this seemed awful flirty for a guy who only wanted to be my friend.
Me: Creed?
Mystery number: *laughing emoji* Did you make another new friend last week at this time that I didn’t see? I’m pretty sure I would have noticed since I didn’t take my eyes off of you all night.
I huffed as my heart skipped a beat. Seriously?
Me: Is this how you talk to all your friends?
I waited anxiously for his reply. I didn’t know what I was asking exactly, but I hoped his answer would clear it up for me.
Mystery number: Only the