***
After we left the library, I took Gavin to get ice cream and then we headed back to Claire’s house. True to form, Gavin talked the whole way home and I started to wonder if he was like a record player that was skipping and maybe I needed to smack the side of him to get him to stop.
I resisted the urge. Barely.
When we got back to the house, I sat down on the couch and Gavin grabbed a photo album from one of the end table drawers and curled up on my lap with it. He flipped through all of the pages, explaining each picture to me. I saw every single birthday, Christmas, Halloween and everything in between that I missed, and with Gavin's commentary about each event, it almost felt like I had been there.
I also learned quite a few things about Claire. Like the fact she has cousin she can't stand.
"That's Heather. She's mommy's cousin. Mommy says she's a whore," Gavin said, pointing at the group photo that looked like it was taken at some sort of family reunion.
I also learned that Gavin seemed to have a penchant for squirting things all over the house, showcased by at least five pages in the photo album. I guess I should have taken a picture of the toothpaste incident a few weeks ago.
"Gavin, how come there are so many pictures of you making messes?" I asked as I flipped to the next page that showed a picture of him sitting on the kitchen floor in a pile of coffee grounds, cereal, oatmeal and what looked like syrup. "I hope you cleaned up all this stuff for mommy."
"Cleaning is ridiculous," he replied.
Considering the current state of my own home, I couldn't really argue that fact.
We continued to look at the rest of the pictures in that album and four others before I noticed that Gavin was unusually quiet on my lap. I glanced down and saw that he had fallen asleep sitting up. I awkwardly scooped my hands under his legs and carried him to his room exactly how he fell asleep - with his back against my chest and his legs dangling down off of my hands. I knew there was some sort of rule about "never wake a sleeping baby" and I figured that had to apply to toddlers as well since they could get into much more trouble than a baby.
After getting him tucked into bed, I came back out into the living room and relaxed on the couch. I turned on the TV, flipping through the channels until I found something to watch. An hour later, right when I started to doze off, my phone buzzed for probably the tenth time since I left the house earlier with Gavin. I smiled as I pulled my phone out of my pocket, knowing it would be Claire again.
How's it going? Is everything ok? ~ Claire
I couldn't even be offended that she was so worried. It was understandable. Surprisingly, being alone with Gavin wasn't bad at all. He was really well behaved, better than any child I had ever been around.
Perfect. Gavin just got his first lap dance. He’s hopped up on Red Bull and
crack right now and I found out he doesn't like whiskey. ~Carter
I laughed to myself and hit send. My phone buzzed immediately with her reply, like I knew it would.
I hope you at least sprang for the hot chick and not some butter face with VD.
And your son prefers vodka, like his mother. ~Claire
My laugh at her reply was so loud I glanced down the hall to make sure it didn't wake Gavin. I quickly typed a reply back. Even though she made a joke, I knew without a doubt she was masking a tiny bit of fear.
Everything is fine, Mom. Same as it was five minutes ago when you asked ;) ~Carter
My phone buzzed not five seconds later.
Oh shut up! It's not him I'm worried about. I was afraid you were duct taped to
a chair or had your head shaved by now. ~Claire
The doorbell rang and as I got up to find out who it was, I quickly sent off another text letting her know that our son was not able to overpower me.
Yet.
I opened the door to find Drew standing there with a box in his hands.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
Drew pushed past me into the house.
"Nice to see you too, pig fucker. I've got all of Claire’s flyers, brochures and whatever other shit Jenny was doing for her. She asked me to drop them off here for her. What are you doing here? And why are you still wearing the same clothes from last night? Did you finally bump uglies with your MILF?"
I took the box out of his hand and rolled my eyes at him.
"Will you shut up already, dick? Gavin is sleeping."
Drew looked past me towards Gavin's room.
"Good, I've got a present for the little spawn," he said with a smile as he pulled a shirt out of his back pocket. He held it up in front of me and all I could do was shake my head.
"You didn't. Oh my God, Claire is going to kill you," I told him.
I looked down at my watch, realizing that Gavin had been out for quite a while.
"Hey, how long do kids sleep?" I asked.
"You're asking me? How the fuck should I know? When was the last time you checked on him?"
I looked at him blankly.