Page 28 of No One Like You

Megan continued, “I need to help him, Tasha. Not for me, but for Sophia.”

Tasha stiffened as she listened to Megan, who disentangled herself and sat up. Megan looked Tasha in the eyes and said, “I know that you hate him and I don’t blame you. He was a complete asshole today, and I really hate him right now, too. That said, I believe it’s important for Sophia to have a father that isn’t a complete shitbag. And… I need your support. I know that this is a huge ask, and I don’t need you to do anything. I just need to know that you have my back. Does that make sense? Am I crazy?”

“Ride or die, Megan. Ride or die. Yes, you make sense. No, you aren’t crazy. Okay, a bit crazy, but in a good way. Look, I never liked Brad, and, yeah, I hate his guts right now…” Tasha paused, searching for the right words to say. “I’m not sure how to say this, so I hope that it comes out right. You are fucking amazing. After all of this. After today. After all the shit that Brad has put you through. You are willing to somehow try to help him pull his head from deep out of his ass, all for Sophia. And you’re right. He was an over-privileged prick in college, but he wasn’t the complete shithead that we saw today. I’m not sure how you deprogram a White boy who has been spending too much time in the fever swamps, but I will support you.”

“Thank you, Tasha! Yeah, I have no idea how to deprogram him, either. I am going to try to figure out what to do. Of course, divorcing him at the same time isn’t going to make it easier.”

“Ain’t that the truth! Come here.” Tasha opened her arms again, and Megan returned to leaning into Tasha. They spent a long time like that, in thoughtful silence.

CHAPTER 19

FORTRESS AROUND YOUR HEART

Megan was mildly shocked to realize that she had fallen asleep. She could feel Tasha’s chin on her head and one of Tasha’s arms still around her. Before she could say anything, she heard a small snore and realized that Tasha had fallen asleep, too. Megan smiled, and she had just closed her eyes again when she heard the unmistakable sounds of Sophia waking up and coming out of the bedroom. She tried to delicately extricate herself from Tasha, but her movement woke her friend.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry that I fell asleep on you.”

“That’s okay. I think we all needed some rest after this morning.”

“Yeah. I think you’re right. I’m going to check on Sophia.”

“Okay, I’m…,” Nocturne hopped up into Tasha’s lap, “...apparently not going anywhere.”

Megan laughed as she walked toward the bedroom. “Hi, sweetheart. How are you feeling?”

“Better, Mommy.”

“That’s good. Come here and give your mom a hug.” Megan would have liked a longer hug with her daughter, but Sophia was quickly getting wiggly.

“You can talk to me about anything. You know that, right?”

“Yes, Mommy. I have to pee!”

Megan laughed. “Okay, go! I’ll be out in the living room with Aunt Tasha.” Out in the living room, Nocturne was making cat biscuits in Tasha’s lap. As Megan sat down, Tasha grabbed the cat and placed her in Megan’s lap.

“I gotta pee, too!” she exclaimed as she jumped up. Nocturne gave her human a baleful look before turning her head back to the important task of now making cat biscuits in Megan’s lap.

“Oof, you’re a pokey little lady.” Megan said as she scratched Nocturne behind the ears. “Okay, time for you to get down. I have an idea.” Nocturne gave a squeak as she was rudely interrupted and placed on the floor.

Megan quickly stripped the bed of sheets and pillows, then raided the closet for more. Tasha looked at her strangely as she lumbered into the living room with her arms overflowing. “Sophia, do you know what I think we need to do?”

“What?”

“I think that we need to make a pillow fort over here by the couch.”

“Okay!”

The first effort collapsed unceremoniously; however, the second attempt fared better when Tasha suggested adding chairs to the construction. The final result wasn’t so much a fort as something vaguely resembling a stall at a market, but that was perfectly fine. Tasha unplugged a stand lamp and placed it in the middle to make the sheet draped over the top convex rather than concave. In the epicenter of all of this, Nocturne supervised from her position exactly in the middle of the blanket on the floor.

Tasha microwaved popcorn and the trio watched movies. Megan offered to grab a bake-at-home pizza from Papa Murphy’s. Tasha used that opportunity to get the oven started and feed Nocturne. Once Megan returned, they all settled in and watched a fun rom-com about a single dad who falls in love with a stranger, all orchestrated by his meddling daughter.

When Sophia started to fall asleep, Megan knew that this magic little moment was coming to an end. She and Tasha disassembled the pillow fort and remade the bed, with ample “assistance” from Nocturne. Then Megan left Tasha to play with Nocturne, who was having a grand time under the covers, so that she could get Sophia cleaned up and ready for bed. Once Sophia was tucked in, Megan went back to the living room and sat down next to Tasha.

“What a roller coaster of a day.”

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