Page 18 of Always My Comfort

We had an hour left of the day, and Stella announced story time, leading the kids to the bright-blue circle mat, where they rushed to find a colored square to sit on.

While she was reading to them, I worked on my email of resignation to the principal. Scarlett suggested a few days ago that I go and find Jaxon and give him the choice of raising this child with me.

I’d laughed at her, but after doing some thinking, I realized it wasn’t the worst idea.

Not all men were pigs.

My dad hadn’t been, so there was hope for Jaxon. From the little I could remember about that night, he had been kind.

Kind men wanted to raise kids, right?

“Miss Shaw, when do we find out who takes Fluffy home first?” Brett, one of my star students, stood at the edge of my desk, pushing his black glasses up his nose. His blue eyes were big as they peered up at me through the magnifying glass.

“Well, Miss Stella will put all your names in the hat over there,” I point toward the fake magician's hat I had, “and we’ll pull one out tomorrow.” He nodded, buzzing with excitement.

This was the part I was going to miss. This was my favorite age—when they started to spell and read, when they were the most impressionable.

“I can’t wait to tell my mommy all about it,” he said, walking away.

I got them all lined up at their cubbies. They slung their small backpacks on and were quietly murmuring to each other about the project. When the bell rang, they ran outside to join the car line, and I followed.

For the next hour, I helped them get into their cars and then walked the stragglers to aftercare before returning to my classroom, where I finished off my email, requesting a meeting to speak about my resignation.

At Scarlett’s place, she was curled up on the couch, watching some romcom, her laughter infectious as I walked in. Matt was thankfully at work, giving us some alone time.

“Hey, how were the brats?” She paused the movie as I sat beside her on the sofa.

Shaking my head, I sighed at her dislike for kids. She had never been interested in having her own. “They aren’t brats, Scar, and they were great. I’m going to miss them and teaching and just my whole life.” An unexpected sob burst from my chest.

“Jeez, those pamphlets weren’t kidding! You are sensitive.” She fished a tissue out of her bra and hands it to me.

“And you’re a bitch. I didn’t need to read anything to know that,” I cried, blowing my nose into the tissue.

“Ouch, but I won’t take it to heart. Who said you have to quit your job and change your whole life? All I suggested was letting Mr. Sexy Ass know about his child growing in there.” She patted my small bump.

“And what if he wants me to be a full-time mother? What if I want to be a full-time mom? What if he tells me to leave? Then, I’ll have to work. Shit, I didn’t think, and I already emailed my resignation!” I cried. Bringing my knees up to my chest, I wrapped my arms around them.

“Hun, you need to calm down, or you’ll have an anxiety attack, which won’t be good for your baby. Stop worrying. Remember how your mom said we were on a path?” I hated when she brought up my mom because every damn time, she was right.

I nodded, not wanting to look up at her.

“She swore we were all on a path, one chosen for us. And everything that happened along our path was part of our journey, and it was meant to happen. That sexy man was put in your path for a reason, Logan, and so is that baby. Now, stop crying, grab some of the pizza I’ve got in the kitchen, and come watch a movie with me. Soon, we won’t be able to do this, and I’m going to miss my best friend.” Lifting my head up to look at her, I saw emotion swirling around her eyes.

“Why won’t we be able to do this?”

“Because you, my beautiful friend, are going to fall hopelessly in love with that man, and he is going to sweep you off your feet the way you were always meant to be. He’s going to take you away from here, away from me, but that’s okay.”

Following her instructions, I grabbed a slice of the greasy, cheese pizza and snuggled up with her on the couch, mulling over her words.

Falling in love with a hotshot baseball player? Unlikely. Impossible? No.

* * *

When the weekendfinally rolled around, I spent my entire Saturday morning researching Jaxon Dexter, and from a quick Google search, I found out a lot about his older brothers but little about him.

Finally, after paying some online sight to do a background check for twenty dollars, I found his address, and surprisingly, he wasn’t far from me. He was just an hour away, living in the city near the Atlanta Braves’ arena.

Dressing in a loose shirt and leggings, I pulled my long hair back into a ponytail and applied some makeup before leaving Scarlett’s apartment with his address in my GPS.

---