Page 13 of Protect

The audacity of this man isn't lost on me. I spent years building up my walls to keep him firmly out. And the idea that henow, ten years later, out of some sort of guilt, wants to be friends with me? No thanks.

Hollie is staring up at the ceiling in my bed, still singing theSuperPetstheme song and moving her hands to the actions. She’s obsessed with all things superhero right now, especiallyPower Piggy,theresident super pig that flies.Clever, I know.

Gone are the days of the latest country hit floating through my mind. Nowadays, it’s strictly Funhouse TV shows and Disney movies twenty-four seven.

“Mommy!” Hollie says with way too much excitement for 6 a.m., popping a chubby hand to my cheek. I grin, keeping my eyes closed.

“Mommy isn’t here,” I say in my best robot voice, which makes Hollie laugh hysterically. She was awake at five, so I gave in and brought her in here with me to get one more hour of sleep, and now I’m going to have to rush around like crazy to get us both ready and out the door within an hour. Thankfully, the daycare she goes to when I’m on the early shifts, is right in the hospital two floors down from where I work.

It's part of the reason I took the job. After our move, I still have some anxiety around leaving her.

“Can I have toast?” she asks with a big smile. Her chubby little cheeks are rosy, and her big blue eyes are the same almond shape as mine. “And gogurt,” she says.

I giggle at the way we’ve just given in to pronouncing yogurt in this house.

“Let’s go, gogurt head.” I muss her golden curls and stand, pulling my big cozy Washington State hoodie on over my tank. She jumps up in her little pink nightgown and reaches her arms out to me.

“What have I said about jumping on Mommy’s bed?” I ask as I scoop her up and pop her and her stuffed power piggy on my hip.

She giggles as we make our way to the living room. I turn the TV on and find her favorite episode ofSuperPetswhile I grab her some juice, and toast, and of course, strawberry gogurt. After she’s settled, my coffee is done brewing, so I fill myself a big mug full and pick up my phone off the kitchen counter where it’s charging.

Teddy

Can we do a playdate this week? I need a conversation before this baby comes that doesn’t start with Mooooom!

I laugh, as I take my first sip.Sweet nectar of the gods, that’s good.

Teddy Hansen—Teddy Woods, as I’ve always known her—is Cal’s younger sister. She’s a few years older than me and just recently moved back to town from the next county over. We were never close growing up, but now we’re both moms to kids that are almost the same age. Which means we basically live the same life. When I ran into her at the local park recently during Mom and Tot time, we instantly connected. Her husband was an EMT and he passed away last winter in a devastating accident while saving someone else during his shift. Another hero lost.

Yes!

Hols woke me up this morning singing about Power Pig, after I fell asleep dreaming about pigs. Send help.

I take another sip and wait for her reply. Teddy is almost ready to give birth to her late husband’s baby, and she’s all alone with two other children. Still, she is positive and funny as hell. She’s a pillar of strength—I don’t know how she does it. Befriending her was a no-brainer when it became apparent thatHollie worshipped the ground her eight-year-old son, Dalton, and four-year-old daughter, Penny, walked on. We chatted easily while the kids played, and I really knew we were destined to be friends when I saw a copy of the spicy romance book I’ve been wanting to read tucked between her kids’ books, fresh from the local library.

Teddy

At least you didn’t wake up stepping on a hot wheel land mine. My foot may never recover.

I laugh as I open the photo she sent. It is indeed a Hot Wheels landmine in the middle of her living room.

Okay you win, I’m already late for work. Thursday? We can let the kids destroy my living room and eat pizza?

Teddy

It’s a date.

I smile and check the time as I swallow the last of my coffee, realizing I have all of twenty minutes to get both myself and Hollie ready. I set my cup in the sink and round the corner of my kitchen. That’s when I hear the words no mom wants to hear when she’s already running late.

“Uh oh, Mommy.”

The second I step foot in the living room I see it. Hollie, standing amidst an entire box of Cheerios spilled all over the area rug. Theshagarea rug and a plastic bowl peeking out from under the mess. I glance back at the kitchen cabinet where the cereal lives and see it’s open. She snuck in while I was on the phone with Teddy and I didn’t notice? Imustbe tired.

Her bottom lip starts to quiver when she thinks she might be in trouble. “Piggy was hungry too,” she says.

I face palm and start to laugh. It’s the last thing I need to deal with right now, but instead of getting upset I grab my phone and snap a photo, sending it to Teddy.

You’ve been dethroned, I win.

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