Page 5 of No Right To Love You
Opening my eyes, I stand but then I hear another pair of feet padding in the hall, but they stop in the foyer. It’s January.
“I’ve got her, Ocean,” January says. “Want mommy to check where all the big bad monsters are and wipe them out for you?” She asks Zoe.
“How are you gonna do that, mommy?” Zoe asks her.
“Didn’t anybody tell you!” She gasps. “I’m not just any kind of lawyer, I’m a lawyer that sends big monsters to jail.”
Zoe gasps. “Daddy didn’t tell me that! Not nice, daddy bear, not cool.” Zoe chastises me as her voice carries as her mother takes her back up the stairs.
I chuckle as I lay there.
“Goodnight, small girl.” I say.
“Love you, daddy.” Zoe says. “Mommy, why isn’t daddy sleeping in the bed? Is he sneaking to watch more tv?” She asks.
Before January could reply to her, I chime in. “I’ll be up in a minute, baby. I’ll just finish watching this episode.”
January doesn’t say anything for a minute but then she recovers. “Oh, okay Honey.”
We really can’t continue down this path. Our kids deserve better.
Chapter 5
Ocean
Today is busy.I can’t focus on how I stayed on the couch too late, and Jaz woke me up. She was getting to that age where it was attitude first and hellos last.
Jaz woke me up and her curious look let me know she wanted to know why I was sleeping on the couch when I had a perfect bed for my big ass.
Being my height and build like a lumberjack tells me that a couch even if it’s good enough for me to sit in, isn’t good for my back or my 13-year-old daughter catching me sleeping in it.
My cellrings bringing me out of going deep into thinking about the excuses I gave my daughter.
“Hello, am I speaking to Mr. Mahoe?”
“Yes, this is him.”
“Hi, it’s Jenna from St. Josephine’s.”
“Is Zoe, okay?” I stop working on the plants that we were doing for this final day of the landscaping project and focus.
“She’s fine, Mr. Mahoe. Just that we’re getting ready to go to our zoo trip and Mrs. Mahoe volunteered but she hasn’t shown up. Just checking if there’s anything wrong? We tried her cell but there’s no answer.”
“She’s probably in a last-minute meeting or something and didn’t get the chance to shoot me a text for me to notify you.” I stand and forget the job I’m doing. “Does that mean Zoe can’t go or something? What do you guys need from me?”
“We can take her to the zoo with us, but Zoe doesn’t want to go without her mother. She’s crying and she had a bit of a hard time with that. Is there any way we can solve this for her?” Jenna asks me.
“You know what, don’t worry about it. I’ll be there in the next 10. Where I am isn’t too far and then her mother will take her on the next trip. I don’t want her to miss this. How’s that, Jenna?”
“Oh, thank you, Mr. Mahoe! Thank you! I’ll let her know that you’re coming. We’ll just update everything on the file and have you sign the updated paperwork.”
“Awesome. See you soon!”
“See you. We’ll be loading the kids on the school bus by the time you’re here, you’ll just have to jump on the bus, and we can go.”
“Got it. Thank you.” I hang up.
Damn!
