Page 74 of Surviving Lies

“Oh, Ty, she knows who you are,” my mom said gently as she sat with the baby on her lap.

Kelly came to sit near me on a chair, her on the cushion, me on the arm.

“So,” Mel, Kelly’s mom, started, “I know it’s been tough on Ty, being in school, and Kelly’s been working. They take care of the baby when they can. But I do feel that the four grandparents have chipped in more than most would. So, there’s that.” Her eyes landed on Kelly and me.

Her disapproval always came through eventually. She was the one of the four who struggled the most with all of this. I always wondered if it was because Kelly didn’t go to school, but that was Kelly’s choice. And she made that choice long before she got pregnant. Her parents wanted her to go; Kelly chose to delay that for now and opted to work instead. However, I got the feeling, mainly from her mom, that they weren’t on board with that decision and potentially blamed me for it. Or at the very least were angry that I was away at school getting my education while Kelly was not.

“But Savannah is finally old enough to enter the baby care program at Kelly’s job, so we thought that might be the best decision,” Kelly’s mom continued. “I think that eases your responsibility during the week the three days you’ve been watching her, Colleen. And it helps us all out, allowing us to watch her more on the weekends.”

Everyone digested the plan Mel, Kelly, and I had come up with. The hope was Kelly and I would get some relief on the weekends and not work constantly in between childcare. All four grandparents started buzzing with conversation about the new plan.

“I want to say something,” I started, getting their attention. “I need all of you to realize that Kelly and I know how lucky we are to have the four of you in our lives helping take care of Savannah. We know this was not an ideal situation, and we appreciate all you do to help her, and us, so I can continue with school and Kelly with work.” I moved from my seat to take Savannah from my mom, needing to hold my daughter. She snuggled into my chest as I held her head against me, my lips atop the fine hair on her head.

They all smiled and nodded, even Mel. My mom came to me once I had Savannah settled in my arms and kissed my cheek as she headed to the kitchen.

“Can we talk?” Kelly asked. The last time she said those words to me, she told me she was pregnant. At least I knew that was not the case at the moment.

The three of us went into the yard and found a seat at the table on the patio. I turned Savannah around on my lap so she could see the nearby bushes, a bird sitting on a branch. “We won’t have much time before she’s going to get fussy for a bottle. But I need to tell you something.”

“OK, what’s up?”

“So, I wanted to let you know I met someone.” Her eyes wouldn’t meet mine as she spoke. “I kind of figured you’d want to know, since he’ll be spending time with Peanut.”

And here I was, concerned for the past year about moving on. Well, showing anyone that I had moved on.

“That’s great, Kelly. I’m happy for you.”

And right then, Savannah let out a big laugh. As I picked her up off my lap and faced her toward me, her smile remained but no more sounds emanated from her. Her big saucer blue eyes were looking back at us.

“Oh my God, Ty, did you hear that?” Kelly said as we both leaned in to stare at her as if that would induce another laugh. When our stares didn’t do a thing, I stuck my tongue out at her, but still nothing.

“She’s never done that before?” I asked.

“No, that’s the first!” she exclaimed. “That has to be the cutest sound I’ve ever heard.” Savannah started reaching for her momma, so I handed her over. “I met him at work,” she continued, not giving up on the topic, it seemed. “And he’s stopping by here to meet everyone.”

Oh.

“So, I’m assuming he knows about Savannah and this whole situation?” I asked.

“Of course he does, Ty. I wouldn’t go into something with someone without them knowing all about this,” she said. “I would hope you wouldn’t either.”

Well, fuck.

Like, seriously. Shit.

I felt as if I was going to vomit. I mean, I didn’t care one fucking bit that Kelly was with someone else. Actually made my life easier. But I made my life a living hell for the past year, I guess, for no reason.

Because she was right. One hundred percent right. And I had royally fucked myself in every way possible. But I’d already decided to tell Becca everything once I returned after this weekend. I didn’t know why these new arrangements made me feel better about telling her. My mom wasn’t working as much as she liked, since she was watching Savannah during the week, so I took a job here on the weekends to take up some of the slack. She told me I could give that up now and that they would even help with the daycare costs until I finished college.

I knew I was one of the lucky ones. Few young adults in our situation had parents who helped to the level that ours were. Kelly put off school, but that was her choice. Her parents were willing to help her with that as well. And Kelly and I had worked on keeping our relationship amicable.

“Ty,” she said, watching me over the top of Savannah’s head. “Are you OK with this?”

“Yeah, of course I am. I mean, as long as you trust him. And you trust him, right? Around Peanut?” I leaned in and tickled Savannah on the belly to get her to laugh again, but all she did was give me a huge toothless grin and reach out and pull my hair.

But then, like clockwork, the beast emerged. It started with tiny little whines and built to a loud wail within seconds.

“Can you warm the bottle for me, Ty? It’s in the bag right there.” I grabbed it and went inside. My mom was in the kitchen making coffee for everyone while I popped the open bottle in the microwave.

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