and I’ll give it to you tomorrow when you come to the day care center.” She rose. “But I better go. He has a wet diaper and will probably go back to sleep if he doesn’t fixate on me.”
Harrison rose, scooped Ethan into his arms, and walked Angel to the door. Ethan tried to reach for Angel, but Harrison held him back.
“Good night, Ethan,” Angel told the child. “Try to play nice with Daddy.” She left out of the door, leaving him with the wiggling child.
“You’ll get to see her again tomorrow,” Harrison told him as he locked the door. He carried Ethan back to his room, changed his diaper, and read a story to him. Ethan fell asleep halfway through Peter Rabbit. Harrison put him back into his crib, noting the height from the top of the crib to the floor and wondering what he could do to stop Ethan from getting out. After he was satisfied that Ethan was deep into sleep, he left and went to clean up the kitchen before retiring for the evening.
****
Harrison appeared to be a nice man and he was certainly handsome. He having a young child wasn’t a problem either, with the added plus with not having to deal with baby mama drama. Yet, she didn’t know if he was serious about her or not, even though he’d asked the right questions. She wasn’t interested in dating a man who only wanted a home cooked meal or a babysitter. But every now and then, she’d catch that look of interest in his eyes. Maybe he was hesitating because he’d never dated a black woman before, or maybe he was a little hesitant since he’d been out of the dating game for a long time. He seemed very appreciative of the two meals she’d fixed for him. She didn’t mind cooking because she liked to cook and that she knew he’d have his hands full just trying to keep up with Ethan.
Angel closed the refrigerator and headed to her room for a shower. Her eyes landed on Henry’s photo on the mantle. He’d taken it in his dressed blue uniform and looked quite dashing. She’d been thinking a lot about him lately and debating if it was time to put the picture in storage and go on with her life. Hell yes, she thought. Henry wasn’t coming back and she guessed he didn’t expect her to mourn him until she died.
Angel changed into her gown after a quick shower and then crawled into her bed to read. She’d been reading this interracial romance she’d bought about a month ago about a woman falling in love with a Marine. She was halfway through the book the morning Harrison had moved in. Call it fate, but she had to see how the book ended. She felt her eyelids starting to droop when the couple in the book had finally made it to the bed room. Angel yawned, wondering if Harrison was asleep. She smiled. He was so cute. Hopefully one day soon she’d be falling asleep in his arms after hours of mind-numbing sex. She smiled again, put the book aside, turned off the light, and buried beneath the covers.
Chapter Three
Harrison hadn’t seen so many kids in one place at one time in a long time. And none of them were running around and cutting up. The day care facility was orderly and clean, and from the first moment he arrived, he knew he’d have to enroll Ethan there.
Angel met him at the front door dressed in navy blue business suit. He’d seen her in shorts and in Sunday clothes, but he had to admit she looked real cute as a business woman. Angel introduced him to the all the teachers, including the two that would be responsible for Ethan. Angel put Ethan in a room with some of the other kids his age to observe him. Ethan didn’t cry when they left him alone. He just walked over to a yellow truck he saw and started playing with it. He kind of ignored the other kids.
Harrison shook his head.
“Don’t worry,” Angel told him. “He hasn’t been around any other kids so he has to get used to them.”
“Like he has to get used to me?” Harrison asked.
Angel nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
The dietician came around with the