Girl Going Nowhere by B. Celeste

Author:B. Celeste [Celeste, B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance
Publisher: B. Celeste
Published: 2023-07-19T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Blake

Maia bounces on the carpet, clapping her hands and pointing toward the book for the millionth time. “It’s already past your bedtime,” I tell her, feeling exhaustion weigh down every limb.

“Again!” my stubborn mini-me says anyway.

We’ve read Book of Colors so many times tonight that I’m going to have nightmares of a yellow sun with a face like that creepy one in the Teletubbies. That show haunted me as a child, like the one in this stupid book is bound to.

Setting the book onto the dresser, I lift my squirming toddler and put her to bed. “We can read it again tomorrow, but you need to go to sleep. You’ve got a play date with Lucas in the morning that you need to be rested for. Grandma is taking you while Mommy works.”

Maia’s lip quivers, and the dark eyes she gets from her dad glaze with the threat of tears. If she does, I don’t think I can handle it.

“Please don’t cry,” I beg, leaning over to kiss the top of her head. “When I pick you up, we’ll read all about the blue skies and the green grass and even go to the park to see how many of the colors we can find. Okay?”

Swiping the back of her hand over her eyes, she sniffles back tears and lets me lay her down. As soon as I tuck her under her favorite blanket, she looks up at me with a tiny smile.

I let out a relieved sigh. “There’s my baby girl,” I praise, tweaking her nose until she giggles. “I love you, Maia.”

By the grace of God, her eyelids get heavier with each passing second. “Love you, Mama.”

I’ve learned to wait a few minutes after she goes down to sneak out or else she stirs and makes me go through the entire process all over again.

It isn’t until I’m creeping out of her room that I hear, “There you are.”

Shoulders sagging, I look over my shoulder at Brodie. “I’m not in the mood for whatever you have planned for the night,” I warn him.

I’m ashamed to admit that I’m ten seconds away from crying. I can feel the floodgates weakening as my roommate stares at me with concerned eyes. There’s nothing worse than people seeing you vulnerable.

Then he asks the question that makes it ten times worse. “What’s wrong?”

Nostrils flaring as I fight back tears, I hiccup and shake my head. How could I get him to understand that I’m tired? Not just the normal kind, but the defeated type? It was a long day at work with difficult clients; Trevor was harassing me, Maia was extra fussy the second I picked her up from daycare, and my mother has been hounding me about a million different things that have no prevalence in my life.

I hear Brodie follow me as I walk past him to my room. There’s no way I want Maia to wake up hearing me cry about how exhausting it is being a mother. Because I love her.

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