When the Sun Comes Out

Chapter 19 ~ Tae

    Taylor stared out the window of the motel. It was raining again. She needed to look for a place to stay since the longer she stayed here, the less money she would have to find somewhere else.

She looked towards the pack-and-play where Levi was sleeping. She didn't like having him in some rundown motel anyway.

Her eyes moved towards her phone for the thousandth time in the last three days, but, as she knew, there wasn't a call from Rhett. She didn't expect there to be one. He was through with her. He'd had his fun, but as soon as things got tough, he threw in the towel.

A tear slipped down her cheek as she remembered the first time she had met Rhett. It had been pouring rain just as it was today. She thought back to how fast his mood had changed in the beginning. It had gone from furious to caring in a heartbeat. She thought it was funny since, in the end, his mood changed from caring to furious even faster.

Her single tear turned into a bucket load as she recalled all the memories they had made. Yes, there was no doubt that she had fallen in love with the moody cowboy. Too bad he didn't love her back.

Levi began crying, and she put a stop to her pity party. She moved to pick him up and realized he had a soggy diaper.

She had another human being to take care of, and she couldn't just think of herself anymore.

She began to panic. She had barely gotten by when it was just her, and now she had a child to take care of. Her fear multiplied when she realized she was almost out of diapers. This was her last one.

She couldn't believe that in the last few days, she had totally forgotten to restock on Levi's necessities. Even his bath stuff was low.

She kicked herself. She'd been too busy wallowing in her sorrows to remember the poor guy. She changed his diaper and put him in new clothes.

"Come on, little man, we're going shopping," she said, holding him against her.

He looked up at her cooing. He was an easy baby; he didn't fuss, and he was content sitting in a bouncer.

She grabbed the diaperless diaper bag and headed toward the truck. She put Levi in the car seat and crawled into the driver's seat.

This truck had been Rhett's when he was younger, and she was constantly finding funny things inside. She would give it back once she had something to drive, but for right now, she'd keep it. She wouldn't have taken it if it was just her, but with Levi, she wasn't going to go without transportation.

She sighed as she pulled into the store. Levi was jabbering away to himself and she smiled. She looked back at him in the rear-view mirror, and it sent a knife straight through her heart. His eyes were the same as looking into Rhett's. No one would ever believe that he wasn't Rhett's.

Rhett's eyes were the only things that he had gotten from his mother. It seemed to be the same for poor Levi. It was hard to think of them as brothers. Their mother was in her forties.

She grabbed a buggy and began her shopping. Levi sat in the top of the buggy taking everything in. The bright colors made him smile. When he started giggling, Taylor's heart constricted. This poor beautiful baby had been given a bad hand of cards for his life too. That was something they shared in common.

A couple of ladies commented on how handsome he was and squeezed his cheeks. Levi smiled and jabbered to them. He wasn't bashful, that was for sure.

"Well aren't you a darling," the one said.

"He's such a happy baby," the other said.

Taylor smiled and nodded at the pair.

"He is that. He's an extremely easy baby. I'm a lucky woman," she said.