Saudade | Loubbie

Chapter Nineteen

"If you want me to hate Julia, I will."

Debbie abruptly stopped eating her ice cream as she heard Danny beside her nonchalanty saying that. She gave Danny a raised-brow as if asking her for pardon, but the little girl just gave her mom a shrug.

"What?" Danny asked as she turned to look at Debbie, "What do you say about me hating her?"

"Look baby," Debbie mumbled, put the ice cream on the seat as she turned to face Danny, "I don't want you to do that." She added as she held the little girl's hands and squeezed it.

"But she is getting away between you and mom."

"Your mom loves her."

"How did you know she does?"

Debbie took a deep breath, "Well, Julia was there with your mom when I wasn't and..." She looked at Danny again and smiled sadly, "Your mom is courting Julia."

"Mom is courting her because she thought you are not coming back, but now that you are here, I am sure that the case is different. I know that mom loves you," Danny stood up from her seat and went to stand in front of Debbie as if making a point, "And I know that you love mom too."

"Your mom and I have long ended. We are just friends now."

"Friends? But both of your eyes say the opposite." The little girl exclaimed as she rolled her eyes before she gave up a sigh, "Whatever you say, mommy. Now, I wanna go ride a rollercoaster. Let's go."

-----

Debbie parked the car as they reached home. Just by the looks of it, Lou wasn't home yet. It was almost eight in the evening and the lights were still off. Danny really savored their day. The kid rode every ride, despite Debbie's constant no, baby, mommy will be sick, still with Danny's puppy eyes and please, Debbie got dragged to almost everything too. When they were done at the theme park, Danny asked to visit her favorite aunt Tammy to which Debbie agreed right away because she, too, missed Tammy so much.

The brunette left out a sigh and she didn't know what was that sigh for. She wanted to believe it was a sigh of exhaustion, but a part of her had injected that it was sigh of hurt knowing Lou was still out with Julia doing whatever they were doing. Debbie got her key before she got out of the car and walked to the other side of it to get her sleeping daughter out. When she started walking, she felt her muscles twitching up, an indication that she really was exhausted, but it was worth it. She enjoyed her date with Danny. With a little smile on her lips, she continued, but was stopped when she heard a motorcycle coming and when she looked back, there was Lou driving Julia's motorcycle while the other woman was sitting and hugging her from behind.

The brunette froze. Should she just go on and get Danny out from the car or should she greet them a good evening? Eventually, she ended up smiling at them when Lou stopped and parked beside the car. Julia smiled back, but Debbie was well aware of the venom and hate hiding behind her veneers. When Lou got off, she offered Debbie a small smile.

"Arrived late." Debbie started the conversation to swipe away the little awkwardness that was building up, "Danny asked to visit Tammy because she missed her. We went there and got so caught up that we lost track of time."

Lou ran her fingers through her hair as she peeked through the car's window, "Oh, she's sleeping." She grinned at Debbie and smiled, "She must be so tired."

"I bet."

"I'll take her to her room." Lou offered.

"No." Debbie replied as she stepped in, blocking Lou from opening the door, "I got it. I guess your night hasn't ended yet. I can manage. Besides, Julia must be tired waiting for you."