The Perfect Timing

Chapter Ten

Cameron

After Maddie showed me Isabelle's night routine, we finally shut the door to her bedroom when she's asleep, my back resting up against the door.

As much fun as this has been, I'm utterly exhausted. I truly don't know how Maddie has a job, an internship and has to come home and do all of this by herself. It just doesn't seem fair.

Maddie rests on the wall across from me, a sly smile spread across her face. "First day of being a daddy wear you out?" She asks.

"I'm exhausted," I groan. "Utterly fucking exhausted. How do you do this every day?"

She shrugs. "I think my body just got used to the lack of sleep at some point."

I leave her in the hallway and head back into her kitchen to open up some cupboards. I finally find a bottle of wine, exactly what I'm looking for. "I don't know about you, but I need a drink."

"You aren't leaving?" She asks.

My eyes pop up to meet hers, attempting to figure out whether she actually wants me to stay or not. Maybe she wants me to go home so that she can get some sleep.

"Do you want me to?" I cock my head to the side, smiling when she shakes her head. I grab two wine glasses when I finally find the cupboard they're in and open up the bottle.

"It's probably not smart to be drinking though," she says, taking a slow sip out of her wine glass after I pass it over to her. "Didn't exactly work out so well the last time."

"My memory of that night is very pleasurable." I arch a brow up jokingly, causing her to roll her eyes. "I believe it was that morning when it all went to shit."

It seems like that's not what she wanted me to say, because she stares down into her wine glass and clears her throat. I know that she wants to focus on Isabelle, and that's exactly what I want too. It's just extremely hard not to flirt with her. Harder than I thought it would be.

"You're right though." I change my tone and straighten my shoulders, raising my wine glass to clink against hers. "Only one drink. Okay? To healthy co-parenting."

She smiles now, and it visibly looks like a weight was lifted off her chest. "To healthy co-parenting," she repeats. "Oh, I wanted to show you something."

Setting her wine glass down on the island, she disappears for about a minute or so before she returns with a photo album. "I wanted you to see this," she says quietly.

"What is it?"

"Um, it's pictures from the day I had Isabelle. There are some other ones too when I took her home and stuff."

I eye the album on the counter, my jaw clenching ever so slightly. There isn't an ounce of me that thinks I'm ready to see those photos. I'll just get angry again, and is that really going to be beneficial for us right now? We just got back on track, and the last thing we need is to get into another fight. I don't know if we'd be able to recuperate from that.

"Can I be honest?" I tell her, and she nods, taking another sip of wine. "I think this photo album is maybe for a time when I'm alone and have the time to process it if that's okay. I don't want to get angry and have another fight, Maddie. That's not what I came here today to do."

It takes a minute for her to process what I'm saying, but she eventually picks the album back up into her hands. "It's okay. I understand. I think that's actually very mature of you to vocalize how you're feeling. Thank you."

"Well, I hope I'm maturing." I chuckle. "We've all gotta grow up sometime, right? I have to think about more than just myself now, and that means that I have to communicate. We have to communicate."

We drink the rest of our wine in silence, and when I put both of our glasses into the sink I realize that I really don't want to leave. I have to, but I don't want to.

"So, what are the odds of us doing these get-togethers on Sundays a weekly thing?" I ask.

Her eyes brighten at the thought, making my chest feel all warm inside. A feeling I haven't felt in years.

"Yeah," she says. "That sounds good."

"I mean, I do eventually want to keep Isabelle at my place, but I want her to be used to me first and get to know her routine. Since Sunday is your day off I guess we'll just stick to that for now."

"Well, if you want to come over for dinner some nights too during the week you can," she suggests. "I get home around five-thirty every day."

Mentally I breathe a sigh of relief. Only being able to see Izzy once a week would have been pure torture. I'm glad I'll at least be able to have dinner with her and put her down to sleep.

"That would be amazing," I say. "Thanks, Maddie. We can work out the details tomorrow or something."

Now is the time I need to go home because the awkward tension is rising. The tension that we're both trying not to feel. Tonight was the first good night that we've had in a while, and I don't want to ruin it by acting on an impulse. We need to be mature and think about Izzy. This is more than just us now.

She seems to think the same as she leads the way to the front door. "This was a really good day, Cam. I had so much fun, and I know Izzy did too."

"Well, there's a lot more where that came from. I had a blast with her, and I can't wait to come over again. I'll call you tomorrow to figure that out?"

She nods. "Sure. Bye, Cam. Have a good night."

Fighting the urge to kiss her, I shove my hands into the pockets of my sweatpants and give her a grin. "Night Mads."