Meet the Howlters

When the Day Met the Night

YEAR: 2046

[Winston's POV]

"Can you say, bear?" bear asked. He was lying on his stomach, looking at Lydia, and lightly tickled her stomach, trying to get her to talk. "Come on, Lyd, say bear,"
"I though you were papa," I laughed as I sat on the couch.
"Yeah well, she seems to do better with b's rather than p's,"
"She is good with the letter b,"
"Hey, where'd you find that?" Dad asked, gesturing to Lydia's outfit. She was in one of dads old onsies from like, a million years ago.
"It was in the attic," bear smiled.
"Say light," dad joked. "Light, Lydia, light,"
"L...Li..."
"Light," dad kept saying.
"I swear to god, if you make her first word, light, I'm gonna kill you,"
"Light!" Lydia cheered.
"Fuck you," I said, to dad.
"I'm gonna let that one go," he smirked.
"Hey, Lydia, wanna go to the park?" I asked as I picked her up. "Yeah, let's go to the park," I mumbled. "Bye guys, I'll be back later,"
"Bye."

***

When we got to the park, I pushed Lydia in the swing for a bit but she quickly got bored. I brought her over to a tree, with barley any leaves, and laid down a blanket so we could relax. Whenever we left home, she only played with a select three toys. Her red foam ball, her stuffed cat, and an old rag doll Tabitha gave her. We sat across from each other and just rolled the ball back and forth; she never got bored of it. After a few minutes of rolling, a new ball joined us on the blanket; a football to be exact. I picked it up, twisted my face, and started looking around for the owner.

"That's mine!" a little boy yelled.
"Charlie," a woman called. "That's not how we ask for things,"
"Sorry," he frowned. "May I please have my ball back?"
"Yes, of course," I smiled as I handed it to him.
"Thank you!" he cheered as he ran off.
"I'm sorry about him," the mother chuckled. "You know how four year olds are; no manners, whatsoever,"
"It's okay," I whispered. "He seems like a nice kid,"
"Oh, he is," she smiled. "May I sit?"
"Oh, yeah, I guess," I mumbled as I moved over.
"I'm Jennifer," she said. "But everyone calls me Jenny,"
"I'm Winston but, everyone calls me Winnie,"
"That's really cool," she smiled. "So who's this?"
"My daughter; her name is Lydia,"
"She's very pretty. How old is she?"
"Sixteen months,"
"Light!"
"Did she just say light?"
"Yep," I sighed.
"Light!"
"Yeah, good job, light," I smiled, still rolling to bar back and forth.
"Where's your wife?" she asked.
"I'm sorry?" I raised a brow.
"You're wearing a wedding ring," she said.  "So where's your wife? O-Or husband," she stuttered.
"I'm not gay," I chuckled.  "Um, well... If you must know, my wife passed away a little over a year ago,"
"Oh... I-I am so sorry. I'm sorry for being invasive. I'm sorry..."
"It's okay," I shrugged. "I'm trying to get over her but, it's hard, y'know?"
"Unfortunately, I do know," she sighed. "Wow, therapy session at the park," she laughed. "Charlie's father, my boyfriend, was in the military. He was shipped off before I got a chance to tell him I was pregnant. On Charlie's first birthday, I got a letter in the post saying that my boyfriend had passed..."
"Wow... I am so sorry, Jenny,"
"It's fine," she shrugged. "Its been five years since I last saw him and we fought a lot so, y'know... It's fine... So, were you and your wife close or did you fight a lot?"
"Yeah, we were really close," I mumbled.
"Hey, would you want to grab dinner with me sometime?" Jenny asked.
"I'm sorry? Are you flirting with me?" I smiled.
"Yes, I am,"
"So we have a little therapy session in the park and you want to have dinner with me?"
"Yeah, I do,"
"Why?"
"Well, if you must know, I find you quite cute," she smirked. "I was never one to waste time,"
"I can see that,"
"So? What do y'say?"
"I'll pick you up at six."

***

"I'm home!" I yelled.
"How was the park?" dad asked.
"It was good," I said, setting down the diaper bag. "Hey, can you watch Lydia tonight?"
"Why?"
"I, uh, I have a date tonight,"
"Really? With who?"
"Some girl I met at the park,"
"Oh god, I thought we raised you better than that,"
"I'm sorry?"
"You shouldn't be chasing after some skimpy girl,"
"She's not skimpy," I defended. "She's a very smart woman who happens to have a son,"
"What does she do for a living?"
"Don't know yet,"
"How old is she?"
"Don't know. But, I do know how old her son is,"
"How old is the boy?"
"He turned four last month,"
"What's her name?"
"Jennifer,"
"Well, I hope you guys have fun. Where are you taking her?"
"You know the fancy French place in town?"
"Oh yeah, that place is really nice. Have fun,"
"I will... So, you can take Lyd tonight?"
"Yes,"
"Great, thanks."

***

"Hi, sorry I'm late," Jenny apologized. "The sitter got there late and I got stuck in traffic. Oh, I'm sorry... How long were you waiting?"
"Not long," I smiled. "I ordered drinks; I hope that's alright,"
"Oh, yeah, that's great. What'd you get?"
"A bottle of wine,"
"Sounds lovely," she said.

She was in a flattering black dresses with black heels and diamond earrings. Her dirty blonde hair was curled and rested nicely on her shoulders. Her makeup complimented her slightly tanned skin, and her dark brown eyes. I must say, she looked quite beautiful.

"So, where did you go for university?" she asked.
"I'm actually still in Uni,"
"Really? What Uni do you go to?"
"Northampton,"
"How do you like it?"
"It's good,"
"What are you studying?"
"Law,"
"Nice," she nodded.
"What do you do for a living?"
"I'm a doctor,"
"That's really cool," I smiled. "What kind of doctor?"
"Pediatric surgeon,"
"Wow, so you do quite well,"
"Yeah, I do," she said. "So, how did your daughter get her name?"
"Well, at the beginning of my wife's pregnancy, she found out what her birth parents names were; they were Lydia and Charles. So, if we had a girl, she would name her Lydia and if we had a boy, his name would be Charles,"
"That's really cool," she smiled. "I find it sort of funny that my sons name is Charles," she said, sipping her wine.
"How did Charlie get his name?"
"Oh, it's a military thing," she giggled.
"I figured as much," I said. "If you don't mind me asking, what was your boyfriends name?"
"Joshua," she mumbled. "Your wife?"
"Stefanie,"
"That's a pretty name," she said. "Do you have any siblings?"
"A twin sister; her name is Delilah," I said. "You?"
"Only child,"
"Cool. So-" I was cut off by my phone vibrating in my pocket.

Dil With It is calling...

"I'm sorry, may I?"
"Oh, yeah, go ahead," she smiled.
"Thank you," I said. "What?"
"You're on a date!"
"Mhmm," I mumbled.
"When were you gonna tell me?"
"Never," I said. "May I return to me dinner?"
"Give the phone to your date,"
"What?"
"Give the phone to your date,"
"No! Bye, Dil," I said as I hung up. "I'm so sorry about that,"
"It's-"

Dil With It is calling...

"Ugh, I'm sorry," I mumbled. "What do you want? Leave me alone,"
"Give the phone to your date,"
"Dil-"
"I am your elder. Listen to me!"
"Fine," I huffed. "My sister would like to talk to you,"
"Okay," she chuckled. "Hello?"
"Name?"
"Jennifer,"
"Occupation?"
"Pediatric surgeon,"
"Age?"
"Twenty-seven,"
"Look here, I love my brother. If you ever hurt my little brother, or his daughter, I will have your fucking head. Do you hear me?"
"Yes, 'mam," she smiled.
"Good... Have him home by nine... That's when he normally puts Lydia to bed..."
"Will do," she giggled. "It was nice talking to you..."
"Delilah...but you can call me Dil..."
"It was very nice talking to you, Dil,"
"Take care of him,"
"Don't worry," she looked to me and flashed me a warm smile, "I will."