A Place to Land

Karen

           

"I told myself I was through"

It's been four months since Jimi and I have gotten engaged. We are thinking about getting married next May. We have most of our year planned out and May would be the best time to have the wedding because it is right before our summer tour would start.

We have been doing shows at fairs and festivals throughout the summer. Right now it is the end of July so we are in the middle of all of it. Aubree loves being on the road and loves the attention she gets while we're on a tour bus. She basically runs the show.

Aubree is seven months old. She can sit up by herself and roll over on her blanket when she sees something that she likes. She also has a tooth popping through and is really crabby all the time. Her favorite thing right now is the chew toys that have the gel that you freeze. The frozen toys seem to help so we try to always have them stocked.

Jimi and I have baby proofed the apartment because Aubree is just about to start crawling. She gets in the crawling stance, but hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet.

Mark on the other hand, hasn't seen her since she was three months old. Last time we saw him, I gave him a choice, to be in Aubree's life or not. I haven't heard from him since then. I went to see Melissa the other day. Her specialty is family courts and deals with a wide range of things such as divorce and custody. She said she would serve Mark papers to petition his parental rights once I talk to him. I told her I would do it because I think it should come from me, but first I want to talk to him to make sure that he hasn't all of a sudden decided to be a father.

It took me several days to finally get a hold of him. He said he would meet me for lunch at a casual restaurant at 12:30. I'm leaving Aubree with Jimi. He doesn't know that I'm meeting with Mark. I'm hoping that Mark will tell me he's done and will sign the papers. Then I can get the adoption process started for Jimi and surprise him. Melissa said she would be the witness for us if he agrees to sign them.

It's a little after 12:00 and Jimi is playing with Aubree in the living room while I got ready to go. I walked out of the bedroom wearing a pair of jean shorts and a mint green tank top. I grabbed a pair of silver sandals to go with. I walked into the living room to say bye to them.

"I'm going to go meet Melissa" I said and Jimi sat up. I wasn't completely lying to him because Melissa was meeting us there at 1:15.

"Okay. Have fun" he said. I crouched down and kissed him.

"I love you" I said.

"I love you too" he said with a smile.

"I love you too baby girl" I said and kissed the top of Aubree's head.

"I'll be back in a little while" I said.

"Have fun" Jimi said.

I grabbed my purse and car keys and headed out the door. I hated lying to Jimi, but I don't want to get his hopes up if Mark decides to change his mind. I know how much he loves Aubree and I know it would crush him if Mark decides not to sign the papers.

I made it to the car and took in a deep breath. I started the car and headed to the restaurant. I pulled in the parking lot and walked up to the doors. Mark was sitting on a bench in front of the hostess stand. Surprisingly, he was there before me. I walked up to him and he stood up. We didn't say anything.

"Booth or a table?" he asked.

"Booth please" I said and he walked to an open booth. We sat down across from each other.

"Where's the baby?" he asked and picked up the menu.

"With Jimi" I said.

"He offered to babysit?" he asked surprised and looked up at me.