Haven

“Daddy, I’m turning seven! Do you know how many that is?” the little girl beamed, as she held up seven of her fingers with a small grin. “I think I’ll be old enough to take care of a hamster. I deserve one for my birthday. I mean, look how great I am with Poppy,” she inquired, trying to make a point to her dad as she called her dog over and started petting him. “My mom would never let me have one. She thinks I’ll kill it.” Daniel was in the kitchen making his usual Sunday night dinner of chicken tacos that Kylie loved so much, as he listened to her go on about all the things she wanted for her seventh birthday. He gleamed at all the ideas she brought up, and didn’t even disrupt her as she went on and on. 

“Your mother wouldn’t even let you have a fish, Ky. Remember she yelled at me for buying you that hella rad goldfish? I’m honestly not surprised she won’t let you have a hamster. ” He glanced over to his daughter once he was done chopping all of the ingredients, and gave her a reassuring smile, “you’re at my house three days a week, Ky. It’d be hard on me to keep an eye on it, while you’re not here. Especially since I’m doing a lot of work with trying to open my own restaurant. I think Poppy is good enough for now, okay?” He tried to explain to her in the most honest way possible; trying not to upset her. The almost seven year old let out a sigh, but then finally let out smile as she ran over to her dad giving him a hug, letting him know she understood.

She couldn’t pinpoint the exact day when it started, the nauseousness and just the overall feeling like she was coming down with something. At least that’s what Naomi thought it was, a stomach bug maybe. Of course it happened to occur over the holidays, which was never a good time to feel sick, but Naomi tried to ignore it. She had to get past it, it would only last a few days, right? But here they were, weeks later. Naomi wasn’t feeling any better, in fact she was feeling worse. It was like both of them knew what was happening, and she had to admit the idea had been in the back of her mind since she started getting sick....but it couldn’t be. Right?

But that’s how she found herself on that particular Sunday night in her bathroom, waiting. Naomi sat on the edge of the tub, her timer on her phone inching closer to the three minutes the test needed before she could see the results. Pieces of Daniel and Kylie’s conversation could be heard, but she didn’t pay attention to what they were saying. Her thoughts were screaming in her head, Naomi really didn’t know what to think about what could be happening. They had never really talked about kids, or even the possibility that Naomi could be pregnant again, it was like it was an unspoken rule between the two of them. But yet there she was. It all felt so familiar, like it was only yesterday that she was in the bathroom, with Daniel and Eric on the other side, just waiting for the results. She had thought that those few minutes were the longest of her life, until now. Naomi felt sick to her stomach. 

Brad Pitt? So you’re the reason him and Angelina aren’t together anymore? Hella rude.

Mel’s family always goes all out for Christmas, and she likes Kylie to be around all of that. I mean, I agree. It’s nice to have good memories of Christmas. I mean I never had Christmas as a kid, so I’m glad Kylie can be around her family that can give her that. Yeah, I wish I could be a part of it, but, I just want what’s best for her. We’ll do what we did last year, and celebrate Christmas early with her. It’ll still be great. She’s already looking forward to it.

Yep, it was all me. Oh, and Bradley Cooper. That’s why they won’t make movies together, they just start fighting over me. 

Do you realize how mature and fatherly that sounded? It was actually pretty adorable. I think it’s sweet that you want to her to have these good memories but I think she should have the chance to have real Christmas with you, too. Early Christmas is great, and all. But it’s not the same. Is she at least spending Thanksgiving here? 

Okay hold up, I got like twenty bucks in my pocket. I hope you got another man to get you all of that. 

Well, duh. I thought you knew about my other boyfriends...I’ve been with Brad Pitt for years.

Of course it’s big. I want the usual Barbie dream house, a pony -wait not, a unicorn, a brand new Mercedes and of course, the most important present of them all, a private concert from Beyonce.