Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 36553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
What I didn’t expect was to wake up this morning, freezing to the bone and feeling awful. I sent a quick text to Ezra to let him know I’ll be out for the next couple of days. His response said he hoped it was worth it. Fucker. I’m not bothering giving him the satisfaction of a response.
“Hey, Mom.” She answers right away. Calling her was the right thing to do. If not, she would have to hear the news from Ezra, get upset, and yell at me through the phone.
“Hey, honey, what are you up to today? Back with Vanessa?” Her voice is always cheery, no matter if it’s six o’clock in the morning or now, closer to eight. A morning person through and through, unlike myself, who doesn’t converse unless absolutely necessary unless it’s via email.
“Nope, it’s my turn to have whatever Vanessa had. I figured I’d call you before Ezra did. I’ll be home for the next couple of days.” One, two, three, and there she goes.
“Oh, Parker, you haven’t been sick in so long. Take care of yourself. Better yet, why don’t I take the day off work, travel down, and stay for a few days just in case you get worse?” I take a deep breath, loving that she’s offering to drop everything to come down here, and while I love having her here, I really don’t want my mother to get sick.
“Mom, don’t. Then you’ll get sick and miss more work. The daycare needs you.” She lives for taking care of children. I firmly believe had she not been saddled with my father, things would have been different, starting with having as many children as she possibly could.
“Parker Matthew Hudson, are you trying to keep me away from my son, a son I birthed?” Mom is laying it on thick, and if I don’t shut this down, she’ll call Ezra, and he’ll have her at his house so she can keep an eye on me through a window if need be.
“No, I’m not. How about we put our plans on hold, and you come down on Friday if I’m better? Then we’ll resume our plans and you can stay for the weekend,” I offer, though I’m shooting myself in the foot because now my date with Nessa will have to be pushed even further out if Mom accepts.
“Alright, when you put it that way.” Thankfully, she agrees with me.
“Okay, I’m going to get off the phone and get some sleep. Love you, Mom.”
“Love you. Feel better.” We both hang up.
The next task is to call Vanessa. She’s still home from work today. The hospital told her they’d rather she take more time off instead of carrying anything lingering around. Another thing about Nessa that I learned, she works at the same hospital the charity sponsored, working with children day in and day out, seeing families and children have good days and bad days, watching as some go home recovering completely while others go home to say goodbye to their children. I don’t know how she handles it as well as she does. My phone is pressed to my ear as I listen to it ring on the other end until Vanessa answers. I could have texted her like I did Ezra, and I would have if I thought she wouldn’t question me. I knew that wouldn’t be the case, so calling her was a necessity.
“Hi, I wasn’t expecting to hear from you this early.” I look at the clock, realizing it’s not even nine o’clock in the morning. I waited as long as I could after calling Mom, my body fighting sleep. I grimace at the thought my call may have woken her up.
“Hey, I didn’t wake you up, did I?” I ask before jumping into the reason for calling.
“No, I’ve slept so much lately that my body had me up as soon as the sun was shining.” An interesting fact, since her room was dark yesterday morning when we woke up. She must have opened the drapes at some point when I wasn’t looking.
“And you’re still feeling better?” I’m unwilling to admit that my own throat is scratchy or that my fever has yet to break since I woke up nearly two hours ago. The pain reliever I had on hand is doing absolutely nothing.
“Much. Thank you again for taking care of me, Parker.” I hear the gratefulness in her tone, and I’m reluctant to give her the bad news now more than ever.
“Anytime, Nessa. I’m going to have to reschedule our date we hoped to have tonight.” I’m more than annoyed at the fact.
“Oh, no.” Her voice softens. “Is it work and that I took you away from it yesterday?” I could take off a fucking month without anyone blinking an eye. Sure, they’d give me hell because they’d be picking up my slack. The only difference between me and the others is, I’m a workaholic, meaning the only time I take time off is when it’s a national holiday. Still, you’ll find me in my home office.