“Still don’t get why you acted that way towards Ginger,” James stated, sounding simply confused now.
Lily leaned forward and in a whisper told him. “Look around, James. You notice how these people look at me? None of them are happy that I’m here. I don’t care what they think honestly, but it not only affects me. A. J. is marked because of me and if he bit into your girlfriend,” Lily explained, like she damn well deserved, she added silently. “Then he’d have become blacklisted by the pack, just like me. A. J. deserves to have a chance to belong,” she finished.
“So you slapped her and threatened her so A. J. wouldn’t look bad?” James asked and Lily nodded as she leaned back into her chair. Suddenly James got a large smile on his face.
“First she’s not my girlfriend and second I was going to say… it almost sounded like you were jealous,” he teased and she rolled her eyes.
“Please, James jealous of that? I don’t think so! But I am disappointed. I would hope you’d have better taste than that,” she replied with a sarcastic grin. James kept the smile but didn’t say anymore or maybe his silence was due to the waitress had arrived with their food. She didn’t eat much and preferred to make sure A. J. got his fill.
“Despite running into your girlfriend, this hasn’t been too bad James,” Lily admitted as she picked up A. J. and slide out of the booth when he was finished. “I need to get this little guy home for his nap,” she added as she stood.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” He said, as he stood up as well. “And I get the whole day remember Lily. We’ll take him to my place,” James offered and Lily shrugged with a nod of agreement. “He’s going to eventually spend some nights at my place so he’ll have to start getting used to it,” James suggested with a tone that made her feel like he was trying to goad her into fighting with him and it wasn’t the first time she had felt that way either. Well, he wasn’t going to get one.
“You’re right and that sounds like a good idea. Like I keep saying James, your day, your way,” she told him. Hopefully, he’d get the idea in his head that she wasn’t going to try and steal A. J. away from him. In fact, there was a good chance that when this was all over James would be the one to take care of him. The familiar pang in her chest struck through her as she thought about leaving A. J.
Lily tried to dispel the dark brooding feelings and walked out of the diner to James truck. She strapped A. J. in his car seat and sat in the truck, waiting for James to come out. He glanced in her direction when he got out but didn’t make any comments. By the time they had gotten to the brick apartment complex, A. J. was almost half asleep. Lily watched James with morbid pleasure as he tried to get A. J. out of the car seat but was failing miserably. Lily started to laugh at him shaking her head and deciding to put the man out of his misery.
“Here, let me show you,” she told him grabbing the straps. “You press here and then pull,” she explained feeling satisfied by the look of embarrassment on his face but knew those things were a lot more complicated than they looked. She held the half asleep boy and followed James into the building. Lily glanced around the house, surprised at how neat and homey it was. She had expected the typical bachelor pad. They really didn’t know each other very well, she realized. “He can sleep in my bed. It’s pretty big so I don’t think he’ll fall and get hurt,” James said walking out of the living room and into a hallway, sounding as if he’s explaining it more to himself than to Lily.
She followed him to where his bedroom was, feeling a little uncomfortable being in that particular room. “Alright A. J. time for a nap but first I want to tell you something important,” Lily told A. J. and he nodded sleepily. “This is your daddy A. J. and you’re going to sleep in his room okay,” she explained, noticing James look of surprise.
“Okay,” A. J. said half yawning then held up his arms towards James. “Daddy!” The look of surprise and awe on James’s face was priceless as he held A. J. It was all Lily needed to see to know that this was the right decision. He’d be a good father to her son, she didn’t have any doubts.
“Does he sleep like this?” James asked as they sat on his bed and Lily leaned against the door jamb nodding yes. She watched as he took off A. J.’s shoes and lay down with A. J. on his large bed. “Did you have fun today?” He asked the yawning toddler.
“Uh-huh,” A. J. replied sweetly moving his head up and down with another large yawn.
“That’s good, would you like to have your own room here with your own bed and toys too, the next time you come over,” James asked once more with a soft fatherly tone that made Lily smile. A. J. was going to have a good life there, she thought with a hint of sadness.
“Uh-huh,” A. J. mumbled already half asleep.
“Alright A. J. but now it’s time to sleep okay,” he told the little boy.
“Okay daddy,” A. J. mumbled again patting James on the face with another enormous yawn and snuggled up against him. A. J. was asleep in a matter of minutes, he must have really exhausted himself while playing at the park. She watched as James gave A. J. a light kiss on the top of his head then eventually getting up.
“You did good James,” she willingly admitted to him then pat him on the shoulder, but as soon as her hand touched his shoulder a strange warm tingling sensation ran through her hand and arm. The look on James’ face told her that he felt it too. Lily quickly removed her hand with a slight sense of panic. What the hell was that? She hurriedly went to the living room.
“So you really think I did good?” James asked and Lily was thankful that he was ignoring that… whatever it was. It was just static electricity Lily, she told herself. You work with too many electronic gadgets and it’s got you supercharged that’s all!
“Yeah,” she replied, her voice sounding a little tight so she cleared her throat. “Yeah James, you did good. A. J. has really taken to you…. You have a nice apartment,” she added, trying to not appear as awkward as she felt. She sat down on the couch, checking out the room some more.
“Thanks, it’s not much but it’s much better than moving from here to there, hotel room after hotel room,” he said sitting down in a chair next to her.
“I can imagine,” Lily replied with a small smile, not sure what more to say.
“You really have changed haven’t you,” James suddenly stated, giving her an intense look. The statement made her laugh a little and she nodded. “I’m curious though what did you find in Montana that caused it?”
“Well, I really didn’t find anything there. It was more like of what I found in myself,” she explained and glanced at James then back to her hands. “I didn’t like what I saw so I decided to change.”