"Joey, please," Craig said, the baby bag over his shoulder, Maude kind of hoisted awkwardly on one hip.
"Craig, no,"
Maude was one year old, a rambunctious child who got into everything. At Craig and Manny's apartment all the corners were covered with foam and the light sockets were plugged with plastic and anything even remotely breakable was up high and out of reach. But she could reach it.
"Joey, I know, but I have band practice tonight and I can't bring her, it's too loud-"
"That's unfortunate, Craig, but I have plans. You wanted to have this child and now you are going to have to take care of her. It's a sacrifice, in a way. You can't just run off and do whatever you want anymore. Call a babysitter,"
He sighed, watching Joey get ready for another date. Angie was god knew where. Maude pulled at his hair, getting a handful of curls and yanking. She was adorable, with big dark eyes and sandy brown hair that curled almost as much as Craig's. She laughed, pulling his hair again.
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Manny was out at cheerleading practice. No one was available to babysit. The dishes were piled too high in the sink but Craig didn't have the energy to do them. He never had any energy anymore. His cell phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Jesus, Craig, where are you?" It was Marco, and he could hear the band practicing behind him.
"I'm home. Couldn't find a babysitter,"
"So bring her," Marco said.
"No. It's too loud for her, it'll hurt her ears,"
"Okay. Bye, then,"
"Yeah, bye,"
He hung up, watched Maude pull at the edge of the curtains. She'd pull it down and he didn't care. He sat slumped in the chair, his legs stretched out in front of him. The T.V. was on with some bizarre cartoon that he didn't even think was educational, Maude wasn't watching it anyway. Then his phone rang again.
"Craig?" It was Manny, and he could hear the hollow sounds of shouts in the gym behind her.
"Yeah?"
"Don't forget to give Maude a bath tonight, okay?"
"Yeah. I won't forget,"
"Good. Tell her I love her," Manny said, and she sounded happy. Craig wondered at that.
"I will. I'll tell her,"
"I love you, too," she said.