What If?
"Mom! I need fifty dollars for the sleepover!" Ciara wined.
"Tell me again why you need fifty dollars for a sleepover?" Hope asked, fishing into her wallet.
Ciara rolled her eyes. "I told you, it's a shopping party. We need to give twenty for dinner and dessert, and then any other money for shopping. I need thirty dollars to shop with. I simply can't go with anything less."
Hope shook her head. "You get twenty for shopping, so you'll have to go with less." She handed her two twenties.
"But mom!" Ciara tried.
Hope shook her head. "No buts, Ciara. You're lucky you're even getting the twenty. You have lots of nice things already. You really don't need to shop."
Ciara stomped her foot. "You're not being fair."
Hope raised an eyebrow. "I can give you nothing to go with. How about that?"
Ciara glared at her.
Hope glared right back at her.
They didn't have any more time to argue. Ciara's friend's mother's van beeped outside.
"Thanks for nothing!" Ciara said, snatching the two twenties out of her mother's hand then leaving the house with a slam of the door.
Hope rolled her eyes. Ciara was getting a bit out of control lately. She knew she missed her father, but there was nothing Hope could do about that.
Had Hope not had a date with Aiden tonight, she would have grounded Ciara and forbade her from going to the party. However, if she did that, she would be stuck home with an angry, miserable daughter and no alone time with Aiden, and that simply wouldn't do. Handling Ciara could wait.
With a smile, Hope headed up the stairs to get ready for her date.
Meanwhile, Aiden was at home preparing Chase for a sleepover of his own.
"I don't wanna go. Tyler is such a bore," Chase complained.
"I'm sorry, but his mother is a very important client of mine and she wants you to sleep over. Her son doesn't have many friends, and she wants him to get to start making new ones," Aiden replied.
"But why do I have to be one of them?" Chase wined.
"Because, like I said, I am representing his mother in hew lawsuit, and I don't want to lose her business," Aiden calmly explained.
"Do you really think she'd dump you as a lawyer just because your son doesn't want to hang out with her son?" Chase asked, an eyebrow raised.
Aiden nodded. "Yes. She is definitely that type of woman. She would take it personal."
Chase sighed. "Why do I have to suffer because of your job?"
"It's part of being a family, Chase. Sometimes you have to do things you don't like for family. Now go grab your backpack. She'll be here to pick you up at any moment."
Chase let out a frustrated cry, then stomped up the stairs.
Aiden sighed, and shook his head. Lately that boy complained about everything he was told to do. Aiden had no idea what had gotten into him. He used to be such a sweet boy. Now he was turning into a complainer.
The car beeped outside.
"Chase, they're here! Hurry up!" Aiden called up the stairs.
Chase reluctantly came down the stairs. "He doesn't even like video games. He thinks they're stupid. In school all he likes to do is study and ready historical novels."
Aiden placed his fingers to his temples. "Chase, I'm sure Andrew is a nice kid. Just give him a chance."
Chase rolled his eyes at him. "Like I have a choice!"
Aiden hugged him. "Thank you for doing this for me. I appreciate it."
Chase briefly hugged him back, then let go. "Whatever. You owe me one." He then hiked his backpack up on his shoulders, and left the house after looking at his father and making a motion as if he were being hung.
Aiden shook his head. He then waved to Andrew's mother from the doorway, then shut the door. He felt a little bad, but Chase was just going to have to deal with it. It wasn't going to hurt him to step outside his friendship comfort zone once in a while. After all, it wasn't exactly like Chase had many friends either outside of Ciara.
Aiden checked the time. He had a less than an hour before he was to meet Hope at her place. He quickly ran upstairs to shower, and get ready for his date.
Hope opened the door and smiled when she saw Aiden in jeans and a tight fitting blue tee shirt. She wrapped her arms tightly around him. "You look so sexy when you're not in your suit. Not that you don't look good in a suit. You certainly do. But there's something about seeing you in every day clothes that really turns me on," she purred, slowly running her hands up his chest.
He licked his lips. "Anything you wear turns me on, but that short red dress…" He winced. "Oo! Let's just say, it's hard for me to not tear it off you right now."
She grinned, and they kissed.
"So, where shall we go tonight?" Hope asked.
"Anywhere as long as it ends in the bedroom," Aiden teased.
"As if it would end anywhere else. Plus, the kids are both gone tonight, so you can stay the whole night," Hope purred into his ear. She gently nibbled on his earlobe.
Aiden pulled her closer. "What do you say, we order a pizza in, and stay in bed all night? We can eat dinner and watch a movie, and then we'll already be in bed so we can…" he trailed off.
Hope moaned. "Where should we order the pizza from?"
Aiden grinned. "Anywhere as long as I can have you as my dessert."
Hoped grinned as well, then headed off to find the number for Dominos.
An hour later, they were in bed, feeding each other slices of pizza.
Aiden licked his lips and swallowed his bite of pepperoni pizza. "You know, I used to be the type of guy who would think feeding each other is lame."
Hope smiled, and fed him another bite. "And now?"
Aiden chewed his bite and swallowed it before answering. "Now, I'm beginning to see what is so special about it." He fed Hope a bite of her pineapple pizza. I guess I just never had the right person to feed before."
Hope swallowed her bite of pizza, and wiped her mouth. "It tastes even better when you taste it on the lips."
Aiden licked his lips.
"Not your own lips, silly!" Hope says, playfully swatting him on the shoulder. "My lips."
Aiden's eyes lowered. "Well, I already know those taste good."
They kissed.
They then went back to watching their movie. They set the empty breadstick and pizza boxes down on the floor when they were done. Their empty cups were set on the dresser.
Hope snuggled against Aiden's chest, loving the smell of his cologne.
Aiden placed his arm around her, and together they watched a movie.
The movie was about a two families, whose children had been switched at birth. Thankfully, they were able to figure out the mistake only a few months after the switch. Even so, the two families remained so close that they bought houses next to each other, and now raised both children together.
"Can you imagine if Chase and Ciara were switched at birth and Ciara was actually mine while Chase was actually yours?" Aiden asked.
Hope smirked. "Um, if any doctor made that mistake, he or she would have no business being a doctor."
Aiden laughed. "I know, I know. One is a girl and one is a boy, so it would never happen. But say there never was a switch. Say I was always Ciara's Dad, and you were always Chase's mom, and we were both single parents. Wouldn't that be weird?"
"Well, if it was always that way, it wouldn't be weird to us, but thinking of it now, me being Chase's mom, and you being Ciara's Dad, yeah, it's a little weird," Hope agreed. "Actually, the way Ciara has been acting lately, I'd gladly take Chase for a nice little break!"
Aiden shook his head. "I don't know. I think I could handle Ciara. Chase is a handful lately."
Hope turned off the TV, then clicked off the lights. "Let's not talk about our children. Tonight is the one night we have to enjoy without them. Right now all I want to concentrate on is getting you out of those clothes and into me."
Aiden gasped. "That doesn't sound like the clean-cut Hope I know."
Hope shrugged and smirked, then undid his jeans. "What can I say? Being with you brings out the dirty in me."
Aiden licked his lips. "I like this side of you." He kissed her, his hands making their way underneath her shirt to undo her bra.
After a long session if intense lovemaking, both Hope and Aiden were exhausted. They lie in bed in each other's arms, sleep not taking long to claim both of them.
Hope slipped into a dream almost immediately.
"Mom, can we spend the day together since I don't have school today?"
Hope smiled at Chase as he came down the stairs, all dressed and ready for the day. "Of course we can! What would you like to do? Bowling maybe?"
"I'm always afraid I'll drop the ball and it will fall on my toe. I'm not really that strong," Chase said.
"Well, how about mini golf?" Hope suggested next.
Chase shook his head. "I'm not coordinated enough. I can never get the ball in the hole. Can we not do anything outdoors? My allergies act up this season."
"Sure. Um… How about we go out to lunch, then go shopping?" Hope suggested next. "We can even see a movie after."
"All right, I suppose," Chase agreed.
"What would you like to do? We can do anything you'd like."
"The mall is fine. Can we stop at the arcade? There's one in the mall."
Hope nodded. "Of course.
So, they got ready, and headed to the mall.
They stopped at the arcade first, and played Skee-Ball upon Hope's request. Chase kept getting the balls into the lowest slot. He looked at Hope after Hope had crushed him in scores. "I told you my hand-eye coordination wasn't good."
"Well, at least you got them all into a slot instead of straight to the gutter," Hope said, patting him gently on the back.
Chase winced.
"What's wrong?" Hope asked with concern.
"I have a sensitive back," Chase replied.
"Well, that's a new one," Hope said with a sigh. "I'm sorry."
Hope watched at Chase played some video games for a while, but after a half hour, she was starting to get hungry and bored. "All right, let's go eat now," she said.
Chasse agreed, and they went to a restaurant in the mall.
They looked over their menus, and when they waitress came, Hope ordered. However, when it was Chase's turn to order, he only ordered a soda.
"Aren't you hungry?" Hope asked him.
"I am, but there's nothing on the menu I like," he said.
"But there are a lot of choices on the menu. You don't see one thing you'd like?" she asked.
Chase shook his head. "I'm a picky eater."
"Do you like grilled cheese sandwiches? We can have one made up for you," the waitress offered.
Chase shook his head. "I'm lactose intolerant without my pills. I forgot to take them today."
Hope sighed, then looked at the waitress. "I'm sorry. I know how picky he is. I should have known better than to come here. I guess we're going to eat somewhere else."
The waitress smiled knowingly. "That's okay. I have kids of my own. I completely understand."
Hope nodded at Chase. "Come on. We'll go to McDonald's."
Chase grinned. "All right!"
So, off to McDonald's it was.
After their hamburgers and fries, they headed over to the mall's shops.
"Do you like this shirt, Honey? I think you'd look so cute in it!" Hope said, holding up a blue and green plaid shirt to Chase in front of the mirror.
Chase shrugged. "It's okay. Whatever you think I should wear is fine."
"Well, I want you to like it too. You can wear whatever you want. Within reason of course. What would you like to wear?" Hope asked.
Chase looked around. He smiled when he saw a red tee shirt, and handed it to Hope. "This."
Hope looked at the shirt. It had a white stick figure passing a gas can to another white stick figure. Above the shirt it read, "Passing gas."
She looked at Chase with an eyebrow raised. "Really? You really think this shirt looks nice," she said the last part as more of a statement than a question.
Chase nodded. "Yes, don't you?"
"Not really," Hope said.
"You can get me whatever you'd like me to wear. I'm really not into shopping," Chase said.
Hope sighed. She brought both shirts, then led Chase out of the store. "What movie would you like to see?"
Chase shrugged. "I've already seen everything I want to see. You pick."
Hope shook her head. "Everything I suggest, you're not into it. You pick something."
"Can it be anything?" Chase asked, his face lighting up.
Hope nodded. "Name it."
Chase grinned.
A half hour later….
"I'm going to get killed," Hope said as she stood on top of the skateboarding ramp at the skate park. She had a helmet, wrist pads, and knee pads on, but she still didn't feel safe.
"Come on, Mom! It's easy. If I can do it, you certainly can!" Chase urged her. "Watch!" He then pushed off the ramp, and zoomed down in a flash. He appeared at the top of the other side of the ramp in no time. "Now you try!" he called out.
Hope swallowed hard. "I don't know. Maybe I should just watch you while you skate."
"Excuse me lady, but go your turn! I don't have all day," a punk teenager beside Hope complained.
Hope was about to tell him off, but the punk pushed her, forcing her to take her turn.
Hope screamed as she went down. Whoosh! She flew down the ramp in hardly any time at all. Though, instead of coming up easily on the other side like Chase had, she flew backwards and landed hard on her back in the middle of the ramp. Her skateboard went flying.
"You're balance wasn't very good, Mom. You were supposed to lean forward!" Chase called down to her. "It's all about the balance!"
"Aren't you going to even ask me if I'm okay?" Hope asked in a pained voice. Everything hurt.
"Mom, look out!" Chase suddenly called out.
"Lookout, Lady! Coming through!" came a teenage voice.
"Huh?" Hope looked and saw that a skateboarder was coming right at her head! She had no time to get up. The skateboarder was going to crash right into her.
Meanwhile, Aiden was having a dream of his own…
"Daddy, I met this cool boy," Ciara said she ate breakfast with Aiden at the pub before school.
Aiden smiled. "Did you? What's his name?"
"Tommy," Ciara said before taking a bite of her scrambled eggs.
"That's sweet. Does he go to school with you?" Aiden took a sip of his coffee.
Ciara shook her head. "Oh no. He's a senior in high school."
Aiden nearly choked on his coffee. He set the mug down. "Oh, so you met this boy how?"
"He is Kimmy's older brother. I saw him when I slept over her house the other night, and I fell in love. He's so cute!"
"Did he talk to you or anything?" Aiden asked, immediately going into protective father mode. He took another sip of his coffee.
Ciara grinned and nodded. "Yes! He told me I was cute, and that he bet all the boys liked me. Then, he touched me."
This time Aiden did start choking on hic coffee. He set his mug down, unable to stop coughing. "He touched you?" he asked angrily between coughs.
Ciara got up and began to pat her father's back. "Yes, he put his hand on my head and mussed my hair up. He then told his friend, who by the way isn't nearly as cute as Tommy is, that I'm such a little cutie."
Aiden relaxed, and was finally able to stop coughing. "Oh. Well, honey, I can assure you that he just likes you as a little kid. You are way too young to be interested in a boy of that age. You're especially way too young for a boy that age to like you in return."
Ciara went and sat down in her chair again. "I don't see why I am too young. I'm a woman now. I got my period last night!"
Aiden paled. He really wasn't cut out to be the single father of a girl. However, when his wife had died in a freak accident, he was left a single dad whether he was cut out for it or not. He had always thought he'd be married by the time she got her…period. Now, here his little girl was, on her period, and alas, he wasn't married.
"Can we go to the store before school? I really needs some pads. None of my friends have theirs yet, so I don't know if I'm making the right decision. Should I get tampons instead?" Ciara asked.
Aiden blushed. "I…uh…I don't know."
"Well, what did mom wear?" Ciara pressed.
Aiden blushed more. "She liked pads better. I'm really not comfortable with this conversation. Come on. I'll take you to the store. Maybe a woman clerk can help you out." He laid down the bill and tip money, then he and Ciara headed out. The pharmacy was on the way to school.
Aiden headed over to the first woman employee he could find. "Can you please help my daughter pick out something for her…" Aiden trailed off, trying to think of how to put it delicately.
Ciara rolled her eyes. "My period, Dad. I have my period."
Aiden covered his face with his hands. "Oh gosh."
The lady employee laughed. "Of course I will help her!"
Aiden uncovered his face and relaxed. "Thank you. I greatly appreciate it. Trust me."
He stayed back while the lady helped Ciara pick out a package of pads.
"These are better for girls your age," the lady explained to her.
"Thank you," Ciara said with a smile.
Aiden followed Ciara to the checkout to pay for them.
Ciara wandered off while Aiden was paying for them, and once Aiden had finished paying for them, he headed over to find Ciara. He stopped short when he saw her smiling at some tall, handsome guy. She was twirling her hair and giggling.
Aiden cleared his throat, and stood beside her. "Who's your friend?" he asked Ciara.
Ciara smiled at him. "Dad, this is Tommy. You know, the older boy I was telling you about earlier?"
Aiden smiled politely at Tommy and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Tommy."
"It's nice to meet you too, Sir. You have an adorable little daughter," Tommy replied, shaking his hand.
Aiden nodded a polite thanks. "Thank you. Now if you'll excuse us, I have to get her off to school." He turned to Ciara and handed her the bag. "Here are your pads. Do you need to put one on before school?"
Ciara's face turned bright red. "Dad!"
"What?" Aiden asked, oblivious.
Tommy snickered. "I'll catch you later, Ciara. It was nice meeting you, Ciara's dad."
Aiden nodded and waved at him. "It was nice meeting you too, Tommy."
"Let's go," Ciara said coldly to Aiden.
"What? What did I do?" Aiden asked in surprise.
"You embarrassed the heck out of me! Do you really need to ask?" Ciara asked him.
"How was that embarrassing? All I did was give you your pads and ask if you needed one before school."
Ciara narrowed her eyes at him. "Exactly."
Aiden shrugged. "I'm still not getting it."
Ciara let out a cry of frustration and stomped out of the store.
"What?" Aiden called after her. "It's not like you're the only woman who gets her period! He must know at his age that women get them! What's the big deal?"
He followed after his daughter out of the store, wishing yet again that he didn't have to be a single father raising a daughter.
Later that night…
Ciara had been giving him the silent treatment all night. Even over dinner, she hadn't said a word to him. He has resulted in letting her eat alone while he ate in his room and watched the game.
When he was about to go to bed, she knocked on his door.
"Come in," he called out.
She stood outside his door carrying a cup of tea. "May I come in?" she asked timidly.
Aiden nodded. "Of course!"
She sat down beside him. "I made you some chamomile tea to help you sleep better. I'm sorry about today. I know you were just trying to help," she said.
Aiden took the tea from her. "I'm the one who's sorry. I should have known better. I can be clueless sometimes. It's hard being a dad raising a daughter alone, you know?"
Ciara nodded. "I understand. Do you think I could go to the movies with Tommy tomorrow? He really wants to see the new slasher film that's out, and so do I."
Aiden sighed. "Honey, I'm sorry, but no. Tommy is way too old for you. Trust me, he isn't interested in you. Anyway, I don't think you're old enough to watch a movie like that. It will give you nightmares."
"I understand. Drink your tea, Dad. It's good. It will help you sleep," Ciara said, nudging the cup toward his lips.
Aiden smiled at her. "Thank you for understanding, Sweetie, and thank you for the tea. It was very thoughtful of you." He took a long swig of his tea. "Mm, this is so good." He continued to drink more.
Ciara smiled at him and watched him drink. "Good, isn't it?"
Aiden nodded. "It's absolutely delicious!" He drank the rest of his tea down. He then set the mug down on his nightstand and yawned. "I'm suddenly so tried."
"I told you'd it'd make you sleep," Ciara said, an odd grin on her face.
"Yeah, but I didn't think it would hit me this hard this fast…" Aiden said.
"Normally, it wouldn't. But when it has three sleeping pills in it, it does," Ciara stated.
Aiden looked at her. "Excuse me?"
"I needed to sedate you. I wanted to use three just to make sure it really got the job done," Ciara explained.
"Ciara! What on earth have you done? Why?" he gasped, panic rising in his throat. He had to call 911!
"I'm sorry, Daddy, but it wasn't very nice of you to say that Tommy wouldn't be interested in me. I also don't like you embarrassing me in front of him, or trying to tell me what I can and cannot do," Ciara said, slowly moving towards him.
"Ciara, this is serious! Call 911 right now!" Aiden weakly barked. He was just so tried…
"I am being serious, Dad. Dead serious." Ciara grabbed a pillow, then looked at him coldly in the eyes, her eyes black, and void of any emotion. "Goodbye, Dad. Tell mother I said hello."
"Ciara, wait! Ciara, I'm sorry. Ciara, no!" Aiden screamed as she slowly began to lower the pillow over his face.
Hope and Aiden both screamed, waking themselves up. They looked at each other, and said in unison, "I had a nightmare!"
"About what?" they asked, again, in unison.
"One at a time. You first," Aiden said to her.
Hope sighed, and told him all about her Chase dream.
Aiden laughed when she was done, then told her about his Ciara dream.
Hope raised an eyebrow. "You actually thought my daughter would try to kill you?"
"Well, you seem to think my son is a picky, wimpy, bore!" Aiden defended himself.
Hope shrugged. "It's better to think that then to think he's a killer."
"Good point, but you have to admit, your daughter can be a little scary sometimes," Aiden said.
"I'll admit no such thing!" Hope replied. Her nose in the air.
"Look, I don't really think she's capable of murder. She's a sweet little girl when she's not scheming," Aiden said.
Hope smiled. "She does like to scheme. I don't think Chase is a picky, wimpy bore. I love that boy! He's sweet, and well mannered. I just don't think our ideas of fun always match, but that's completely normal. He's a little boy and I'm a grown woman!"
Aiden grinned. "You would look rather cute all suited up on a skateboard."
Hope kissed him. "Sorry, my Love, but you're never going to find out!"
Aiden laughed. "That's good. I wouldn't want you getting hurt." He pulled her into his arms and kissed her softly on the lips.
"As much as I love Chase, I'm glad Ciara's mine and Chase is yours," Hope said.
Aiden nodded. "Same here. But, one day if we end up raising them together, I can handle it as long as I have you by my side."
Hope nodded. "Ditto." She smiled, and gently stroked his hair. "Now, no more talk about the kids. Make love to me again, Mr. Jennings."
Aiden lowered his eyes, and pulled her closer. He kissed her, and gently lowered her beneath him. She didn't have to ask him twice.
*The End*