Thanks again for the reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I enjoyed writing it. Also make sure you review the other M & E fics out there because I want those writers to update.
Madison and Mindy were at Burger King with Jake one night later in the week. Jake was playing in the playground area and Madison and Mindy were watching through the window.
"So? I was wondering if you were busy this weekend?" Madison asked.
"Not really, why? You want to do something?" Mindy inquired.
"Well, Ephram was wondering if you could watch Jake Saturday night." Madison said.
"Why can't you watch him?" Mindy asked back.
"Because uh, uh,..." Madison took a sip of her soda. "Because we're going out on a date?"
Mindy yelled, "A DATE?"
Madison whispered, "Keep your voice down. Everybody's looking at us."
"A date? Are you thinking clearly? A date with Ephram Brown, the father of your son?"
"Yes, a date and yes, I'm thinking clearly."
"Why? What spawned this? Wait, let me guess, the gambling trip. Ephram wooed you and swept you off your feet. Now you two are going on a date."
"Wait a minute here, you constantly remind me that he is the one that I let get away. You always tell me that I compare everyone to him and now that we actually have a chance and have gotten over all the obstacles with Jake, you don't want us to be together. Why are you being such a hypocrite?"
"I'm not being a hypocrite. I just don't want you to get hurt."
"Look, Ephram and I know what we're getting into. We've talked about this."
"When have you had time to talk about this?"
"This past Sunday morning."
Mindy started thinking about what Madison had just said. "What do you mean this past Sunday morning? Did you sleep with him?"
Madison smiled and took another sip of her soda.
"You slept with him! You've lost your mind now!"
"Will you quit being so loud and blurting out my business? I haven't lost anything. We knew what we were doing."
Madison's cell phone rang. She shuffled to pull it out of her purse while Mindy looked at her and then out the window at Jake.
"That him?" Mindy asked.
Madison smiled and answered the phone.
"Hello...Nothing much...We're at Burger King with Mindy... It's okay, I've been really busy...I'm asking her now... I'll call you back later tonight okay?... Alright... Umhmm...Talk to you then... Bye."
Madison slipped the phone back into her purse.
"Look, if you don't want to babysit, I'll just ask Rachel from down the street to watch him."
"I'll watch him, but I just want you to know I don't agree with this."
"Well, I appreciate your concern but don't worry about us. And one more thing, Jake isn't suppose to know about this date."
"You're lying to your son now."
"No, Ephram and I just think that we shouldn't get his hopes up too soon. Ephram and I need to see if we work out before bringing Jake into the mix."
"But he's already in the mix. He's your son."
"We're gonna take him with us sometimes but right now we are gonna focus on us right now."
"That's selfish of both of you."
"Thanks for being a supportive, Mind. Just be at Ephram's at 6 on Saturday. I gotta get Jake home."
Madison got up and walked out to get Jake from the playground.
Madison and Jake were pulling into the driveway when Jake saw Ephram sitting on the front porch.
"Daddy's here."
As soon as Madison parked the car, Jake hopped out and went running up to Ephram.
"What are you doing here?" Jake gave him a huge bear hug and then sat in his lap.
"Well, I haven't talked to you all week so I thought it would be a cool thing to come by and see you. How was Burger King?"
"How did you know we went there?"
"A bird told me."
"A bird did not."
"I know. I called Mommy and she told me."
Madison came up holding Jake's book bag and lunch box.
"What a nice surprise?"
"Yeah. I just got a urge to see Jake." Ephram smiled and got up carrying Jake and then winked at Madison.
They walked in the house and Madison turned to Jake and said, "Go get ready for your bath, sweetie. Maybe Daddy can help you tonight."
"Okay."
"Yeah, go grab your pjs and stuff and I'll be in there to help you." Ephram put down Jake and he took off towards his room.
Madison walked into the kitchen with book bag and lunch box and put them on the table and Ephram followed her.
"You okay?"
Madison was pulling out papers from Jake's book bag. She pulled out a picture and looked at it then put it on the refrigerator under a magnet.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Mindy just made me mad, that's all."
"Look, we can take Jake with us if Mindy's gonna make a big deal out of babysitting for us." Ephram said as he walked over to the refrigerator to look at Jake's drawing.
"No, this is our first date. I just can't believe she acted the way she did." Madison said as she sat down at the kitchen table.
Ephram turned and stood behind her and started to massage her shoulders and said, "Look, I'm gonna go give Jake a bath and then get him ready for bed. You relax and when I get back we'll talk, okay."
Madison let out a moan while he was massaging her shoulders, "Please don't stop."
Ephram stopped, "Sorry. Got a 4 year old running the water in the tub unsupervised. I'll be back." He kissed the top of her head and scurried out of the kitchen toward the bathroom yelling, "Here I come. You ready, Jake?"
Ephram ran into the bathroom and Jake was naked and put some bubble bath in the water.
"What are we doing with the bubbles there, kiddo?"
Jake started through in toys as the bubbles started to grow.
"I'm going to look for treasure."
"I see. Hop in so we can get you to bed on time."
Jake hopped in the water and Ephram started to bathe him.
"Daddy?" Jake was digging around in the water trying to find his toys.
"Yes, sir."
"Can I have Jimmy come over and play with me on Saturday?"
"Umm... I don't know."
"Please, Daddy. I really want him to."
"Okay, but no spending the night."
"Thanks, Daddy." Jake stood up in the tub and hugged Ephram before he could stop him.
"Oohh, Jake. Now I'm all wet."
"Sorry, Daddy." Jake felt bad and he sat back down in the water.
"It's okay. Let me finish bathing you and I'll read you a story before I leave."
They finished up in the bathroom and Ephram started reading him a Curious George book and before Ephram could finish Jake was asleep. Ephram thought to himself that was easy and gave Jake a kiss and left the room. He went back into the kitchen to look for Madison. She wasn't in there so he went into the den. Madison was laying down on the couch with the television on. She had changed into some shorts and t-shirt and had fallen asleep. Ephram went a knelt down beside her and touched her arm.
"Madison, I'm gonna head home."
Madison opened her eyes.
"Jake asleep?"
"Yeah. Didn't even get through the whole story. I'm just gonna go since you're tired. I'll see you Saturday."
"Thanks for giving him a bath and putting him to bed."
"Sure." Ephram rubbed her arm and just looked at her knowing she was exhausted. "I better go. Get some rest."
"Bye." Madison replied and closed her eyes again.
Ephram left and went home.
