Folding Hearts (Mitchell Family #2)(25)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I woke up to my daughter rambling. I sat up and noticed that she wasn’t even in the room. It took me a second to take in my new surroundings before I jumped up and rushed out into the living room. She could have walked into the bathroom and been playing in the toilet, or worse.

I froze when I spotted Bella, sitting in her chair, eating her dry cereal, while Ty sat across from her. “How did you get in here? Did I lock the door wrong?”

“No. I used my key. I figured that you would be awake, so I just came in. Izzy must have heard the door open, because she came running out of the bedroom carrying a bra and a diaper.” Ty had this half smile going, especially when he said the word ‘bra’.

I put my hand over my very embarrassed face.

“I changed the diaper, but the bra didn’t fit her at all.” He reached his hand out and handed me my pink bra.

I tucked it behind my back. “Smart ass!” I walked over and tossed my bra back into the bedroom. Bella must have been awake for a little while, because my whole bag was ripped apart on the bedroom floor.

When I got back out into the kitchen, Ty was still cackling over my underwear. I rolled my eyes and noticed that he had a cup in his hand. “Is that coffee?”

“Yep. There is a whole pot in the house, as well as some waffles. I came over here to tell you. I can’t believe that you were still sleeping. Izzy could have walked out and rode off on the horse.”

“Your morning humor is not exactly entertaining. Thank you for taking care of her. I will have to start closing the bedroom door and make sure nothing is within her reach. She gets into everything now.”

The tiny little cereal that was just on Bella’s tray was all gone. Ty shook the can to get her attention. “You want more?” She held out her hand for him to give her more. He opened the can and handed her a couple before picking her up. “Do you have another jacket I can put on her?”

I went back in the bedroom and grabbed her some clean clothes. Ty put her clothes on while I went and brushed my teeth. After getting her presentable we headed to the main farmhouse.

I looked around but noticed immediately that there was nobody else in the house, that I could tell. “Where is everyone?”

“Mom ran into town to do some church thing and my dad is around the farm somewhere. Coffee is fresh in the pot and how many waffles do you want?” He asked.

I sat down on a stool across the counter from him. After running my hands over my face a few times, I looked back up at him. “How in the hell are you so wide awake right now?”

He shrugged and turned to the coffee machine, where he poured me a big cup. He grabbed the milk and sugar and slid them over to me. “Here. This will help you wake up. My mother makes it thick. I am just warning you.”

I shook my head and started pouring the sugar bowl into my cup while Ty pulled out a box of frozen waffles. He started laughing when I giggled. “I was wondering how you were going to make waffles. Now I see that you only need a toaster.”

“I can cook. Stop complaining and tell me how many you want. Izzy is going to make you breakfast.” Ty handed Izzy a waffle and she put it to her mouth. It was frozen and the cold must have felt good because she kept chewing on it. He put one waffle in the toaster then showed her how to put hers in. She started banging her waffle on the top of the toaster. “Don’t beat it up. We want Mommy to be able to eat it.” He teased.

“So I get to eat the slobber waffle?”

He laughed and sat Izzy on the counter while still holding her. “I will eat the slobber waffle if you can’t handle it.”

“That is disgusting. If you knew the things she tried to put in her mouth, you wouldn’t be sayin’ that.” That child put everything in her mouth. God only knows what she had eaten that I didn’t know about.

Just like he had said, Ty took out the waffles and took a giant bite out of the one Bella had chewed on. “It tastes great to me!”

“That is so gross.”

He made more until we both had two each and we started to eat. Bella sat on his lap and he fed her small bites of his food. I think she was just sucking off the syrup for the most part.

“Did you call home and tell them everything is fine here?” He asked.

“Yes. I did it last night. I left a message. Things weren’t exactly happy when I left. I didn’t want to go anywhere, but they pushed the decision on me.” I explained.

“Well I am glad you came here. Working so much sucks because I can’t come visit. Izzy is getting so big so fast. I can’t believe how good she is walking and saying words.”

“It amazes me how much you love her. I wish her father would have felt that way about her.” I started to tear up. Not because I missed Tucker, or even wanted him to change now, but because there were men out there that weren’t even blood related that would do anything for her. How pathetic was that?

“She definitely has my heart. Ever since she was born I have felt that way. I hope it doesn’t bother you. I mean, I never would have chosen to be there that day, but now that it has happened, I couldn’t imagine not being there.” He reached for his back pocket and pushed his wallet across the table. “Look inside of it.”

When I opened that wallet, I never imagined that it would be filled with pictures of my child. There were at least six pictures, all of Bella. No hot models or pictures of him and Van like I would have thought. “How long have you been carryin’ these around?”

“Well, when she was born I wanted to have a picture when I told the story, then I just kept collecting them. Is it creepy?” He got a worried look on his face.

I looked at my daughter sitting on his lap and thought about how, if things were different, I would love to be with someone like him. I was aware of his past, but for some reason it just didn’t matter to me. He loved my daughter and made it clear we were just friends, so I had to settle for that. “She is lucky to have an uncle like you. Thank you, for everything Ty. I really mean that.”

He smiled and looked down at Bella. “Who is ready to go pet some stinky animals?” He said in a baby voice. “Say ‘I am Mommy’.” He raised Bella’s hand causing her to giggle.

We cleaned up our mess and headed out for a day at the petting zoo. Ty insisted on driving since he knew where he was going. Since my one jacket had been damp from the rain the night before, he lent me one of his college hoodies. It was too big, but very warm in the crisp spring air.