Let's Be Crazy (Oh Captain, My Captain Book 4) (6 page)

Ashton

“I’m not so sure about this, Ashton,” Lexie says for the third time.

“It’s a playdate for the kids where I happen to be there instead of Brooke. There’s nothing to worry about. I’m about to pick Reed up and then I’ll be there, so be ready.” I pause and add, “My son will be there too. We’re in the same boat, remember? I’m not going to make out with you in front of the children, Lexie. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“You’re right. Sorry. We’ll be ready.”

“Good.” I hang up as I park the truck. Reed comes running out of the house with Brooke close behind him, both smiling. He jumps into my arms when I step out of the truck. “Hey, little man. Ready to go?”

“Yep! Sadie is coming too, right?” He looks worried for a second before I nod.

“Have fun,” Brooke tells him. He leans over to kiss her cheek, exchanging an ‘I love you’, and Brooke faces me. “No fast food.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, yeah, we know.”

“Both of you behave.” Brooke gives me a look. What is it with these women?

“We will, Momma,” Reed promises. “Can we go now?”

“Of course.”

We get all buckled in, Reed going on and on about Sadie and all the fish we’ll see at the aquarium. When we arrive at Lexie’s, he breaks away from me once we get close to their door. He knocks repeatedly.

“Reed, stop. Three knocks is enough.”

The door opens and Sadie is standing on the other side. “Reed, we’re going to see fish today!” she squeals with excitement, even jumping up and down.

“I know. Let’s go.” He reaches for her hand and turns, but I stop him.

“Wait just a second, you two. Lexie is coming too. Where’s your mom, Sadie?”

Sadie sighs. “She keeps changing clothes.”

“Sadie,” Lexie hisses, coming up behind her. “I’m ready. Get your coat on.”

I grin. “Are you sure? Do you want to change again before we go?”

“Hush,” she waves me away. “Let’s go.”

Things are quiet between us as the kids ramble in the back seat. I keep hold of Reed’s hand and Lexie does the same for Sadie until we reach the admissions counter. Lexie gives me a look after I pay for all of our tickets, but I ignore it. Sadie and Reed start oohing and aahing immediately. They press their hands against the glass as the peer at all the fish, Lexie and I following close behind them.

We walk up to a tank that has a bunch of seahorses and smaller fish inside. A group of kids surround it, all excited and mesmerized.

Sadie stops her foot and whines, “I can’t see anything.” She crosses her arms in a pout.

“Here, I’ll help.” I bend down to pick her up, but as soon as I do, Reed pipes up too.

“I can’t see either.”

“Maybe if you eat something other than chicken nuggets, you’ll start growing. Might want to try those veggies next time. C’mon.” I crouch down a little to lift him up as well, a kid on each hip. They are heavy too. Reed and Sadie lean forward a little to see even better and I look at Lexie. “Can you see?”

She giggles. “I’m fine, thank you.”

I smile at her. Once the kids are done looking, I put them back down and ask, “Who is ready to see the sharks?”

Sadie looks up at me, then glances at Lexie and Reed. “Like...like real sharks? I thought we were just going to see the fish.”

“Duh, they’re real sharks. Sharks are fish too, Sadie.” Reed rolls his eyes at her, and I poke his shoulder in warning.

“But what if the glass breaks, and they try to eat us, like on
Finding Nemo
?”

“Those were good sharks. Remember?” Reed answers.

“Oh yeah.” She nods before tugging on my shirt a little. “Mr. Ashton, are these good sharks?”

“Yep, sure are,” I reassure her. “We are going to walk through a little tunnel, and they’ll swim around above us.”

That might not have been the best thing to say based on how scared she looks now, but I wanted to let her know what was going to happen. The little girl takes a deep breath, getting very serious. “Can I hold your hand in case the glass breaks?”

“Yes, you can.” She grabs my hand and I add, “You might need to hold Reed’s hand too.”

“Okay,” she nods in agreement as she takes his, “but hold Mommy’s, so we don’t lose her either.”

I hold back my laugh. “All right.” With a hand outstretched to Lexie, I ask, “Are you ready now too?”

With ease, she intertwines her fingers with mine and nods. As we walk towards the shark exhibit, she leans in and whispers, “If I didn’t know better, I would think you planned this.”

“I’m not that good,” I laugh.

“And here I thought you were,” she winks.

Reed becomes fascinated as we stroll through the little tunnel. He points things out to us and gets excited when the sharks get close to us. Sadie, on the the other hand, keeps squeezing my hand and looking around nervously.

We’re about halfway through when Sadie tilts her head back as a shark swims overhead. “I don’t like it in here. Where’s the end?”

“We’re almost there,” Lexie tells her.

She takes a step closer to me. “Can’t we go now?”

Hearing Sadie, Reed turns to me. “I don’t want to leave the tunnel early, Dad. This is too cool.”

I crouch to be at eye level with her. “You look like a brave little girl. Are you sure you want to hurry out?” She quickly nods. “I think there are some jellyfish at the other end. If it’s okay with your mom, I could go show you and she could stay here with Reed?” I glance over my shoulder at Lexie.

“That’s fine. Reed, you want to look at the sharks with me?”

Reed does, of course, so Sadie and I hurry out to find the jellyfish. About a minute or so of her not talking, she looks at me curiously. “Is this what other daddies do with their kids?”

Oh. I try my best to answer in a way she would understand, and that won’t get me in trouble with Lexie. “If they can, yes, they do. Sometimes, they can’t.”

“I bet if my daddy was here, he would take me places,” she tells me with such surety. “Reed’s lucky.”

“I bet he would too, Sadie. But I’m sure you have lots of fun with your mom.”

She smiles, the love pouring from her. “I do. She’s funny, especially when we play dress up. She always plays with me, even when she’s tired. So, you could do stuff with us now too, right? Because you’re a daddy.”

Oh, where is Lexie when I need her? I’m unsure of what to say, so I go with my gut. “Well, sure, but I’m Reed’s dad and Tony is still your dad. We can still go do stuff, though.”

She nods, her focus on the jellyfish. “Mommy says having a daddy like mine in heaven makes me special because he was soldier. So, I guess I’m lucky like Reed. Those jellyfish move slow.”

“Yeah, they do, but they are pretty, aren’t they?” I definitely take the out that she offers. I have no clue what to do in a situation like this, and I don’t want to overstep or confuse Sadie.

“Very pretty,” she agrees.

“Dad, the sharks were so cool!” We turn at the sound of Reed’s voice. He and Lexie look happy. “I even touched the glass.”

“Really? That’s awesome.” I high-five him.

“Can we have chicken nuggets now?”

Sadie eagerly adds, “Yes, can we?”

“Don’t you two ever want something other than chicken nuggets?” Chicken nuggets are going to be the death of me. “Maybe we should try something new? What do you think?”

Reed looks disgusted. “Not veggies, right? Mom makes me eat all that yucky stuff.”

“My mommy does too.”

“Hey,” Lexie starts, gaining their attention, “forgive us for wanting healthy children to grow up strong. Don’t you two want to be big and strong?” They both nod. “Then let’s see if there’s something else that’s yummy and healthy.”

“Right,” I agree. “Do y’all want a t-shirt or some souvenir before we go?”

“Yes!” they answer with excitement.

“Let’s go find something, then. Reed, you can pick out one thing, okay? So choose wisely.”

He nods and we walk over to the gift shop. Lexie and I follow a few steps behind them while they search for the perfect souvenir. I bump Lexie’s shoulder with mine. “Having fun?”

“I’m having a lot of fun. Thank you,” she smiles. “I’m sorry I acted crazy before. I don’t want the kids to get the wrong impression.”

“No need to be sorry. I get it.” With my eyes on her little girl, I mention my conversation with her. “Sadie brought up her dad while we were looking at jellyfish.”

Lexie looks sad, but not surprised. “She’s been asking a lot of questions here lately. It didn’t help that the school has a family dance coming up. I know that the dads will be dancing with their daughters. Sadie pretends that she’s okay with it, but it bothers the hell out of me. I hope she didn’t make you uncomfortable or anything. She’s curious still.”

“Maybe talk to her some more? I don’t know.” I can’t give much advice when I’ve never been in such a situation. “She asked if I would be able to do stuff with y’all since I’m a daddy. I told her I could, but that I’m still Reed’s dad and that Tony is still hers. Didn’t really know what to tell her.”

Her eyes widen with horror. “I’m sorry. I really am. I’ll talk to her about boundaries.”

“No, she was fine. I just meant...I don’t know.” All I wanted was to tell her what happened. “She’s sweet, and what I’m about to say has absolutely nothing to do with you or us, okay?”

Lexie hesitates. “Okay.”

“If she wants to go to the dance, I could be her dance partner during those songs. She shouldn’t have to miss out on dressing up. She said she likes doing that with you.” I smile, hoping that will help my case.

Sure enough, Lexie giggles, probably at memories of doing just that with her daughter. “Ashton,” she begins seriously, “that is a favor I could never repay, and I can’t ask something like that of you. I mean, we just started dating...or whatever this is, but that’s very thoughtful of you.”

“You aren’t asking, because I offered. And ignore the dating thing. This is me wanting to do something for her, for Reed’s new best friend. That’s it. Think about it?” The thought of that little girl missing a dance she seems to want to go to because her dad can’t be here to take her kills me. If I could take her without confusing her, then why not?

It takes a moment, but Lexie nods as the kids walk to us.

Sadie holds up a stuffed animal. “Mommy, this looks like Nemo, doesn’t it? Can I have it?”

“Of course.” She smiles. “Reed, what did you find?”

He holds up a little bag. “Shark teeth!”

I laugh and take it from him, looking it over. “Hey, you know what you should do with those, little man?” I give them back, knowing he’s going to like what I’m about to say. “When you get home, wait a little bit, and take one out. Then say ‘ow’ really loud and go carry it to your mom and pretend that it’s one of your teeth that fell out.”

Lexie giggles, but manages to speak. “Ashton, that’s horrible.”

Between my idea and Lexie’s laughing, Reed smiles. “Mom gets so grossed out when I lose a tooth. She’s going to freak!”

I chuckle. That’s the idea. “We’ll work out a plan, then. Let’s go check out and go eat.”

We walk over and the kids put their things on the counter. While a teenager rings me up, I pull out my wallet.

“Ashton, I’ve got hers,” Lexie objects.

I pretend to misunderstand her. “You’ll carry it for her? That’s so sweet of you.” I hand my card to him and pay. As we walk out of the aquarium to my truck, I ask Lexie, “Where are we going to feed the munchkins?”

“There’s a small diner around the corner. We could go there?”

“Sounds good to me.”

We’re sitting at a table in the diner with Reed and me on one side and Lexie and Sadie on the other when Sadie frowns.

“Mommy, why can’t I sit with Reed?” she whines. “He’s my best friend.”

“Do you want to switch seats with me, Sadie?” I offer.

“Yes.” She quickly climbs over Lexie’s lap and takes my vacated seat.

“I would have moved, Sadie,” Lexie mumbles. “I’m not a jungle gym.”

She laughs and I motion for Lexie to move. “Scoot, Lexie. I’m not as little as Sadie, so I can’t climb over you.”

The kids laugh, she rolls her eyes, and as soon as I sit down, Reed goes, “Do they have chicken nuggets here?”

“They have chicken fingers. It’s similar,” Lexie answers.

Sadie’s brows pull together. “Do chickens have fingers?”

“Well, I hope they are as good as their nuggets,” Reed says seriously.

Lexie tries to hide her giggling as I ask them, “I thought we were trying something new? I will, if you do, Reed.”

He seems to think about it first. “Okay. You want to try too, Sadie?”

She doesn’t hesitate. “Yes. What about you, Mommy?”

“Sure, why not?” Lexie nudges her elbow against mine. “Let’s be crazy, right?”

I smile. “Let’s be crazy.” After scanning the menu, I glance at everyone. “Can I pick? Do you guys trust me to choose?”