The next morning Michael woke up early again and watched the sunrise, even though Melissa hadn't texted him and he wasn't even sure if she was awake or not.
He really liked just sitting out there and watching the sunrise though, because it was a lot more peaceful than the rest of his life usually was. He was used to having a kid by his side all the time, it was nice to just step away for a few minutes and sit in silence. Sometimes Michael really just needed to get away from everything going on around him for a moment and think.
He was thinking a lot this morning, about lots of different things. Mostly Melissa. It seemed that things always went back to Melissa, no matter what else was going on. He really liked her, and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but Michael did feel a bit guilty about it and he wasn't quite sure why.
Finally Michael had determined that he was so guilty about this thing that he had with Melissa because of Beth. Sure, he and Beth were broken up and never going to get back together, but Michael was always going to care about her and a small part of him would always love her. It wasn't that easy for Michael to just snap his fingers and decide that he was over Beth. She was his first love, and you never really forget your first love, no matter what.
He just felt bad about liking Melissa, even though he was sure that Beth really wouldn't care, because she had her own boyfriend or boy that was a friend that also bought Parker tacos. Even knowing that, Michael was still worried that Beth might be upset or hurt that Michael was seeing someone other than her, since that hadn't ever happened before. But, like he said, Beth had her own boyfriend, she was over Michael.
Michael couldn't help but wonder if Beth felt guilty about moving on from him as well.
Maybe he was just being stupid, maybe you weren't supposed to be this hung up on someone. Michael told himself that he shouldn't even be worrying about Beth, he should be worrying about Melissa. Beth was part of his past and that was over, he shouldn't be thinking so much about her. He should be focusing on Melissa.
And Parker, Michael. He thought to himself, Definitely focus on Parker more than anything.
When the sunrise was pretty much over and Michael didn't have anything else to think about he went back inside and decided to wake Parker up, so they didn't have a repeat of the morning before, where they needed to scramble around to get dressed and ready again.
Michael quietly stepped into his room, where Parker was asleep on the bed, tangled up in a mess of pillows and blankets. Michael climbed into bed with Parker and wrapped both of his arms around his sun, pulling him closer for a moment and resting his head on the mattress, so Michael was eye level with Parker.
"Parker." Michael whispered, "Park, time to get up."
"No." Parker groaned, trying to roll over so Michael couldn't see him anymore.
"Yes." Michael laughed a little, holding Parker tightly so he couldn't get away.
"I want to stay home." Parker whined, his eyes still closed.
"You can't." Michael said, slowly moving the blankets off of Parker so he'd eventually give in and get out of bed.
"I think I'll just stay home and sleep all day." Parker sighed, turning towards Michael and snuggling his face into his chest.
"Come on, get up." Michael whined just like Parker had, "I told you we could get ice cream after school."
"It's cold out."
"Parker, are you refusing ice cream?" Michael questioned, shocked with what Parker had just said. He never turned down ice cream.
"I don't want to go to school." Parker pouted, finally sitting up. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, his hair looking funny as it stuck up in all different directions.
