Odd One Out

Chapter Twenty Six - His Parenting Techniques

"Just hold onto the dog," Marcus muttered as he lugged a bag of food the size of his torso.

Marco ran in front of me, wagging his tail in the process. "I'm a fan of free parenting. Let the dog run I say!" I cheered loudly.

Marco ran up to a woman who was walking down the hall and nudged her with his rather large nose. She screamed.

Marcus shifted the bag into one of his massive arms and bent down to reach for Marco's collar, holding him back. "You were saying?"

I grimaced, "Okay, so maybe I'm still learning my parenting technique. A little more discipline. I got it."

We arrived in front of his apartment and Marcus cleared his throat. "So, I'm not working tonight but I'll be out tomorrow if you can look after him then?"

I nodded enthusiastically, bending down to hold onto Marco's squishy face with both hands. "I'll see you later, boy! I'll miss you! Aw, aren't you the cutest guy around!"

I gave Marco a smooch before making my way to my apartment. Marcus gave me an odd look so I scrunched my nose at him annoyingly until he laughed, opening his own door. As I stepped inside, my phone dinged and I saw a message from Jackson, my heart immediately jumping into hyperdrive.

Jackson 🏈🏋️‍♂️👩‍❤️‍👨: Hey, some of the guys are getting together for drinks tomorrow night. You free? You can bring friends with you

He wants to see me again! I couldn't fathom why after that disastrous date, but I wasn't complaining. I pumped my fists in absolute glee. Everything in my life was lining up. Finally.

Though realistically, I was not looking forward to meeting a bunch of other random people that I didn't know. I had a hard enough time socializing with people I had a rapport with. (Let's not forget I professed my love for Jackson upon our first meeting).

I stared down at the message, contemplating how to message back. I hated how it didn't flow easily. I hated how I had to pause before I replied to him or I had to run my thoughts through a filter around him.

That took time, I reasoned. No one was comfortable right from the beginning. But I almost wished I was to prove to me that this was right.

After several attempts, I texted back.

Mabel: Sounds fun! Let me know where to meet you!

My phone rang at that moment and I checked the ID to see Mom staring back at me. Superb.

"Hey mom," I answered as I prepared myself for the next fifty questions.

"Hi sweetie!" She answered chirpily. "How are you?"

"I'm doing good. How about you guys?" I asked as I flopped on my couch, leaning on my elbows to hold me up.

"We're good. Your dad's been a bit under the weather, but totally natural of course." Of course. "We'd love to see you soon though. Do you think you can make it home for the holidays?"

If I was being honest, I had missed my parents a lot. I mean, I'd spent my entire life literally in the house with them. It was odd to be so far away from them. When I turned eighteen, I needed that distance, desperately. Now, I appreciated the closeness that I had with my quirky parents. I guess I had to get my quirk from somewhere.

That didn't erase the resentment I had against them whenever I met a social road block in my life. There was a lot of baggage that I hadn't quite gotten over. Though, everything with Jackson was looking up so I supposed I got take it easy on them for now.