A Clean Pair of Eyes

22: Amends

ERIC

We finally made it to painting day. I wasn't sure what to expect when I arrived at Sookie's. I knew she was pissed at me because Stan ran his mouth. Josh was probably still mad at me and Madi's mood was always a toss up. She was going to be leaving for the day to hang out with her sister so the paint fumes didn't bother her. The paint was supposed to be safe for pregnant women, but we decided better safe than sorry.

Josh and I agreed to start early in the morning so we could try to get it done before it got too hot out. I'd stopped on the way to pick up coffee for him. I knew from Madi he was addicted to the stuff. I knew the feeling. I was already on my second cup.

The house was quiet when I showed up. I knew Sookie was trying to avoid me like the plague. I was fine with that. I would find a way to get to her. She couldn't think I was that bad if she slept with me as much as she did. Hormonal glitch my ass.

The paint buckets were already in the room that was slated to be the nursery. I had the paint rollers, brushes, trays, and tarps in the back of my truck. I gathered everything in my arms and made my way around back. Thor was hot on my heels, probably hoping Opie was around. He was very pleased to learn he was when we walked into the backyard. Josh was sitting at the patio table with a bowl of cereal.

"Hi," I said as I walked up. I set the supplies on the table before I set down the cup holder with two cups of coffee. "Madi said you're a fan of these latte things."

"I practically mainline 'em," Josh said. "I've been doing side jobs in between regular ones, so I get like two naps instead of regular sleep."

"You're a good kid," I smiled, pulling his cup out of the holder. "I uh... I want to apologize for what I said at Lowe's. That was a shitty thing for me to say and I know you're doing all you can for Madi and the baby. I know you're never going to be a deadbeat." There, it was out of the way and I meant it.

"I'm not going to be like my sperm donor, Eric. Madi deserves better and so does my daughter," he said.

"I know you're not going to be like him. I've heard stories about him that make me want to go punch him in the face. You're already twice the man he was." I set his cup in front of him. "I have a lot of respect for you, Josh."

"Thank you. Thanks for the coffee, too. I need all the caffeine I can get. I'm running on a catnap," he told me.

"Do any of your jobs offer paternity leave?" That was a silly question. Not very many jobs did these days. Soup's On may have, but I wasn't sure.

"Honestly, I have no idea. That's part of why I'm doing what I can now. I've got like... Shoot, I think about $30k saved up right now," he said.

"I promise you it'll be worth it," I assured him. "When Aude was pregnant with the girls I was just getting into my own location for the shop so I spent way more hours at work than with her. I was able to save up enough to take almost a month off before I had to go back to work. Getting that time with the girls and their mother was worth everything."

"When the summer's over I'm going to talk to Hadley's husband about the best way to invest some of the money. I was thinking of taking like fifteen percent and putting it in a savings account for the baby. You know, start a college fund or something."

I chuckled and said, "You can probably save that. I'm sure your mom and I are going to go into super-grandparent mode and put money away for her." I wasn't going to tell him she was getting ten grand from us regardless.

"Thanks, but it's my responsibility, not yours or Mom's. I want to do it," he said.

"You got it," I nodded. "Have you guys thought of names for her?" I pulled my coffee from the holder so I could take a drink.