Cool Mom

50: Long Night

Daniel was occupied with the issue of Hamish's parole all evening so I let Hazel sleep off her swim fatigue. I'm in the living room, scrolling through messages on my phone when Daniel walks in and falls onto the sofa next to me, his head thrown back.

"We promised Hazel Burger King." He says, out loud.

"That was before Mia showed up. We can just have it delivered home." I reply.

He thinks it over for a moment before sitting forward and turning to me, "No. We're taking her out to celebrate."

"But-" I start to argue about how tense he has been all afternoon but he cuts in, "It's alright. I've already let work interfere enough with you two this last month. I owe Hazel this much."

"Are you sure?" I ask.

He smiles at me. "Yes. Wake up, Hazel. We're celebrating her win!" He screams the last line making me cringe at the noise and the giggle.

"Okay." I laugh and the kiss his cheek before leaving to wake up Hazel.

I find her awake with Vanessa in her arms. "You're awake, Bunny."

She nods and rubs her eyes which tells me that she just woke up. I sit down on the bed and say, "We're going to Burger King to celebrate your win."

"Really!?" All signs of sleep vanish from her body instantly and she leaps up, throwing her arms around my neck.I smile at her excitement and hug her back.

Thirty minutes later, we're all in the car, on our way to the nearest Burger King. But upon getting there, Hazel throws a tantrum when she finds out she won't be having Pepsi with her meal. She agrees to have water after we promise her that we'll gets donuts for breakfast on our way home.

Since it's nearly 9 o'clock at night, the parking lot is empty except a few cars by the time we leave. Daniel lifts Hazel into his arms and I realize what a perfect picture it would be since he's standing right in front of the huge neon Burger King road sign. I've just taken the picture when Daniel's phone starts to ring.

He sets down Hazel and hands me the car keys before answering the call. I buckle Hazel into her car seat and then get into the driver's seat to switch on the car and turn on the air conditioning. Daniel gets into the passenger seat just then and looks at me, "Can we stop at the office? I have to meet a few lawyers and we need you there."

"Of course." I nod and volunteer to drive.

Despite the late hour, Daniel, Jeremy, two of the company lawyers and I are seated in one of the conference rooms in their office. Hazel is sitting cross-legged on the floor, coloring away. She occasionally looks up to get my approval before going back to it.

"Should we contact Mia Higgins?" One of the lawyers asks, looking at Daniel.

Daniel turns to me an eyebrow raised in question.

I shake my head, "She was scared of telling me about Hamish in a crowded room, I don't think she wants to be associated with this drama at all. That's also the reason she let us know of his parole, in the first place."

"I agree with that." Jeremy says.

"So we won't be contacting her but how do we approach Alan and Co.?" Daniel muses, "They'll ask for sure how we got this information."

"We can play it as leaked inside information and then trap them legally by pointing out that they violated their agreement of sharing all information regarding their officials who were arrested, which includes Hamish Hamlet." The other lawyer neatly explains the plan.

"This is the most solid plan we have. And safe." Jeremy thinks out loud.

The three men look to Daniel for his approval. Daniel sighs and looks at me once more.

"We're not asking Mia to testify." I tell him, firmly, knowing his questioning look.

Daniel sits forward and everyone straightens up. "Okay, we'll go with this plan. We leave Mia Higgins out of it at all costs and get a truthful answer out of their representatives. Is this clear?"

After a few more minutes of clarifying some details, the meeting is called to an end. Daniel leaves the room to talk to Jeremy. As the door closes after them, I lean back in my chair and pick up my phone. Elana has sent me pictures of dresses, asking my suggestion on which one to wear to a dinner with some of David's friends from his new job.

I reply to her and then open messages from Tess. She's in Paris for a fashion show that her professor got her an internship at. I smile at the pictures she's sent me of herself, she looks so happy doing what she loves. I'm replying to some of my friends' messages when Hazel holds out her coloring book in front of my face.

"Wow, Hazel! This is so pretty." I tell her, taking the book in my own hands. Without warning, she climbs into my lap, landing on my stomach making me 'omph!' but I shift her a little so that we're both comfortable. She flips through the rest of her coloring pages, trying to decide which one to start next while I finish replying to my pending messages.

I don't know how much time passes but when I finally look up, the sight of Daniel leaning against the wall next to the door, his arms crossed, startles me. But the smile on his face melts my heart.

"How long have you been standing there?" I ask, blushing slightly under his gaze.

"Just a few seconds." He smirks at me, clearly satisfied with the reaction he got out of me, "Hazel's asleep."

"What?" And indeed, when I look down she's fast asleep in my arms. It is pretty late by now.

Daniel takes her from me and leads the way to the car. I start to get in when he reaches out and stops me.

"Let me buckle in Hazel. I have to talk to you." He says as he opens the back door and settles her in.

I fold my arms and wait for him to turn back. When he does, he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me to him.

"What did you want to talk about?" I ask, playing with the collar of his Polo shirt.

"A vacation." He replies.

"A vacation?" I look up at him, surprised.

"I asked Jeremy to book a trip to Maui on Friday after the court's hearing. I wanted it to be a celebratory getaway for Hazel but now after all the tension about Hamish and Mia, it appears we could all use a vacation." He looks at me, "Emma?"

I snap out of my surprise. "I don't know what to say."

"Say yes?" Daniel suggests.

I laugh and playfully hit his arm but then I turn serious, "Are you sure that you can take away time from work?"

"Do I take it as a yes?" He prods.

"Answer the question, Daniel!" I wrap my arms tighter around him.

"It's just four days. We leave on Tuesday. I'll have tomorrow and Monday to wrap up everything that has been going on lately and then four days and just the three of us." He reassures me.

I think it over a second before my mind gives in, "Okay."

He presses his lips to mine as I push my hands into his hair. When we end the kiss, I touch my forehead to his, "Thank you."

"Anything for you." He replies, kissing me again.

The story is moving again!! The three really need this vacation. The next few chapters will be their trip Maui! Super excited! :)

-T

P.S. Thank you so much for 6.3K reads! ❤️❤️