Chapter Five.
Colby's POV.
*Don't eat breakfast. I've got it covered ;) see you soon.*
I smiled down at my phone as I read her text at least ten times.
"Kevin, Daddy's got another date." I said as I picked my little fur baby up, rubbing his head.
I sat him back down and headed off to the bathroom. I jumped in the shower, taking probably too much time. I got out, threw on a t-shirt and a pair of jogging pants, pulled my hair back in a ponytail, and headed out the door.
I got to Macy's right at 9:45. I hopped out and bounced up the steps, ringing the doorbell. A few seconds later, her beautiful eyes met mine. She was still dressed in her pajamas, which made me feel like she felt comfortable around me.
"Good morning." She said in a sing song voice, opening the door and letting me in.
"Well, good morning to you too. Thank you for breakfast." I smiled, wrapping my arms around her.
She hugged me back, than backed away slowly. She smiled up at me.
"Anytime. Thanks for agreeing to go with me." She replied, heading to the kitchen. I follow closely on her heels.
I search the room, but can't find what I'm looking for. I turn towards Macy, who's dishing up some eggs.
"Mace, where's Madi?" I asked, looking around the room again.
"Upstairs. She's still sleeping. Once we eat, I'll go get her and feed her." She smiled, motioning to a baby monitor sitting on the counter.
"Oh okay. That makes sense." I smiled at her.
"Here ya go. I hope you like turkey sausage." She said, sitting a plate down at the bar.
"I love it. Thanks again." I replied, taking a seat.
"Anytime, let's dig in." She giggled, taking the seat next to mine.
......
Just as we finished up, Madi's cry came through the monitor.
"I'll be riiiiiight back." Mace said, hopping off her barstool and heading upstairs. A few moments later, she came back down with Madi cradled in her arms.
"Colby, would you like to feed her?" She asked, looking between Madi and myself.
"Wait, I thought you had to do that." I said, trying to figure it out.
"I pumped this morning, just in case you might want to." She smiled.
Man, she had this planned out.
"I would absolutely love to." I replied, extending my arms out. She gently laid Madi down into me.
"Only four ounces okay?" She said, grabbing the bottle out of fridge.
"Yes ma'am." I replied, cradling Madi closer. Macy handed me the bottle and I got her all set up as Macy started the dishes.
"Thank you for trusting me with her."
I said, looking up at her.
"You're very welcome. Thank you for not running when you found out I had a kid." She chuckled, lathering up the sponge.
"It's sad that most people do that. I can promise you, though, I'm not going anywhere until you want me gone." I smiled at her, checking the ounces in the bottle.
"How do you know how to do that so well?" Macy asked as I put the bottle back in Madi's mouth.
"Oh, I have a sister. Cass. She has a little boy. I think he's six now, but I helped her out with him as a baby because her husband's in the army." I replied, checking the ounces again.
She'd drank about four, so I turned her around and started patting.
"Oh, okay. Well, that experience is nice to have when you hang out with me, because I take all the help I can get. I've basically done everything for her by myself up to this point." She said, shutting the water off and drying her hands off.
She walked around the counter and took Madi, patting her a little more until she finally burped.
"There we go. Moma needs to go get dressed." She rocked her back and forth.
"I can watch her while you get ready, if you'd like me too." I suggested, looking at her.
"That'd be great. Thank you. I'll be right back." She smiled, kissing Madi's head and walking upstairs.
I stood up, Madi in arms, and walked to the living room. There was a wall full of pictures.
Lots of Macy as a kid, plenty of Madi, a good many family portraits.
One stuck out to me. It was Macy, and who I assume is Michael. He had his hands painted blue, formed in a heart on her stomach.
They both looked so happy. It couldn't have been too long after this was taken that they lost Mitch, and that's when he went crazy. If something like that were to happen with us, I'd make sure we made it through it.
"Colby?" I heard her voice come for the top of the stairs.
"Yes ma'am?" I said back, heading towards the stairs.
"Can you bring her up here so I can change her real quick?" She asked.
"Sure thing!" I replied, making my way up the steps, holding Madi even closer.
"In the bathroom." Mace called out. I walked in to see her fixing her hair in a ponytail.
She was wearing a BMTH tank top, ripped jeans, and flats. She looked beautiful.
"You look gorgeous, Mace." I said, barely above a whisper.
"Thank you, Colbs." She replied, blushing. "Follow me." She slid past me and into a bedroom.
"If you'd like, you can look through that top drawer and pick out a onesie while I change her." Macy said, taking Madi from my arms and laying her on the bed.
I looked through the drawer and settled on a leopard print onesie.
"This one okay?" I asked, holding it out in front of me and posing.
"Yes that's perfect, but do remember it's for Madi." Macy replied, laughing.
I sat the onesie down and Macy dressed Madi.
"Alright, let's hit the road." Macy smiled, standing up.
I followed her downstairs and out to the cars. She got in the back and strapped Madi in.
"Alright, I'm following you." She smiled, hoping in the drivers seat.
"See you in a few." I replied heading to my car. I pulled out of the driveway and waited on Macy to back up before I drove off.
I took my little shortcut and pulled into my complex. Macy parked beside me.
"Here, let me get it." I said as she started to climb in the back.
"Thank you Colbs." She said, backing up so I could get in. I pulled the car seat out with a bright eyed Madi inside.
"Hello Miss Priss." I said. She giggled, as I tickled little feet.
"Colby, you don't have to carry her." Macy said, looking at me with an uneasy look on her face.
"Macy, you deserve a break. Just let me carry her, okay?" I said, putting my arm around her and squeezing her shoulders.
"Okay. I'm sorry. I'm just not used to many people offering to help." She sighed, walking towards the front office.
"Well, just try to get used to it, because I'm going to help you out as much you let me." I smiled, holding the door open as she walked through.
"Hi, I'm Macy. I have an appointment with Lisa to look at an apartment." Macy said to the lady at the desk.
"Let me go grab her real quick." The lady smiled, standing up and heading into the back office.
A fee moments later, a lady walked out dressed up in a professional suit. I recognized her.
"Hi, you must be Macy. I'm Lisa, nice to meet you." She said as they shook hands.
She turned her attention towards me, staring at me momentarily before snapping.
"Colby and Kevin. Seventh floor. I knew I'd seen you here." She smiled as she shook my hand.
"Nice to see you again." I replied, repositioning Madi's car seat.
"Is this your baby?" Lisa asked, glancing between Madi and myself.
"No ma'am. She's Macy's. I'm just here for support." I smiled, glancing at Macy who was blushing lightly.
"Well, let's head upstairs to look at that room, shall we?" She asked, walking towards the elevator.
We followed closely behind her as we loaded up in the elevator.
"I think you'll enjoy it here. It's a nice complex. I actually live on the bottom floor." Lisa spoke, breaking the brief silence.
"I'm excited. It seems to have everything I need for the two of us." Macy replied, smiling down at Madi.
"Let's hope it does." Lisa said, stepping off the elevator.
We followed her past my room to 2705.
"Let's take a look, shall we?" Lisa said as we walked through the door.
......
Macy's POV.
"I think that's about everything you'll need to know. What do you think?" Lisa asked, after showing us the entire apartment in great detail.
"I really like it. It's just what we're looking for. Plus, it's close to Colby which will help out." I smiled towards him.
He smiled back and continued playing with Madi's feet.
He'd carried her the entire time, and he never once complained. He was so sweet to us, and I couldn't understand why. He seemed to really like Madi, which was important to me.
"Well, you go home and think about it. I don't want you to feel pressured. You think about it for a couple days or until you're ready, and then you call me, okay?" Lisa said, looking in my direction.
"Yes ma'am. Thank you so much, Ms. Lisa, for all your help." I smiled, shaking her hand.
We all walked out and Ms. Lisa waved as she got on the elevator.
"Would you like to meet Kevin?" Colby asked, still holding Madi.
"Sure, I'd love you. Let's go." I smiled at him, following him down the hallway.
We walked up to room 2707. He typed in the code and let us in. A bark quickly erupted through the apartment. I took a look around as Colby sat Madi's car seat on the couch, and picked up Kevin. His apartment looked just like mine, but his was pretty boring. I'd have to spice mine up a little bit.
"Kevin, say hi to Macy." He said, extending the cute little dog towards me.
I took him in my arms, cuddling him to my body. He licked the side of my face, panting heavily due to excitement.
"You are so freaking cute. Almost as cute as your daddy." I smiled at Colby, who was bent down checking on Madi.
"Hey Mace, you wanna go get some food? I'm really in the mood for Steak N Shake." Colby asked, putting Kevin behind a baby gate in the kitchen.
"Sounds great. Wanna just ride with me and then I'll bring you back?" I asked, walking around the couch to pick up Madi.
"I'd love to, but I've got the car seat. Deal?" He asked, picking up the car seat and walking towards the door.
I just shook my head, following him outside and towards our cars.
.......
"Thank you for going with me. I love their burgers." Colby smiled, looking down at me and leaning against his car.
We had just back to the apartment complex.
"Not a problem. I do too. Hey, what are you doing Thursday?" I asked, peeking through the window to check on my sleeping beauty.
"Training. What ya need me to do?" He asked.
"Um, well, I wanted to go get some stuff from my old house. Honestly, I'm scared to go alone, and I refuse to take Madi. I'll leave her with my parents." I said, looking down at the ground.
"Of course. I'd do anything for you, Mace." He smiled at me, taking a step closer.
He gently placed his hand on my cheek, getting even closer to me. Inch by inch, very slowly. I felt my heart rate speed up immediately, hoping that he wouldn't notice how hard it was pounding in my chest
"Colbs...." I trailed off, not even sure of what I was trying to say in the first place. I was at a loss of words.
"Push me away if you don't want this." He whispered to me, his lips just mere inches away from mine. I said nothing. I couldn't say that I didn't want it, because I simply wasn't sure what I really wanted.
Suddenly he closed the gap between us, ever so gently pressing his lips on mine. I tensed up immediately as flashbacks flooded my mind. I did my best to block them out and focus on him, but I just couldn't help it. Memories were stuck in my head, not allowing me to fully relax and give in. So I did what I felt I needed to do and softly pushed him away by placing my hands on his chest, disconnecting our lips.
"I'm so sorry, Mace, I really didn't mean to pressure you." He apologized, looking down in shame.
I could tell he felt guilty for pushing me, for making me do something I didn't wholeheartedly want to do. Not yet though. I wish I could take it all away, the painful expression on his face and the guilt. But I knew I couldn't. I needed to be honest with him now.
"I know, Colby...I know you didn't. I just think I might need a few days to myself now. I don't want us to go any further and get any more involved before I really know if this is right for Madi and me. This is not just about me anymore. I have a daughter I need to take care of...I just got out of this horrible relationship. I'm not sure I'm ready yet. I'm so confused, Colby. Confused about what is happening, that things are happening so fast. I'll call when I have it figured out, okay? I promise you. Until then I would ask you to give me all the time I need. I need a clear mind about this." I sighed, taking his hand into mine.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't want to ruin this."
"That's perfectly fine, Macy. You take your time. I'll be waiting for you. I'd wait for you as long as it takes, Mace, because you're worth it to me." He smiled, wrapping his arms around me, his eyes still reflecting sadness and hurt.
I hugged him back as tight as I could. As we separated, he kissed my cheek gently. I smiled at his as he walked away. I hopped into the car and headed to my parents. This may be a long couple days.