I give her the same grin back and hop in my car, heading straight to the Mission District and the restaurant he said he worked at.
Of course they’re closed due to it being so early so I walk around the back and, thankfully, people are there who must be prepping for the day. I knock on the back door and wait for a response.
A guy dressed in a white apron opens the door and stares at me with a questioning expression covering his face. “Can I help you?”
Instantly, I feel like a stalker when I realize just what I’m doing and how it must seem to them. I really should have thought this through and come back later today when the restaurant was open and I could enter through the front door.
I try to come off as normal as possible. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m looking for Travis. Do you know if he’s working tonight? I’m from his hometown, and I wanted to surprise him,” I lie and pat my back when I remember he’s from a small town up north.
The guy shakes his head. “Travis quit a while back. He moved somewhere out of the city after he graduated.”
I close my eyes, trying to fight back the tears, and then I open them and put on an act because, now, my lie isn’t coming off so well. “Well, shoot. His mom didn’t tell me that. You don’t know where, do you?”
The guy shakes his head, narrowing his eyes, and I can tell he’s starting to think I’m some crazy woman.
“Sorry. I got nothing,” he says.
Before I can say anything else, he shuts the door, slamming out any hope I had of finding him without coming out and saying, I’m a whore who cheated on my husband, and I got pregnant from a guy I barely know that used to work here.
I step back, and with my head held low, I walk back to my car as Liz’s words sing through my mind again. If everything happens for a reason, then there must be a reason he left as well. Maybe he did give me the one thing Daniel couldn’t.
I place my hand on my stomach, not sure if I should try harder to find Travis or just enjoy the gift he gave me and be thankful for it.
Chapter Six
Six Years Later
“Leighton Travis Johnson, if you don’t come here right now, you will not get ice cream after your appointment,” I yell as I stand at the front door, waiting to leave.
“I’m coming! I’m coming!” I hear my young boy say as the pitter-patter of his little feet come running toward me.
“Where are your shoes?” I place my hands on my hips in question.
He’s definitely been testing my patience lately with his whole no, I do it mentality. I want to encourage his independence, but having things take ten more minutes than necessary is trying at times.
“They’re in my room. I’ll get them!”
He turns and runs away, and I have to take a deep breath to calm my frustration. After a minute, I head toward his room to find him playing with the new game I bought him.
“Leighton,” I say as I pick up his shoes, walking toward him to put them on his feet, “we have to go.”
Leighton has a doctor’s appointment for a yearly checkup, and then we’re going to enroll him in kindergarten. I can’t believe my little boy is old enough to go to kindergarten. These past six years have been a whirlwind but one I wouldn’t change for anything.
Raising my son by myself has been difficult, but we’ve figured things out together, and now, he’s my best friend.
I know that’s weird to say, that a five-year-old is my best friend, but he really is. He’s my bud, and there’s no one on earth I’d rather be with. We cook dinner together every night. Well, he sits and watches me cook dinner, but we dance to music while doing so. I love waking up to his snuggles, and his hugs good night are my everything.
He might not have come into this world like I had hoped, but God knew it wouldn’t matter, and he was exactly what I needed.
He didn’t give me Leighton though without a constant reminder to go with it. If I ever thought I’d forget what Travis looked like, he made sure that would never happen. Leighton is a spitting image of him. At least, what I remember of him.
He has curly blond hair, where mine is dark and straight. His eyes are crystal blue, like Travis’s, and his skin tone matches his, whereas mine has a paler tone. There’s not a day that goes by where Travis doesn’t cross my mind, just by looking at Leighton. I only hope he has his personality as well and that I raise him to be just as kind as I thought Travis was.
I close the Velcro on his shoe and stand him up. “You ready?”
He reaches for my hand. “Let’s go, Mommy.”
We head out the door and face the next challenge—him wanting to buckle his own car seat. He’s gotten faster, but I’ve learned how to guide him while still making him think he’s doing it himself.
When we finally arrive at the doctor’s office, we make our way to check in. “Hi, we have an appointment with Dr. Rivers.”
“I take it, you’re Leighton?” the kind woman behind the desk asks, coming around and leaning down to speak with him at his level.
“That’s me!” he says proudly.
“You don’t look like you’re five years old,” she says, playfully narrowing her eyes.
“It’s because I’m almost six!” Leighton says.
I laugh. “Not for a few months still.”
She smiles at him. “Well, I’m Sandy. Welcome to our office.” She holds out her hand to shake his and then walks around the counter, back to where she was, gathering the forms for me.
I recently got better health insurance, so even though the community clinics were okay, I’m glad I was able to get in with Dr. Rivers. I’ve heard on the playground that he’s the best around and he really knows how to work with the kids to ease their fears of going to the doctor.
After she copies my ID and insurance card, I make my way to a chair to finish the registration paperwork. Leighton heads to the corner, where a play area is set up. He’s instantly in heaven when he sees the racetrack they offer with the bucket of Hot Wheels to go with it.
Once all of our paperwork is finalized, another woman opens the door and turns to Leighton. “You ready to see how big you are?”
Leighton hops up, running through the door.
I laugh as I follow. “You know how to get their attention, huh?”
“Yep, especially the boys. They always want to see how much they’ve grown.” She shows me a growth chart they have in his paperwork, where they’ll mark his height as he grows. It’s super cute with his name written big across it.
She has him stand tall against the contraption that measures him and then marks it on the chart.
Leighton’s face lights up. “Mom, look. It has my name on it!”
I rub my hand over his curls. “I know. Pretty cool, huh?”
The nurse shows us to the treatment room, where she takes his temperature and blood pressure, and then leaves after letting us know that Dr. Rivers will be in soon.
Only a minute later, the door opens, and my entire world stops. My heart freezes, and my mind goes blank. I glance to Leighton and back to the man standing in the doorway. When our eyes meet, I see exactly what I’m feeling.