My foot taps impatiently on the dirt path. I had parked my car in the parking lot of the, leaving my phone there stupidly. Or, maybe I did that so I wouldn’t be disturbed by business calls while on this date. Either way…

I check my watch just as a twig snaps and a large, muscular man stumbles forward, a drooling infant strapped to his chest.

“You’re late, Charles,” I say, voice clipped.

Charles laughs weakly, his amber eyes searching to see I’m actually mad. When he sees that I’m not, he steps forward and brings our hands together.

“Ba!” Carmela coos when we lock eyes, big eyebrows, the same as her father’s, high on her small forehead. “Ba!” I touch her brown, chubby cheek with my free hand while she stares at me happily, drool running down her face.

“Alright, Barry!” Charles lifts our entwined hands to the sky; I laugh when Carmela lifts her own arms. “Let’s get this date started!”

I look towards his empty hand, smile faltering. “Charles, where’s the freezer bag?”

Charles’ face freezes up. “Oh…uhm….”

Carmela frowns as though she understands. “Ba,” she looks at me, eyebrows low, “Babababa, Dada.”

“Don’t tell on me girl.” Charles turns to me, “So Barry, there may be a complication—“

I shake my head. “Where’d you forget it?”

He tightens out hands together, his daughter still frowning. “I may have forgotten.”

***

“Yum!” I hold out another spoonful of ice cream to Carmela’s open mouth. She closes it, shivering when her tongue hits the icy metal of the spoon.

“Aren’t you a good girl,” I stroke her cheek with a finger gently. Charles is below us while we sit comfortably on the gray couch in his apartment. His been quiet ever since we came back from the park. Probably disappointed we had to cancel our date.

I check my phone, and then grimace at the amount of emails on there. I’ll have to go back sometime in the evening.

“Da?” Carmela pats her father’s curly head. He looks up, eyes still sad.

“Yes, Melly?” Charles places his head on my knee. I absentmindedly stroke his hair as I read one of the most recent emails.

**_Mr. Hilman,

I have an offer I want to make you…._**

Carmela takes the spoon out of my hand. I’m too distracted to stop it from happening.

**I have received notice that you have some land for sale. I would like to purchase that land, if I may. Please call my business number so that we may speak more about it together.**

**Thank you,**

**John Smith**

I frown. Turning my phone off, I put it down and find out what’s been happening while I was distracted.

Charles smiles at me, ice cream covering every part of his face like shaving cream. Carmela is giggling. The spoon in her hand dripping with melted ice cream.

“What…?”

“Melly was trying to feed me some of her ice cream,” Charles wipes some of it off his face with his forearm, “Now I know why babies can’t feed themselves.”

Carmela pulls my arm, spoon outstretched towards me. “Ba?”

“Oh,” I hold my hand in front of me, “No, thank you.”

Charles clicks his tongue, taking Carmela out of my lap as well as the bowl of ice cream. “Don’t mess with Barry, he so boring; Daddy’s awesome though right?”

Carmela looks at my, eyebrows raised. “Ba?”

Before I know what I’m doing, Charles’ head is in my arms and I’m shaking him. “Say that again! I dare you!”

Charles stands up, taking me along with him. “Boring! You’re boring.”

“Ba-riiing!”

I grin. “I’ll show you boring, Macy’s.”

…

_(Mep. Thanks for reading!)_