Christin

Living with a baby was interesting to say the least. Vinnie was a good baby though. Sure he woke up at all hours of the night, tried to eat anything that was in reach and stunk up the apartment on occasion but overtime he really grew on me. I was never a “kid person”. Yeah they were cute just as long as they weren’t mine. Vinnie was different. He wasn’t mine but I did feel some kind of responsibility for him. His little bald head and toothy smile made me want to make sure he was never in harm’s way.

Life changed at the apartment for everyone. You could say we toned it down a lot. A lot less craziness, a lot more quiet nights and weekends. Alphonso began to spend more time sketching his dresses. If he wasn’t at home drawing, you could most definitely find him down one of the aisles at Barnes and Noble looking through fashion books. Jen and T were wrapped up in the baby. Their schedules were based around feeding, changing and making sure Vinnie was taken care of. I never realized taking care of baby was so hard until I saw it first-hand.

I knew that I was not ready to be a parent at that time nor did I want to be one anytime soon. As for me, I began spending more time with other friends. I really enjoyed spending time with Shawn and her husband. Even though they were older than me, we always had a lot of fun hanging out together. Until I got a call one evening.

“Chris, my husband died last night” I laughed. I thought Shawn was joking.

“I am not joking. He was hit by a car.”

Oh my God.

“I’m so sorry, do you want me to come over?”

“Yeah, I’m over at my dad’s”

“I will be there in 10”

I have never been good at comforting emotional people. I feel so awkward in situations where people are crying, so I had no business going to her dad’s house. But she was a good friend. And her husband had been too. I had to be there for her in her time of need. She needed me.

Ten minutes later I arrived. I saw Shawn, her eyes were puffy and red. She was a mess. I couldn’t blame her. The love of her life had died in a freak accident. He was her everything. I gave her a hug. I wanted to take all of her pain away. As I am sitting next to her asking more details of what had happened, the front door opens.

It’s Scotty. And he’s walking right towards me.