Untitled - Chapter One

Aliena walked through the front door, hung her jacket up and kicked her shoes off, "Mom?"
    "In the living room Ali."
    Aliena walked in and smiled, "How's it going? Did Lizzie give you any trouble?"
    "Of course not. She's been an angel as always. She missed you though. How was work?"
    Ali bent down and picked up her eleven month old baby, "Hi sweetie!" she gave a loud smacking kiss on her cheek, "It was pretty quiet. It gave me a chance to look for apartments in the paper."
      "Did you find anything close to home?"
      "Sadly no. There was a couple decent places fitting some of my requirements, but they're all the way across town. I want to be close to you and dad, but it seems to be non-existent."
      Elizabeth touched Ali's face and cooed. Ali smiled lovingly, "No worries baby girl. Looks like Nana and Papa are stuck with us for awhile yet," she stroked Lizzie's back.
      "We keep telling you there's no rush honey. You can take as long as you need."
      "I feel bad though. You guy's have had your time with us as kids already. I don't want to impose."
      Jeanette frowned slightly, "You and your brother may be grown up now, but we will always be there when you need us. What happened was not your fault. Jessie chose not to be part of Lizzie's or your life. He's a dead beat. It was the right thing leaving him. Your father and I understand that. We love having a little one around the house again so there's no rush in leaving. Take your time and the blocks will fall into place."
      "I just don't know how it all went wrong mom. I mean we were in love. Everything was great. Then Lizzie was conceived and he turned into a monster it seems. He wanted nothing to do with her. I thought he would have been ecstatic to have her, like I was. It's unfair that Liz won't grow up with a father," Ali's eyes began to tear up.
      "Do you need a moment? I can take her," Jeanette reached for the baby.
      "No, it's okay. I want to spend time with her. I'm just dwelling, I'll be fine."
      "Okay, I'll get supper going," Jeanette started towards the kitchen, "Oh I almost forgot. While you were at work Samantha called for you. She wants to know if you want to go shopping this Saturday."
      Ali bit her lip, "I don't know. With everything going on it might not be the best time."
      "I'll hear nothing of it. It's exactly what you need. You've been working hard and haven't had a lot of time with Liz. You both should go. Sam loves her too and hasn't seen her in awhile. It'll be fun."
      "She does need a few things and I haven't had time to pick a birthday present yet. I can't believe she'll be one next month," she smiled.
      "Time flies when they're young, so enjoy it now."
      Aliena switched Elizabeth to her right hip and grabbed the phone. She dialed Sam's number and only had to wait a couple of rings and she picked up, "Hello?"
      "Hey Sam, it's Ali."
      "Oh hey! I'm glad you called back," she replied cheerfully, "I was wondering if you wanted to go to the mall on Saturday. I heard there's supposed to be some good sales."
      "I'd love to. How would you like a tiny third wheel to join?"
      "More than anything! I haven't seen Lizzie in so long. How is the little bundle of joy doing?"
      "Really good and probably spoiled under mom's care," Ali laughed.
      Elizabeth giggled and tried talking, "Buh buh."
      Ali and Sam both laughed, "Too cute," Sam said.
      "I hope I find her a great present. I haven't had time and have no clue what to get. All I know is it has to be perfect."
      "Same here. That's part of my reason for wanting to go this weekend. Any plans for her birthday?" Samantha asked.
      "Nothing definite yet. I want to throw around a couple ideas by you when we get together. I'm conflicted because I want this to be perfect so I might need your pro party skills to get me through."
      "Well don't worry. Super Aunt will help. Whatever you need, I'm here. I want Liz to have a special day too," Sam reassured Ali.
      "Want to meet at the mall at 9am and get an early start?"
      "Sounds good. See you both then. Give her a kiss for me till this. See ya Ali."
        "Bye. Have a good one," Ali hung up the phone.
      She looked at Elizabeth, lifted up her shirt and blew a raspberry on her tummy. Lizzie squealed with pleasure, "That's from your favourite Auntie Sam," Ali grinned fixing her shirt.
      Aliena walked into the kitchen and sat Liz into her high chair. She opened a cupboard door and pulled three plates and three sets of forks and knives. She placed them at the table and did the same with three glasses. Just as Aliena pulled the iced tea out of the fridge, her dad came home, "Hey ladies!" he walked in.
      "Hi dad," Ali said, giving him a hug.
      "Hi baby," he hugged back and bent down to Liz's eye level. Lizzie squirmed in her seat with a big smile on her face, reaching out to John. He picked her up, tossed her in the air and gave her a big kiss, "How's my little button?" She leaned in, put her tiny hands on his face and gave him a peck.
      "That good eh?"
      John put her back in the chair, went around the island and kissed Jeanette, "Hello dear."
      "Hi hun," she smiled, "supper's ready. Take a seat."
      Jeanette brought the fettucine alfredo and caesar salad to the table while Ali warmed up split pea soup and a whole wheat bun with apple juice for Liz's supper.

After they finished eating, John played with Liz while Jeanette and Ali cleaned up and did the dishes. At 7:30 Ali gave Liz a bath, read her a book and tucked her in when she fell asleep; kissing her head as she did.
      As they all watched tv, John read the paper, Jeanette worked on her crossword puzzles and Ali made lists of guests and food needed for Liz's birthday party and made a shopping list for Saturday. By 9:00, Jeanette went to bed, "See you two in the morning," giving John and Ali a kiss goodnight.
      "Do you work tomorrow?" John asked Ali.
      "Yeah, thankfully it's Friday. Sam and I are going to the mall on Saturday. Did you need anything while I'm there?"
      "Since you asked, maybe I'll get you to pick me up some socks. Some of mine are starting to wear out."
      "Sure. No problem. Are you and mom doing anything this weekend?"
      "I'm treating your mother to dinner and movie Saturday night at Gino's. We haven't gone there in awhile."
      "Sounds fun. Guess I get the house to myself for a few hours."
      "No raves while we're gone," John chuckled.
      "Very funny dad. I was planning on inviting some bikers though. Is that okay?" Ali laughed.
        John gave her a playful nudge, "Funny girl you are."
      "I get it from you."
      "Smart too I see," he laughed.
      Ali rolled her eyes, "I'm going for a smoke. Good night dad," she hugged him.
      "Night sweetie," he kissed her cheek.
      Aliena took her smokes and lighter out of her purse and walked out onto the wrap around deck. She sat up on the ledge and looked up at the stars, thinking about how she'll find her own place for her and Liz. Wondering if everything would fall into place the way her mother had said earlier. After a couple minutes, she glanced around the neighbourhood and saw a couple guys heading in her direction. She recognized one of them as a regular in the cafe she worked in, but the the man with him she didn't recognize at all. He had an aura about him that stated that you couldn't forget him whether you knew him or not. Ali put her cigarette to her lips and inhaled. Both men seemed too caught up in their conversation to notice Ali watching. As they got further away, Ali secretly hoped she'd see the mystery man again.
      Early the next day, Ali got dressed in her sneakers, shorts and tank top. She grabbed her MP3 player and informed her mom that she would be back before Liz woke up. Once outside, she stretched, taking in the fresh air, the quiet streets and the sun starting to rise. Ali began with a slow steady pace with James Blunt pounding in her ears. Before she knew it, she was nearing the playground seven blocks away from home and she was lost in her music. Movement on her left broke her attention and before Ali knew what happened, she fell forward and skidding on the sidewalk. James Blunt was still blaring as Ali just laid on the ground. A shadow fell over her, "Are you okay? I saw you flying."
      Ali looked up and focused her eyes. Unless she was more dazed than she thought, the guy above her looked like her mystery man from last night. He held out his hands and helped her up, "Come here on the swing and sit down a minute."
      Aliena was still in shock and realized she hadn't said a word, "Th...thanks," she stammered.
      Mystery man knelt down in front of her, "Mind if I look?"
      Ali just nodded.
      With a gentle but firm touch he checked her legs and noticed both knees were scraped pretty bad and were bleeding, "Which foot tripped?"
      "My left," her hands started throbbing and she noticed she broke the skin on both palms. The man gingerly picked up her left foot, "Tell me if it hurts." He began applying pressure above her ankle, but as soon as he lowered his hands she gasped, reaching down.
      He eased up, "You might have sprained it and your knees are bleeding. Let me see your hands," he checked her palms, "not as bad. Can you try to walk?"
      Ali slowly stood up, using the swing for support. She took a couple tentative steps and quickly became unbalanced. The man caught her and instantly put an arm around her waist for support, "If you don't mind, my house is just down the block. I can patch you up and drive you home. My name is Jarred Smith."
      "Thanks Jarred. I'm Aliena Connors. I think I'll take you up on your offer. My house is too far to walk like this."
      After a few minutes, they made it to his home. Jarred opened the door and guided her through the foyer to the kitchen on the left. He sat her down at the breakfast nook, "I'll be right back with a first aid kit."
      "Okay," Ali smiled.
      While Jarred was grabbing supplies, Ali took a moment to check out her surroundings. The kitchen was spacious with a large island and all stainless steel appliances. The counter tops were granite with hardwood floors and cupboards. There was a dining room through an arch way from the kitchen and a living room on the other side of the foyer. Even the entrance to his home was beautiful with an elegant chandalier and area rug. The staircase was also hardwood with a runner going all the way up to the top. Ali was impressed and assumed he must have a great job to afford all this. Before long Jarred arrived, "Still doing okay?" he asked, kit in hand.
        "Yeah. My legs and ankle are still killing me though," Ali frowned.
        "Well that tends to happen when someone falls the way you do," he laughed.
        Ali couldn't help but laugh along when she noticed how gorgeous his smile was, "I never said I was graceful."
        After Jarred put on the finishing touches on her bandages, he stood up and admired his work, "Almost as good as new."
        "Thanks a lot. It was very nice of you to do all this," Ali stood up.
      "Still want that ride?" he asked, he didn't want to push her away for being too forward.
        "Sure. That would be great."
      Jarred pulled out of his garage with his black Ford S10 two door truck. He got out, escorted Ali to the passenger side, opened the door and helped her in. Aliena couldn't get over the fact that he was so chivilarous. She loved it. He was a real man, not some idiot boy she seemed to always meet around here.
      They made it to her house in no time, too soon in Ali's eyes, and let the truck idle as they sat in front of her house.
      "Nice home Aliena. Very good neighbourhood I hear."
      "Thanks. Nothing compared to your home though. Your place is amazing."
      "Thank you. I know it's a bit much for just me but I love it all the same," Jarred looked into her eyes, "I hope I'll see you again."
      Ali smiled, her cheeks turning red, "I'm sure you will. Bye Jarred."
      "See you Aliena."