BREAKING POINT

The something that controlled the muscles in her legs, maybe? At least the need to sit down for a bit became a priority when Howard helpfully decided that he was starving.

Which was hardly surprising. They’d been on a mission for hours now as Joey had come shopping with her. She had told him she was going to get new clothes for Howard and he had offered to come with her.

And now, here they were, in the Baby Su-permarket and the sales girls had all fallen under Joey’s spell the moment he smiled at them. As one of the doctors who worked at the hospital, he was well known. And being single and handsome, Penny could understand. Although for some reason she felt a little territorial when she saw the girls reaction to him. A thought which she pushed quickly out of her mind. It wasn’t like she owned Joey or anything like that.

“We’ll give you the best discount we can manage,” the manager who knew Joey said, then he added, “What a cute baby you two have.”

If Joey had noticed the assumption that was being made, he didn’t try and correct it.

Maybe because he seemed to be fascinated by the change table he was staring at.

“A change table-so that’s what this is? It looks so… ”

“Fully washable surface” A girl with bright red streaks in her hair was clearly delighted to have captured Joey’s attention. “There’s the shelves here to keep supplies like nappies and towels and these drawers are for creams and wipes. And look…the top is really a lid that covers where the bath clips in.”

“Do you like it?” Joey asked Penny.

She was already a bit stunned by what was going on. “It’s amazing. But, Joey, I-you don’t have to. Howard already has….”

“We’ll take it,” Joey said

Howard’s cries were getting louder.

“Let me show you our mothers’ area.” A senior staff member smiled at Penny. “Here, we pride ourselves on making our mothers and babies feel right at home. Are you breastfeeding, dear?”

Penny nodded.

“Then come with me. We have change fa-cilities and a private feeding room. There’s a rocking chair in there that is unbelievably comfortable.”

Her glance slid back towards Joey as she led Penny away. “It’s on special, too, with a twenty-five per cent discount- just for today…”

It was a good thing that Joey didn’t follow her because he would probably have added one of these chairs to the scary pile of purchases they had made.

Even the soothing motion of the rocking chair couldn’t stop Penny’s level of anxiety rising as she took the time necessary to feed Howard. This whole thing had turned into a shopping spree.

And, given the helpful advice of all those attractive young women, just how crazy was Joey going to go in the clothing aisles?

Judging by the bags that were being packed by the time she emerged from the mothers and babies’ retreat, he hadn’t held back.

He’d already paid for everything, too. And the manager was practically rubbing his hands together.

“Need any help?”

“Yes. I’ve got my car out in the car park. I’m sure we can pack it all in the back.” he replied.

Howard’s return distracted the cluster of people around the check-out counter.

“He’s so cute…” the girls cooed.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

Even the most senior woman was looking misty-eyed. She looked from Joey to Penny and then Howard.

“You must be so proud of him.” she said to Joey. “Such a beautiful boy”

For just a heartbeat, Penny let herself imagine what it would be like if Joey were actually Howard’s father and they’d been here as a family.

Pure fantasy but it was a beautiful thing… Until Joey’s mouth opened and then closed again as his gaze flicked to meet Penny’s. She could see the flash of something she couldn’t quite understand as he finally caught on to the assumption everyone had made when they’d arrived here as a couple with their new born baby.

Was he going to tell everyone here that Howard wasn’t his child? That Penny was nothing more than a friend. A friend he was helping because she got dumped by her fiance? Maybe he didn’t need to say anything.

But nobody else had seen what she’d seen and he didn’t say anything out loud to shatter the illusion. He seemed as stunned as Penny had been when this mammoth spend-up had gained momentum.

“We’d better get going,” Joey said.

——————-

Putting everything into the back of his car was almost enough to distract Joey from what had just happened.

Almost… He could understand why it had happened.

He and Penny were pretty much the same age and they were out with a baby.

He hadn’t been unaware of the looks he was getting from all the girls and, on some level, maybe he’d known he could enjoy the attention because they assumed he was unavailable and nobody was going to take any flirting the wrong way. To top it off, like a good, old-fashioned husband, he had handed over his credit card and paid for everything.

And then Penny had come back, with Howard asleep in her arms looking like an advertisement for a perfect baby and the look on her face as everybody cooed over Howard had been… So proud. So full of love…

He’d been watching them, caught up in the moment of admiring this addition to the human race, so that comment that put him into a pair of new father’s shoes had blind-sided him.

Just for a heartbeat, he had let himself wonder how it would be like if Penny accepted him. To have a partner as gorgeous as Penny and a baby they had created together.  A baby he did feel proud of. And it had felt… Amazing. Like the best thing that could happen to anyone. Ever.

But Penny didn’t want him. She had turned him down, and that memory hurt like hell.

Doing something practical, like loading the  stuff he’d just purchased into his vehicle, was exactly what he needed to climb back into a safe emotional space.

“Next stop, the store, gotta pick up some stuff for Audrey” he said, climbing into the driver’s seat.