Ivy - A Kaylor AU

Chapter 2

Karlie

I unclipped the harness on my daughter's car seat, careful to avoid pinching her tiny leg rolls in the process. I lifted the little one out and smoothed her romper back into place, knocking cracker crumbs onto the hot pavement of the local supermarket.

The almost two-year-old chewed contently on her fingers as I picked out a cart, wiping it down religiously before placing her inside. " 'tore," she babbled around her fingers as we made our way inside.

"You're so smart, Emmy," I praised her as we walked down the aisle to find the few items we desperately needed. I quickly gathered a gallon of milk, diapers, wipes, and snacks for the little girl.

Emery soon lost her patience for sitting in the cart and began to whine while struggling against the restraints. I tried to buy us some time by making funny faces at her as we walked through the baked goods aisle, placing lots of kisses on her cheeks while I snuck a loaf of bread from the shelf and into the cart.

We stopped abruptly as the end of my cart made contact with something, and I saw a flash of blonde curls moving toward the floor. I quickly blurted out an apology and ran around to see a woman, who looked to be about my age, on the ground. Luckily, I had only knocked her to her to a sitting position, so her ass had taken the fall. I extended a hand to help her up.

Just as I had helped her to her feet, noticing her deep blue eyes in stark contrast to her wild blonde ringlets, my toddler began crying in the cart. "Mommy," she whined with a shove to the cart's handle again.

I left the blonde woman's side and grabbed Emery from the cart. I smoothed down her chocolate brown hair and wiped the crocodile tears from her chubby, rosy cheeks. We swayed and bounced as I looked towards the woman apologetically.

"I am so sorry that I ran into you, ma'am. I was totally distracted by this little one and getting in and out of here as fast as possible since it's getting close to N-A-P time," I apologized again, still soothing my toddler.

"It's okay. I'm okay," she reassures me with a small smile.

I ease Emery back down into the cart cautiously. To avoid any further meltdowns, I ripped open a packet of fruit snacks from my pocket and handed them to the toddler.

"Good, I'm glad I didn't seriously injure someone with my poor cart-driving skills," I joke, giving her a warm smile. The other woman looked familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place where I knew her from. The smile she gave me in return was soft and sweet, her eyes shining genuinely.

If I had met her under different circumstances or at a different time in my life, I might have even considered flirting with this woman or giving her my number. However, I held myself back with my daughter seconds away from finishing the only distraction I had on hand and the large, gleaming diamond on the other woman's dainty finger.

"I won't report you to Officer Bieber this time, but I make no promises for future incidents," she retorted, clearly joking because the town cops here were a bunch of bumbling idiots who definitely couldn't even file the simple paperwork for a "shopping cart incident."

I threw both hands up, a laugh escaping my lips. "Fair enough."

I watched as the other woman caught sight of the watch on her wrist, her demeanor shifting as she noticed the time it displayed. She nervously fidgeted while moving to sidestep my cart, where Emery now played with the crinkly packaging of her snack.

"Well, it was great running into you..." she trailed off, waiting for me to fill in the blank.
"Karlie," I finished. "And the pleasure was probably all mine," I added because she definitely didn't have any fun getting rammed into by a shopping cart at the hands of a distracted single mother. Yeah, that's why I added that bit.

I turned to ask her for her name as well, but the woman was already out of sight. I grabbed the last few items we needed and left the store as quickly as possible, cranky, tired toddler in tow.

When we return to our small house just down the road, I unload the now-sleeping toddler and tip-toe my way inside. I carry her into her nursery and carefully lower her into her crib, slipping a pacifier between her lips when she lets out a small whine. I quietly slip out of the room and let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in.

I glanced at the picture that hung across the hall from my daughter's room. It was a picture of myself, approximately eight months pregnant, with light blonde hair blowing in the breeze, and the white sun dress I wore. Across my stomach was my husband's loving embrace. He had the biggest smile plastered on his clean-shaven face. My face was lit up with a bright smile in return. If only I had known that sliver of happiness wouldn't last forever.

Josh never got to meet Emery Lux Kloss. Never got to see her full head of dark curls that she got from him or glance into her green eyes that so closely resemble my own. Hear her laugh at the funny faces I make at her or her tiny cherub voice calling for Daddy.

Part of me still holds resentment for Josh for making me do this on my own. If he hadn't gone out with his friends in the city to celebrate the upcoming birth of our daughter, he would still be here right now to raise her. If he hadn't spent the night drinking beer before trying to come back home to us, he would have gotten to meet her.

Nothing could have prepared me for the city police officers who knocked on the door that night, whose throats visibly bobbed as they took in my extremely pregnant appearance. They had to pick up my body as it collapsed to the floor in endless sobs. Cries that wouldn't stop until well after Emery was born. In those early days, we often cried together.

Having my sister Kimby in the town over was the only way I got through the newborn stage and through the grief of losing my husband. She dragged me out of the house to group therapy in the city and helped me through those treacherous nights with a squirming, screaming baby.

Now, almost exactly two years after the accident, I still miss Josh every day. He was my best friend and partner all in one. Pictures of us together litter the house we once shared, as I am determined for Emery to know who her father was and that he loves her very much, even if they never got to meet.

Emery and I take weekly trips to the cemetery to place fresh flowers on Josh's grave. Now that she's old enough, Emery loves placing the red roses in a pattern along the ground and listens intently to the stories I tell her about Josh and I. To add some fun to the trip, we usually stop at the school playground a few blocks away afterward to let her run out some of her energy.

After she woke up from her nap, I figured we could stop back by the store to grab some fresh flowers, and head off to do just that.