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“Oh, Ivy, sometimes, things don’t always work out like we think they should. I will always be someone you can talk to even if I don’t live here with you. I love you,” I say as I squeeze her hands.
I hate shattering her heart, and I hope she knows how much I care about her.
She sniffles. “I love you,” she says on a whisper that about shatters me.
I pull her into a hug while Waffle runs around us, tying us together with his leash. Ivy giggles, breaking the tension.
“Oh, guess what,” I tell her, smiling as I stand, and we continue walking.
“What?” She lightly bounces on the balls of her feet.
“I’m going to be your teacher this year in school.”
I’m glad to see the smile that stays on her face once she hears the news even if I start to think about what this will mean for me specifically, having to see Simon as Ivy’s teacher again.
Ivy chatters the whole way as we round the block and come back to the house. I stare up at the front door, wondering what will greet me as I walk in.
“Come on,” Ivy says, pulling me forward, and I have no choice but to enter the house with her and Waffle.
As we enter, I’m relieved, seeing no signs of Simon, and after a quick exchange with his parents, I head up the stairs, Ivy trailing behind, to my room. Or what was my room. I stare at the bed, envisioning what happened right there, my body tingling as it remembers.
The spell is broken as Ivy and Waffle jump up on the bed and sit to keep me company as I pack.
“Should Waffle be up on the bed?” I ask.
Ivy holds a finger up to her lips. “Shh. Don’t tell anyone. I let him up on my bed last night, and he slept with me.”
“I bet he’s a good cuddlebug,” I say, smiling affectionately at the dog, his tongue lolling out as he keeps an eye on things.
“Can I keep him?” she asks, and I pause, pulling my bag from the closet.
“Waffle?” I ask over my shoulder.
“Yeah. I really love him.” She has one hand buried in the fur of his neck.
“I’m not sure your dad will agree to that,” I say cautiously, not wanting to overstep my bounds by making decisions for someone who isn’t my child.
“I asked him last night, and he said yes,” Ivy says, surprising me.
Why would Simon think I would agree to keep Waffle here? Didn’t he say the whole time that he was my dog and he didn’t want anything to do with him?
“He did, did he?” I muse, stuffing clothing into the bag that I laid on the bed beside Ivy.
“Yeah, I’m really excited. He said I needed to ask you first though.”
I look at Waffle and then back at Ivy. They look like they are bonded together already, inseparable, and who am I to take that away from them?
“Of course he can stay here—as long as I get to visit every once in a while.”
Why am I saying I’m going to come back?That wouldn’t be healthy for anyone.
“Did you hear that, boy?” Ivy squeals excitedly. “You get to stay with me.”
The look on her face makes my decision worth it.
I continue to pack as Ivy tells me about what she’s been doing with her grandparents, and before I know it, I’m done, standing at the front door with Ivy plastered to me, saying my good-byes. I can’t stop the tears from rolling down my face as I climb in the car, and with one look toward the front door, where Ivy stands beside Waffle, waving at me, I drive off.
