Third

I heard their voices inside Sander's room. I made my way to our room and sat at the end of the bed. My phone started to ring.

I stood up and picked up the phone from the bedside table.

When I caught a glimpse of the caller ID, I felt a little nervous.

James was calling.

I stared at the phone screen for a moment before picking up the call. What could be the thing that he wanted this time? I hesitated before answering his call. It had been a month or so since he called. This much sure had something to do with his son.

"Hi, James," I said, not wanting to sound joyful about his call.

Though, honestly, it didn't excite me at all to see James' caller ID on my phone screen. When we were together, his simple messages and short calls gave me the feeling of being wanted. But when things had been wrecked between us, it was just a mere call and text for me. \

"Isabel, can I talk to Archie?" his voice wasn't happy at all.

I could imagine him waiting for me to give the phone to Archie so he could skip the part of talking to me for a long time. He didn't even ask how I was doing. He went directly to the point of inquiring about our son. At least he said my name this time. When he would call, he would just say that he wanted to talk to Archie and things like he needed Archie on the phone.

"He's taking a bath. What do you need to say to him? I can talk to Archie later."

I heard a sigh at the end of the line. "It is best if I am the one who's going to tell him."

"Is it about his school?"

"No. I will call you back after fifteen minutes. Please let me know if Archie's available."

He hung up the call without hearing me say anything in return. At least he said please this time. I went back at the end of the bed and sat there until Archie showed up with a towel wrapped around his body.

"Hi, Mom," he said. "Tito Sander let me use his shampoo for today. Can we change my shampoo like his? I don't really like using kids' shampoo."

Archie walked his way to the closet, looking for a set of clothes that would suit him. He seemed like a grown-up guy who was accustomed to this family setup.

"Archie, do you want to talk to your dad?" I asked him while watching his back to me. Instead of granting his wish of shampoo change, I decided to go directly to the topic.

"Sure, anything you want, mom."

"No, I am asking you. Do you want to talk to your dad?"

He didn't respond right away. He stopped picking clothes. "Sure, but not today, mom. I would like to play with Tito Sander's friends first."

Archie was able to pick the clothes he wanted to wear. I watched him as he put it on. "Mom, are you sad because we are not going out today? You look a bit sad."

The way he spoke, he easily captured the sadness in me. He knew when and how to read the face of his mom who was trying to mourn her dolefulness.

"I am not sad. Who said I am sad?"

I deny his true assumption. I wanted to hug him right now and tell him not to talk to his dad anymore. James could ask Archie to spend the rest of the summer with him. James could fund the school fees of Archie and ask me to let our son live with his parents. They could do anything to take Archie away from me. I wouldn't let that happen.

Archie was my everything. I could live with just Archie by my side. I wouldn't trade him for anything grand in this world. Archie was the gift I didn't ask for. He was the best and best thing that ever happened.

He moved closer to me when he was done dressing up. He even put the used bathroom towel at its proper hanging place. "Mom, I think you need to rest because you spent all your energy cleaning the room. It is not right to clean the room all day. Do you want an ice cream?"

"Can you give mommy a kiss and maybe a tight hug?"

He nodded before hugging me tight and kissing me a couple of times on the cheek. Archie was smiling and was looking at me. "Mom, do you want to take a bath? You smell like my socks."

"My, sorry, Archie. What does your sock smell like? I think I am quite fragrant to be a sock."

"I was just kidding, mom. You smell like cotton candy all the time."

His dad said the same thing about me. My perfume, for James, smelled like cotton candy. I didn't change my scent after that.

I laughed not so hard when he made that statement. This kid knew how to uplift my spirits by his jokes. I told Archie that I would be taking a bath when I felt like doing it. He let me comb his hair, and after a moment of splashing cologne on his shirt; he left the room.

I stood near the window sill to just take a break from the loneliness I had felt. James needed to hear this from me. He couldn't just take Archie whenever he wanted to. The kid liked to enjoy playing with his friends. James would probably take Archie with his family and his new girlfriend somewhere far this summer.

I dialed James' number but he wasn't picking up. I left him a message saying that he needed to give me a call today or I won't be contacting him anytime soon. I waited for James to respond to my message, but he didn't.

I was lying in my bed, thinking of the best place for Archie and me to live without James ever bothering us. I heard Archie's voice of excitement echoing from down the room. Sander's friends must be on their way here now.

I didn't move from my spot. I will take a bath later today. Pajamas weren't that out of fashion. Besides, I was just stuck in this house doing nothing. I tried to close my eyes and let myself fall asleep again, but sleep didn't come to my senses.

My phone rang again. I lazily grabbed it from my side. James' name popped on the screen.

"Hey," I said when I answered his call on the third ring.

"Is Archie available now to talk?"

"James, Archie refused to talk to you. He has some playmates coming over today."

"What? Did you tell him I called?" his exasperated response.

"Of course, I did. But I didn't want to talk right now. Give him time, James."

"Isabel, I am warning you. If you were trying to keep Archie away from me, you'll pay for this."

I sighed with his accusations. He had been telling me that I was doing things on purpose. Why would I even take away his right as Archie's dad? I just didn't want him to take Archie somewhere without me. He could be telling my son things that he shouldn't know. Archie kept on asking me questions whenever I let him out with James.

"Listen, James. I wouldn't do such a thing, okay? Just wait for Archie to be ready to talk to you."

"What did you exactly tell him?" he sounded exasperated.

"Nothing. You wanted to talk to him, that's all. I asked if this was about his school, you didn't give me the details."

"Isabel, you should have convinced your son."

I closed my eyes and pinched my nose, trying to hold back the anger I was feeling right now for him. Was it that hard to just tell me straightforwardly what it could be that he wanted to ask or say to Archie?

"I can't do anything about Archie's decisions, James. You know he has the right to choose whatever he wants," I said, sounding so calm.

He hung up the call without saying anything else. I just broke his fuse for another time. I tossed the phone on the bed and lay there staring at the ceiling. How did we end up being like this? We were so in love. A baby was everyone's dream, but why didn't it seem like it to James.

If responsibility was the thing that he had been scared of, we could take things slowly for the kid. Archie must have a happy family that would look after him and care for him every day in his life. The fairy tale I had in my mind didn't take place in reality. James seemed like a different person now. If this was about his feelings for me, I would gladly accept it if he didn't love me anymore. Could we just be platonic friends for the sake of our son? Things between James and I didn't turn that way. He was distant from me.

He was the love I learned to know. Now, it didn't seem that he had a love for me in store. It was true that feelings could change easily so do people. Love when not that genuine and pure, could be easily gone. While one true love, no matter the circumstances, the troublesome encounters, it would remain faithful and real. Love had not been something you wouldn't want to lose. Love should be something that doesn't change a person.

Instead of sulking and thinking about James and his rudeness toward me, I stood near the bedroom window when I heard a car honk outside. I peeked at the window to check if that was the visitors of Sander, and I saw a guy standing outside the car, talking to someone who was still in the vehicle.

I didn't get a full view of the guy; his back was facing me.

Archie would surely have a nice afternoon with his newfound playmates.

ʘ