Free All of You by Jenni Wilder

walking away but then stopped and turned back. “You
really should text him.”
    “Good-night, Rebecca!” I cried with a roll of
my eyes, and I heard Rebecca giggle as she walked away.
    I opened my laptop back up and stared at the
picture of Lincoln in the right-hand corner of the screen that
accompanied his biography. I bit my lip nervously and swiped my
thumb over my phone. I could still text him. It wasn’t that late in
the evening. I read over our texts again for the hundredth time and
debated what to do. In the end, my old fears and doubt overwhelmed
me, and I went to bed without texting him. Even though I had told
him I just wanted friendship, I feared rejection, and I figured if
he wanted to text me, he would have. I would wait to see what
happened on Saturday.
     
    ~~~~~~~~
     
    I woke up late the next morning and gasped
with happiness when I looked at my phone. I had a text message from
Lincoln.
    “ Good morning, beautiful. How was your
night?”
    I looked at the time and saw he had sent the
text twenty minutes ago. I was surprised Tabitha wasn’t awake yet.
But then again, she hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before.
    “ Do you know that’s a country song?” I
asked in reply.
    “ I did indeed know that. Do you like
country?” Lincoln’s answer came instantaneously.
    “ Some of it. I like just about everything.
Except rap.”
    “ Me too. Did you sleep okay? What are you
up to today?” he asked.
    “ Watching Tabby. Not sure what she wants
to do today. And yes I slept okay. You?” I hated my reply. It
sounded too stiff. But my phone chimed back immediately.
    “ I slept great. I dreamt of you.” Lincoln replied.
    I laughed. “Liar. You did not.
lol”
    “ LOL, okay you got me. But I did wake up
thinking about you.”
    I bit my lip. I wanted to tell him I went to
bed thinking of him, but I didn’t want to encourage him. We could
only be friends. I sent a smiley face in reply and then asked him
about his plans for the day as I got out of bed and made my way to
the kitchen for coffee and breakfast.
    “ Flight leaves in a couple of hours. Then
ice time for practice and game’s at seven.”
    “ Are you excited for the game?” I
wondered. Maybe it was all ho-hum for him by this point. He had
been playing his whole life.
    “ Will you be watching?” Lincoln
replied without answering my question.
    “ I can…,” I answered.
    “ Then yes, I’m excited to play, hoping
you’ll be watching me.”
    “Mommy?” Tabitha called out as she walked
into the kitchen. Her nightgown with rainbows on it was wrinkled,
and she was rubbing her eyes. Her hair was messed up in all
directions.
    “Just me today, kiddo. Mommy’s at work,” I
told her. “What do you want for breakfast?”
    “Waffles!” Tabitha said with too much
enthusiasm for this time of the morning.
    “You just had waffles yesterday, Tabby Cat,”
I reminded her.
    “But I want them again,” Tabitha said
stubbornly.
    “Okay, I’ll make you waffles but you have to
eat some fruit too,” I conceded and then heard my phone chime.
    “ Hello?” Lincoln texted. He must be
wondering why I hadn’t replied.
    “ Sorry, didn’t mean to ignore you. Tabby
just woke up and is demanding waffles.”
    “ Ah. I was worried I scared you off again.
Didn’t mean to sound needy. Tell Tabby hi from me.” Lincoln
replied quickly. I tried to squash the feelings of joy that came
with the idea that he needed me.
    “ Will do. Have a great game. I’ll be
watching. :)”
    “ Okay if I text you after the
game?”
    “ Yeah that’s fine. :)”
    I put my phone down with a smile and focused
on the waffles. “What do you say to ice skating today, Tabby Cat?”
I asked.
    “Ooh yes! I can try my twirls again!” Tabitha
said excitedly and began collecting the ingredients for waffles. I
smiled at her involuntarily. There was absolutely nothing about
this child that I didn’t love. I was excited to take her skating,
but I was suddenly looking forward to tonight