Babes Stripping For Love

The next day Jojo had rotated Bree’s schedule, she managed to give her two days off and that’s all she needs. She was still new, she didn’t want to get cut because she was unable to work for two straight days. And those two days were all she needed since Hazel was discharged the next day.

At least she was only paying for a one-day private room, her little girl was a bit cranky the next day saying she wanted to sleep in her bed. Late that afternoon after Bree signed off on her hospital administration and got Hazel’s prescription, she saw Gage by Hazel’s bed with another teddy bear almost as big as her daughter.

No… Bree thought to herself, she didn’t need to have Gage getting closer to her daughter. She didn’t want Hazel to go through another separation process. Her little sunshine gave her thousands of questions when she realized her dad wasn’t going to live with them again. The questions tire her already numbed feelings and she didn’t need another one where Hazel might eventually think her mom was driving all the men away, her dad, and now her… yeah Bree didn’t even know what to think of Gage. Aside from that her boss hugged her last night and she liked it.

A lot.

“Mommy! look at what Gage bought me! it’s the momma bear, the baby bear now has her momma with her. Just like us!” Bree smiled at her and kissed her forehead the second she was to her side, she helped her little sunshine to sit up and drink her juice.

“Gage, you shouldn’t have.” Bree finally said half an hour later when Hazel had fallen back to sleep, they were ready to go home. They just needed Hazel’s doctor to give the final examination and clear her to go home.

“She is happy, I thought that was all that mattered to moms?” Gage patted the seat next to him. Bree didn’t see that the man had brought coffee and doughnuts until they were seated in the small seating area of Hazel’s private room.

“I had Elvis bring your car over,” he gave her the keys and once again she thanked the man. Bree thought he was going to leave when he continued, “I’ll wait for the doctor and while doing so… I’d like to talk to you about the big bad mold on your living room ceiling.”

“Gage,” Bree didn’t dare to look at him, she decided to stir her coffee instead. She had thought that Hazel might be sick because of the mold, but she couldn’t do anything until another couple of months. She still has too many bills to pay.

“Do you think it’s because of the mold? oh god, I’ve been a really bad mom.” Bree took a deep breath, her shoulders slumped. She was holding her cup of coffee, trying hard to suppress her disappointment towards herself.

“Hey, you’re having a very bad year, that’s all. Look Bree I have a place, you can stay there.” The man looked at her sincerely, “no, please don’t give me that look. It’s small, I haven’t managed to rent it out because of the size, but you and Hazel will do great there at least until your apartment is mold-free.” He paused drinking his coffee, then continued with a slight hesitation in his voice “or not, um… I don’t know what the situation is with the owner of your apartment complex. I don’t know when your apartment will be renovated because I think that the whole ceiling needs to be redone.”

Gage offered her one of his still vacant apartments, it was located in a nicer neighborhood just a couple of blocks away from where her current apartment was.

“You’ve helped me so much already, I can’t…” Bree sighed her mind was heavy with considerations. Money, Hazel’s health, her stupid fucking ex, her job, and a bunch of other stuff including her useless lawyer.

“Bree, you work at Babes, consider this as the perks of your job? Do this for Hazel, look… stay there until you manage to find a new place. She needs to heal, and you won’t be risking a future visit to the hospital, logically it’ll save you more money in the future.”

Bree let his words settle in her mind, thinking of the pros and cons. Surely she was not the first employee that he helped she thought. She needed to talk to Dee or Cassidy, maybe even Jade. But in the meantime, she nodded and thanked him.

“Good, we’ll go straight to the new apartment then later on you can pack your stuff and stay there starting tonight.”

“I can’t thank you enough.”

Gage didn’t reply, he just smiled and nodded since Hazel’s doctor decided to enter the room and check up on Hazel. Bree listened to his explanation about her condition, telling her Hazel should rest for the next couple of days.

Hazel’s eyes fluttered open when the doctor touched her arm and asked her a couple of simple questions while he reads Hazel’s chart. She was cleared to go home and excused himself to go and check on his other patients, before leaving the room.

Five minutes later familiar voices were coming from outside her room, and Bree notices them the second they stepped into the room. “Cassidy, Jade, what … how? um… what are you doing here?”

“Jojo told us, hi Gage, we decided to check up on you before we go to work.” Cassidy greeted their boss and carried on telling Bree that they’re friends, of course, they’d be there. Jade was to Hazel’s side and complimented her huge teddy bear.

“Gage bought it for me!” her voice was full of excitement and Cassidy raised her eyebrow at Bree then at Gage. But what Bree didn’t expect was how Cassidy tried to sneak another questioning took to Jade and Gage.

“Oh my, you’re such a lucky girl! I’m sure you’re feeling better already, right?” Jade asked the little girl who was nodding with her megawatt smile plastered on her face.

“I’m ready to go home! I don’t like staying here, this room smells like old people.” Her innocent complaint made all of them laugh. Bree couldn’t help but noticed how Cassidy kept on eyeing Jade and Gage as if there was something between them. But Bree decided to let it go and carry on talking before Cassidy and Jade decided that it was time for them to go to Babes.

“I need to study and Jade here is going to practice her new stuff for tonight.” Clearly, Cassidy needed to filter her words in front of Hazel, and Bree couldn’t be more thankful because of it.

In less than twenty minutes after her friends left, Hazel was strapped to her baby chair in Bree’s car and Gage was telling her to follow his car. “Where are we going, mommy? I thought we were going home?”

“Well, do you remember about the black stain on the ceiling of our living room?” Bree asked her little girl, looking at Hazel through the rearview mirror while shifting the car in gear and starting to follow her boss’s car.

“Uh-huh.”Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“Well, Gage thinks that it’s making you sick and now he’s offering us to stay at one of his place until I can find us another one.”

“Okay.” The little sunshine agreed instantly, Bree peered through the rearview mirror again and saw that her little baby was hugging her little teddy while smiling at the big teddy sitting by her side. Hazel giggled happily when Gage helped momma bear sit and buckled safely beside her car seat. The toddler grinned at him and Bree thanked him for helping her with their stuff.

The whole ride to their new apartment, Bree kept on thinking about Hazel and their finances, about how the hell she was supposed to support herself with more money coming out than coming in.

She was mentally exhausted when Gage parked at a small apartment complex. It looked quiet, there were only a couple of cars in the parking area. Most of the tenants were probably out on their day jobs or doing chores, Bree thought.

“Come on, you’re on the first floor. It’s small, but I think you’ll like it.” Gage explained while he helped her with their bags and momma bear, while Bree unbuckled Hazel and helped her out of the car.

“Gage, this is… beautiful.” The young mom blurted out her compliment the moment she stepped into the small and cozy living space.

Gage liked the place, he bought it as an investment. The previous tenant was upgrading to a larger space and his real estate agent hadn’t found anyone wanting to rent the place because of the size and the asking price.

“Mommy, there’s a garden in the back! can we have a puppy?”

Hazel’s shrilled excitement pulled him from his thought when he mentally remind himself to call his agent and hold off on renting the apartment.

“Oh… my, Gage, the place is gorgeous. Are you sure?” Bree asked once again as she stepped onto the small garden when Hazel kept on tugging her hand wanting her mom to follow her outside.

“I’m sure.”

It has been so long since he felt so sure of his decision. He was already feeling his insides warm to the familiar feeling, he thought he had lost it. The woman in front of him gave Gage the most beautiful smile he hadn’t seen in a very long time, and the giggling of the little girl made him want to stay there a little while longer.

But he knew he couldn’t, he needs to give them space. For now.