Fourteen blocks to daycare / Goblet

He looked out the window again. The rain hadn't let up. He looked at his watch again. Damn. If he was going to make it to work on time he had to leave now. He put the rain cover over the stroller, threw on the closest thing he had to a rain coat over his back, and opened the door to begin his journey.

14 blocks to daycare.

He hadn't made it two blocks before his socks were wet. Mother fucker. A full day at the office wearing wet socks. Splish sploshing from conference room to conference room. Beautiful.
After a few more blocks he realized he'd forgot his lunch. Fuck it. He'd gone too far to turn back now. Looks like he'd be dropping $12 at the deli. $12 he could have used to help pay for baby formula, diapers, or wipes.
Half way there and it really started to pour. Torrential. If anyone happened to peek out their window no doubt they'd laugh at the jackass pushing a stroller in a monsoon. I was almost funny. Check that, it was funny. He laughed to himself out loud like a crazy person.
A couple blocks later any trace of humor had transformed into pure rage. He tried to pinpoint the moment of his life where the first domino fell, triggering the series of events that transformed him from a young hot shot whose biggest worry was the size of his television to the poor schlep pushing his kid through a rain storm.
Perhaps it was when he cancelled his gym membership. It also could have been when he picked up that book of 10,000 baby names he saw sitting on his neighbor's stoop. Or maybe it was the day he caught himself humming the song the stuffed bear sang.
Now just a few blocks from the daycare, he audibly cursed a don't walk sign for suggesting he stop. He cursed a passing garbage truck for smelling like garbage He cursed the sidewalk for being uneven.
Fuck. This. Shit.

As he parked his stroller next to the others the rain tapered off to a light drizzle. He pulled back his hood and did his best to shake himself dry before removing the stroller's rain cover. The baby was asleep.
She opened her eyes as he lifted her out. The heavy mist in the air caused her to blink her eyes several times. She looked towards the sky and seemingly took in the day, her eyes now wide with wonder. Just then the sun broke through the clouds and she took a deep breath, pure and clean.

He stood there in his wet socks and held his daughter for some time before taking her inside.