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I glance down.
“You think my mural’s dry yet?”
“Not sure, bud.” I meet Nova’s gaze and give her a disappointed look.
She winks as if to saymaybe later.
Oh, I will definitely be taking her up on that.
With a resigned sigh, I follow my son into his new and renovated room.
Technically, it’s the same old guest room.
Also, it’s not renovated yet.
I managed to get the in-demand and highly lauded Sunny Hastings to agree to redecorate the room for us. She only squeezed us into her schedule because of Nova, but I’ve seen the mock-ups and I already know Rowan’s room is about to be epic.
Even more epic than the furniture, however, is the mural Rowan designed with his cartoon characters. We’ve been painting the room together in the evenings. I use it as a way to bond with him and stretch my creative muscles.
But I’ve actually enjoyed it.
Since today was the last day, I invited Nova to help us finish up.
Now, the mural spreads out in all its colorful glory. There’s a skill to the design that puts a smile on my face.
Rowan is going to be a famous artist someday. Maybe someday soon. He’s already looking at starting his own art channel where he’ll take videos of himself making paintings.
Now that I’m seeing the design all together, I notice there are four cartoon figures.
“By any chance, Rowan,” I point, “are those… us?”
He turns shy, which is rare for him.
“I drew one for mom,” he says, “then I drew one for me and you. And it didn’t feel right without Nova…”
I hook an arm around his neck and bring him in for a side-hug. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want it to be weird.”
“What’s weird about this? It makes the mural even more awesome.”
He grins, getting back some confidence.
“Adam.”
“Mm?”
“Would it be weird if I called you ‘dad’?”
Dumbstruck, I freeze.
“Calling you Adam is weird.” His eyes skitter away. “Especially when I’m with my friends. Even Beth calls Mr. Stinton ‘dad’ and he’s not her real dad. Bailey and Micheal do it to Mr. Hastings too and their real dad died. It’s weird that I’m the only one not calling you dad even though we’re actually related.”
“Oh.” I blink at his astute explanation. “I mean, that makes sense.”
“Dad,” Rowan says suddenly.
My heart climbs all the way to my throat and blocks any air from coming out.
