Ellie’s eyes darted down to my hoodie, then back up again. “I’ll be okay when we get walking. But thanks.”
I felt stupid for offering. Maybe that wasn’t something friends did. She was too fancy for a hoodie anyway.
Ellie opened the sliding side door of the van. Henry appeared, smiling at me.
Okay, that helped. “Hey Henry!” I said, a much safer kind of happiness spreading in me at the sight of my son.
“Gaa ba ba!” he said back.
“Do you mind grabbing the stroller?” Ellie asked, pressing a button on her fob. The van’s rear door began to rise.
“Of course.” I was relieved to have something to do. Especially since it would take me away from the sight of her bending into the van to get Henry, her round backside suddenly directly in my line of sight.
I set the bag of sandwiches on the roof and headed around to the back of her minivan, where I was presented with a brick of canvas and metal. I wasn’t too worried. I could assemble a tent in two minutes flat. How hard could unfolding a stroller be?
I hauled the thing out of the trunk, setting it on the grass. Then I pressed a bunch of levers and buttons.
Nothing moved.
I tried again—it didn’t move.
“So we’re gonna play it that way, huh?” I muttered. I pushed a button I hadn’t seen before, and one I had, but again, the thing didn’t budge. My worry grew as I jiggled the thing this way and that, and still it wouldn’t open up. At one point, the handle popped out, but I couldn’t tell how I’d made that happen.
I stood up and growled. I’d gone down several rabbit holes on the internet the past few nights researching more baby stuff. Teeth. Baby food. Milestones. I didn’t consider unfolding a stroller something that would require a deep dive.
Henry made a noise. I looked up to see Ellie watching me, trying not to laugh. Henry did laugh as I narrowed my eyes. He flapped his arms happily.
“You know, I rebuilt a whole motorcycle once,” I said. “With some help, but still. And I’m pretty good at LEGOs.”
Ellie laughed. “Here.” She handed Henry to me. I took him, nuzzling his temple with my nose. I couldn’t help it.
Then I watched, agog, as Ellie did this quick little shake and the thing exploded into its full form.
“Sorcery,” I whispered.
Ellie laughed again, which instantly made my ineptitude worth it. So did getting to hold Henry again, even if it was just for a moment before she took him back and buckled him in.
I helped Ellie get a bunch of stuff into the basket under his seat and I tossed the food on top. Then we headed off on the trail.
“Want me to push?” I asked.
She smirked. “You sure you can handle it?”
“How dare you.”
She laughed again, but angled the stroller my way. When I took it from her, I prayed it would cooperate. Luckily the thing maneuvered a hell of a lot more easily than it unfolded. I could even push it with one hand.
“Easy peasy.” I waggled my eyebrows at her and did a little back and forth swerve.
“Hey! Eyes on the road.”
I grinned. This was going so much better than I’d feared. Maybe it had been good for us to get things cleared up. Even if the outcome was something that made me feel like those dark clouds were rolling around in my guts, if this is what I got with Ellie, I think I might survive. In time, I could get over these misplaced feelings I knew had to be just a holdover from the first time we met. Right?
Either way, I decided right there that no matter what, every time I saw her I’d try to make Ellie laugh. Seeing her happy was everything. She deserved to be happy. No matter what, I wanted to make life easier for Ellie. And I was prettysure that started with making her happy. Okay, and figuring out how to be a good dad. Henry laughing was equally amazing.
Ellie and I slipped back into silence, and that awkwardness I thought we were done with started to creep in. Maybe it was the giant pressure of Being a Good Dad. Or maybe it was reminding myself I needed to tread carefully with Ellie. Keep it friendly. Platonic.
“So—” I said, at the same time as she said, “How?—”
