Page 80 of The Blessing

I smirk at her before responding, “Well, you did really wear me out last night.”

“Breakfast it is then.” She practically skips to the kitchen and grabs a pan from the cabinet before rifling through the fridge.

“What’s on the menu?” I call out to her while I continue feeding Grey the last of his breakfast.

“Are you okay with pancakes? I can make them really fast and then we can be on our way.”

“Whatever you want to make is perfect.” You’re perfect.

We watch morning cartoons as we eat. It’s so fucking relaxing and makes me wish every morning could be like this: a nice start to the day spent with people you love. After we finish our food, we head out to the closest mall. I haven’t been here since I was a teenager. Before I was introduced to drinking and partying, I’d spend my weekends here, just hanging out with my friends. I remember being really content during those trips, but after I started partying all the time, I found hanging around the mall extremely boring. It’s different now, of course. Now I have a good reason to be here. It makes me feel accomplished to be able to buy nice things for my son. I’d buy him the whole world if I fucking could, but for now, I’ll settle on a few nice shirts and pairs of pants.

Ronnie’s thrilled with the chance to pick out some outfits for our little guy. The last time I saw her this enthusiastic about shopping she had a two for one coupon for fabric softener. It’s really cute to watch her as she gets so serious and invested about finding Grey the “perfect outfit.”

“I can’t believe he’s getting so big,” she says over and over as we look for his size in various piles.

“He’ll be one on January sixteenth,” I tell her with a proud smile.

“We’ll have to throw a nice party for him.”

Party. I’m honestly not used to the idea of a party which doesn’t involve copious amounts of alcohol. How the hell do you plan a party for a kid? I run a nervous hand through my hair as I say, “Do you think you could plan it? I’m completely lost when it comes to that sort of thing.”

“You’ve never planned a party before?” As soon as she sees the uncomfortable look on my face she changes the subject. “It’ll be exciting when Grey can talk to us.”

“I know,” I say, all of my discomfort gone. “I can’t wait to finally hear what he’s thinking.”

“I wonder what his next word will be,” Ronnie muses as we walk to the checkout with a pile of baby clothes in hand.

“Hopefully, it’ll be something positive. I need to really stop cursing so much around him. I try my best, but I know some of my thoughts fly out my mouth. God willing, he won’t start saying ‘shit’ by the time he starts preschool. I’ll definitely get some awkward looks from his teachers if that happens.”

She giggles at my comment as she sets the pile of clothes we’d selected on the counter for the clerk to ring up. I pull my wallet out and hope that this purchase won’t break the bank.

“Let me buy him some of this stuff,” Ronnie insists, pulling part of the pile back to her so the cashier won’t ring it up. “I did pick out some of this stuff, after all.”

When I open my mouth to argue, she gives me a pleading look and a pout. “Fine, Mommy,” I tease her as I pull out my card to pay for my pile.

We leave the store and head to the food court after Ronnie insists on getting an ice cream cone. Of course, I don’t mind. I do get to watch her eat it. I buy a cone for myself and give Grey a lick or two, just so he can try out mint chocolate chip for the first time.

“Dada!” he squeals as soon as I pull the ice cream away from him.

“Buddy, you can’t eat all this sugar all by yourself.”

“He’s going to be hooked now,” Ronnie says with a smile before taking a long lick of her vanilla cone.

I feel my cock stir at the sight and nonchalantly reach down to adjust myself before taking a lick of my own cone. I swear, this girl does this to me on purpose. She must know how she affects me. As we sit in the food court, I feel so normal. We’re a normal family—doing a normal family thing—and I honestly couldn’t be happier. After my dad’s revelation I try to enjoy moments like these because my gut tells me there’s another unpleasant truth lurking around the corner.