Page 24 of Together Is Where We Belong

“Dig in,” my mom said once he was finished.

The food smelled delicious. There was a platter of fried chicken, a bowl of homemade mashed potatoes, peas, and homemade biscuits, but as I plated my food, I didn’t know if I could stomach a bite. My stomach was in knots at telling them about their grandchild, and I didn’t know why. My parents would be nothing but supportive and kind. I knew that. I guess I just didn’t want to disappoint them.

“Your mom said you had somethin’ to tell us,” my dad said before he bit into the chicken leg in his hands.

Here went nothing.

“I told Mom I saw Carolina the other day,” I began. I wanted nothing but to blurt it out, but I delayed the inevitable.

“Yeah, she told me you helped her change her tire. That was kind of you,” my dad replied once he’d chewed and swallowed his food.

“Yeah, well I also found out some shockin’ news when I went to greet the new neighbor that moved in beside us.”

“What’s that?” my mom questioned. As if she could sense I was about to tell her something important, she sat her fork on her plate and waited for me to continue.

“Carolina’s the new neighbor.”

My mom pursed her lips and withheld a smirk.

“You don’t say,” my dad said with a hint of laughter in his tone.

“There’s more. She has a child.” I don’t know why I couldn’t just come out and say it, but I just couldn’t.

“It’s been almost eight years, son. You should’ve known she’d have moved on,” my dad replied.

The thought of her moving on made me want to hit something, but I couldn’t get into what made me feel that way. I didn’t want Carolina back, but the thought of someone else raising my son didn’t sit right with me.

“Are you goin’ to be okay with living next door to her? Do you need to move back in here?” my mom asked, instantly going into protective mama bear mode.

As much as I loved my parents, I loved having my own space, and while I appreciated the offer, I couldn’t move back home after living on my own for so long.

“Yeah, Mama. I’m goin’ to be fine livin’ next door. I’m messin’ this all up,” I said as I took a bite of mashed potatoes to prevent me from further explaining.

“What do you think you’re messin’ up?” my mom asked as she cocked her head to the side trying to decipher what I’d meant.

“Her son, he’s seven,” I said as I swallowed.

My mom gasped, and my dad let out a whistle a few minutes later as they did the math in their heads and figured out what I was trying to tell them.

They remained speechless so I continued.

“His name is Luke, and he knows all about me. I’m havin’ dinner with them tomorrow so I can meet him,” I told them as I sat to the side to retrieve the phone from my back pocket.

I pulled up the photo of Luke from this morning and smiled at his flour-covered cheeks before I handed it over to my mom.

“Oh my,” she said as she placed the hand not holding the phone over her heart. I knew the instant she saw his photo, she’d know without a doubt that he was mine.

She leaned over and showed my dad the photo, and a smile graced his face.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I had held.

“Why didn’t she tell you about him?” my mom asked as she handed the phone back to me. I sat it on the table and explained what Carolina had told me.

My mom’s lip trembled and tears filled her eyes before she got up from the table so fast that the chair almost tipped backward. My dad caught it before it hit the floor and sat it upright.

She raced back into the room with a stack of envelopes that were wrapped with a ribbon.

“If I’d known what these contained, I’d have given them to you right away, but I did as you asked and didn’t give you anythin’ that came from her after that first letter,” she said as she sat back down and handed me the weathered envelopes. I sat them to the side, thankful that she’d kept them.