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“I have no clue, Red. He called me that the first time I met him, but didn’t say why.” He looks at Anthony, his eyes full of compassion and says, “Sorry, bud.”
“What is going on here?” I demand and stand up.
Anthony grabs my hand and looks at me with his big beautiful eyes.
“Mommy, I’m sorry. I was looking for candy. I looked in your drawer and saw that picture you have of him in there. I didn’t know who he was, but it’s in your secret drawer with all of your secret things I’m not supposed to see.” He looks down at his lap.
And my relief washes over me. That is the most benign explanation he could have given at this point. I look up from him and my mother and Dean are now watching me, waiting for me to explain.
“It’s okay, baby. Don’t feel scared about telling me anything, okay?”
He nods, I kiss my son on the head and I walk back to my seat and sit down. And I give my mea culpa.
“I have a picture of Dean and I that I keep in a drawer by my bed. I’ve always kept it there, and I guess he found it and recognized you. Since he couldn’t ask who you were, he assigned you a name. Picture Man,” I say and smile at all of them. I look at Dean, but
he’s standing up.
“Dean?” I start to stand up, too. He doesn’t respond, but leaves the room and walks straight back to my kitchen.
This is the last thing I expected. I dash after him.
As soon as I walk through the swinging door that divides my kitchen from the dining room, I feel a pair of hands grab my waist and push against the wall.
Dean has the fiercest look in his eyes, and I'm totally confused.
“I just needed to kiss you in a way that I couldn’t kiss you in front of your mother and son.” He growls and he lays a kiss on me that curls my toes and makes me wish he was staying the night with me.
We walk back to the table together and sit down.
“You okay, Ant Man?” he asks
Anthony nods and smiles a little weakly.
“So, how about some Mom and Picture Man stories?” Dean says to him and his smile brightens immediately.
My mother shoots me a knowing look while laughing. “Milly, you’ve been overruled. Just sit back and enjoy it.”
I gasp and feign annoyance. “Fine! Gang up on me.”
Dean reaches across the table to hold my hand, while he says with a wink and a smile, “Get used to it, Red.”
27
If you’d told me two months ago, I’d be up at seven on a Sunday morning teaching a kid the latest Kidz Bop moves, I would have rolled my eyes. If you had told me I would be doing it because a kid I’m totally crazy about texted me forty-five minutes ago and said he couldn’t sleep and asked me to come over, I would have laughed in your face. But, here I am with Anthony, learning the moves to Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass.”
And I’m happy as shit he found his mom’s phone and texted me instead of waking his mom or grandmother up. He wanted me, which makes me feel like I won the lottery.
I’ve always wanted kids, but thought it wouldn’t ever happen. And I know he’s not technically my kid, but getting to know him as part of my reconciliation with Milly has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. He’s a great kid.
Milly’s still asleep and so is her mother, so when I hear the backdoor to the kitchen open, I get up and rush to the kitchen expecting to find an intruder. Anthony is completely absorbed in the cartoon and didn’t appear to hear the door.
What I find is worse than an intruder. What I find is worse than an intruder. It’s the fucking idiot of an ex-husband of hers. Letting himself into her house like he still lives there.
This motherfucker.
He freezes when he sees me. His face moves through different expressions—panic, surprise, recognition, anger—so quickly it’s almost funny. Almost.
I stop in the kitchen entrance and plant my feet.
