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I didn’t even know how much I missed him.
“No,” Alicia says carefully. “Orlando needs to go to bed on time. If he doesn’t, he’ll be super cranky in the morning.”
“But he doesn’t have to go to school,” I tell her. “He can sleep in.”
Alicia shakes her head.
“That’s not how little kids work, Cage.” She looks to Orlando again and jerks her head toward the bathroom. “Time to brush your teeth. Let’s go.”
I’m a little rankled by her just brushing me off. I mean, I’m his dad, too. He’s got two parents, now, and I feel like I should be able to have a say in how this goes.
When she comes back from brushing Cage’s teeth, I decide that I’m going to do it. I’m going to double down. Alicia has always been wildly stubborn. She’s always tried getting her way, but I’m tired of that. Why can’t I get something my way for a change?
“Tell Cage goodnight,” she says gently, but I shake my head.
“He should stay up more,” I tell her.
Alicia looks at me. For a minute, I think she’s going to argue with me, insisting that he needs to go to bed on time, but she just shrugs.
“Sure,” she says. “But you have to get up with him in the morning.”
“Not a problem,” I say, grinning, glad that I’m getting my way. “What do you say, kiddo?” I ask Orlando, ruffling his hair. “Want to stay up and play trains?”
“Trains!”
“Then we’ll sleep in tomorrow and have a great day together,” I say.
Alicia rolls her eyes, but she does it so subtly that it barely registers. Why does she think I’m not going to be a good dad? I’ll definitely make a good dad.
Orlando takes my hand and leads me into his room, where he’s got piles upon piles of toys.
“You’ve got a lot of trains,” I tell him. Alicia appears in the doorway and I look over at her.
“Your mom was very generous,” she says. “I never could have afforded all of this.”
“She liked Orlando, huh?”
“Adored him. They spent a lot of time together.”
“That surprises me a little.”
“Well, your mom had a lot of time to think after you left,” she says gently, and I get what she’s trying to say.
“You mean she calmed down a little bit.”
“A lot, actually. When you left, she basically broke. She was devastated.”
“I don’t know why. It’s not like I lived with her before I took off.”
I’d moved out the second I’d turned 18 and I never looked back.
“A mother never really stops loving her child, Cage. You two may not have been close, but she still cared for you. She loved you.”
“I should have called her,” I say, watching Orlando run around and pick up various trains.
“Probably,” Alicia says, and I suddenly have even more respect for her. She’s not letting me get away with my bad behavior. Most girls would say something to justify the behavior. I’m glad she’s not like that.
“Was she mad that I didn’t?”
