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“Thanks, Ava, it’s really good to hear yours, too. But I’ll let you go for now.”
“Okay. Talk later?”
“Absolutely.” He ended the call, and a wave of depression swept over him.
As it turned out, he didn’t hear from her until the next day. It was after midnight EST when he got home with Violet and got her bathed and fed and into her crib.
At eight the next morning, he was still sleeping after a night of colic due to someone feeding her big-people food. Dreaming that the alarm at the firehouse had gone off, he sat up in bed, confused. The phone beeped again, and he squinted at the face to see the number. It was Ava.
“Oh, I woke you. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. Violet had a bellyache last night, so we were up from two to five. I felt so bad for her. She pooped twice and they were both blowouts.”
“Oh no! I wonder what caused that.”
“My brother Tony’s wife let her son feed Violet ice cream. That’s the only thing I can think of that would upset her stomach, because she only had her bottles all day.”
“It could have been the excitement, too,” Ava said. “Try not to be too angry with Bridget. I like her a lot.”
“I didn’t realize you knew her.”
“Roberta brought her over to see Violet one day when you were working. I like your family. Your sisters-in-law are lovely women.”
“That’s good to know. I’m in the group of guys who get ignored in the family. You know, theyounger brothers.”
“Ha! Well, you’re not the typical younger brothers, that’s for sure. You’re like the hot calendar firefighter brothers.”
“Just an FYI, my brothers think you’re hot.”
“I doubt it, and how did that conversation come up?”
“At the bar on my birthday, Tony made a comment that was about your appearance, and Jake piped in with his two cents.”
“Ha! That’s okay. It’s better than them saying I’m a toad, I think.”
“When are you getting home? I’m sick of this.”
“Why? Do you miss me?”
“Yes, I miss you, what do you think? I want to get married.”
“Oh, Leon, we’ve talked about this.”
“The men in my family get married, Ava. They avoid relationships if they can. And then when they find someone, they want to get married. If they don’t get married, they break up with the woman and find someone who wants to marry them. Tony and Bridget are a good example.”
“What’s that? The Saint law? That’s ridiculous.”
“It is what it is. Think about it, okay? We can at least get engaged and plan to get married next year. It doesn’t need to be right away, but I want to know we’re going to do it.”
“I don’t even want to talk about it, Leon.”
“Why not?”
She paused to the count of five and then blurted out, “Because Alex hasn’t been dead long enough.”
This was news to Leon. He tried to remember if anyone had ever mentioned how long he’d been dead. He assumed it was ten years, at least.
“I’m so sorry, Ava, truly. You didn’t want to talk about it, remember? So I really don’t know anything unless it’s secondhand stuff from my family. How long has he been gone?”
