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They look to me, to ask if that’s okay, and I nod to give them permission.
Mimi takes Laney by the hand while Stan helps Gage with the luggage. They have us loaded in their silver Cadillac Escalade in no time for the thirty-minute ride to their home in Boca Raton. The kids love the palm trees, which are lit up for the holidays.
“These days, the palms stay lit all year,” Mimi tells them.
“I love palm trees!” Laney says.
“I do, too, sweetheart,” Mimi replies. “Palm trees equal vacation, even when I see them every day.”
“Remember how Nat used to say that?” Gage asks.
“I sure do. She loved them, too.”
Their single-story home is spacious, comfortable and welcoming. Mimi shows us to two guestrooms, one for me and Gage and the other for the kids. “Tyler, I thought you’d like to sleep on the air mattress so your sisters can have the bed. Is that okay?”
“Sure, thanks.” He drops his backpack by the air mattress on the floor. “When can we swim?”
“In the morning,” I tell him.
“Why can’t we swim now?” Tyler asks on a whine. “We’re inFlorida, Mom.”
Mimi looks at me as if to say it’s fine with her if it is with me.
“Oh, all right. Get your suits on.”
The three of them let out shrieks of excitement and tear into their suitcases to find their bathing suits.
“I’m sorry,” Mimi says with a sheepish grin while the kids get changed. “You’re going to have to let me spoil them.”
“You’re more than welcome to. You’ll be their best friend for letting them swim tonight.”
“I’d love to be their best friend.”
She’s so sweet and kind that I can’t help but hug her. “I’m so, so sorry for your loss.”
“I’m sorry for yours, but I’m so glad you and Gage have found each other.”
“I am, too. I told my friends I was worried it would be awkward to be with his late wife’s parents, but he told me it wouldn’t be. I should’ve listened to him.”
Laughing, she says, “My home is your home.”
The kids swim for an hour, with Gage supervising while I help Mimi and Stan grill burgers and toss a salad. I already know that Mimi is going to be my friend, too, after this week together. She’s delightful, sweet, funny, thoughtful and wonderful with the kids, who gravitate to her the same way they do to my mom and Mike’s.
“Are you doing okay?” Gage asks when we get a quiet moment alone while Mimi and Stan supervise the kids at the table. The older couple is clearly delighted to have young children in their home again. A photo of Nat and the girls sits on a side table in the living room, but that’s the only photo of them I’ve seen so far. My heart goes out to Nat’s poor, sweet parents who had to endure such a tragic loss.
“They’re incredible,” I tell him. “Just like you said they’d be.”
“The kids have gotten themselves a new set of grandparents.”
“How lucky they are.” I look up at him. “How lucky we all are.”
He kisses and hugs me, and I feel calmer in that moment than I have in almost three years. That there can be such joy amid the grief still amazes me.
Mimi serves ice cream for dessert, and Stan appears with a huge bag of Christmas presents for each of the kids.
“Oh my goodness, you guys! What do you say to Mimi and Stan?”
“Thank you so much,” Sophia says, eyeing the stack of presents Mimi has put in front of each of them.
