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“But what, honey?”
“I don’t want everything to change,” he said, his chin quivering.
“Sweetheart, the things that matter most will never change. Your dad will love you as much as he always has. That could never change. Do you see how happy Uncle Will and Aunt Cameron are together, or Uncle Lucas and Aunt Dani?”
He nodded.
“Don’t you want that for your dad, too?”
“I guess.”
“You’re the most generous boy I’ve ever met. Do you know that?”
“Really?”
“Uh-huh. You take such good care of your baby cousins. You don’t care if they break your toys or pinch your toes or pull your hair.”
“I love them.”
“I know you do, and you love your dad. That’s why I want you to be just as generous to him as you are to your cousins. Can you do that for me?”
He nodded, even though he didn’t seem completely sold.
She nudged the paper and crayons closer to Caden. “In eleven short years, you’ll leave for college, and your dad will be all by himself. We don’t want him to be lonely, and you know he would be if he was all alone after you move out.”
Caden took the paper and opened the box of crayons.
Megan brought an ice water with lemon for Molly and a chocolate milk for Caden.
“Thank you,” they said.
“Another thing I want you to think about,” Molly said after Megan had moved on, “is how cool your dad has been about your mom coming back into your life.”
Caden looked up at her. “What do you mean?”
“It isn’t easy for him to share you with her, but he did it because it’s what you wanted. If you share your dad with Lexi, you’d be doing what’s best for him. You see how that works?”
“I think so.”
“Sometimes doing what’s best for the people we love isn’t always the easiest thing, but it’s the generous thing. It would make your dad very sad if you weren’t nice to Lexi simply because you don’t want things to change. One thing about life is that things are always changing, but change doesn’t have to be scary. Sometimes it can be awesome, like when you have more people in your life who love you.”
Caden worked on the card while thinking about what Molly had said. “What if Lexi doesn’t like me?”
“She already likes you.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you, Caden Abbott, are a great kid, and anyone would be lucky to have you in their lives.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re my grammy. Of course you think I’m a great kid. You have to think that.”
“No, I don’t, and I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true. I have a lot of experience with kids.”
Caden snorted with laughter.
“A lot.I know good kids, and you, my friend, are the best of the best. Lexi will love you as much as the rest of us do. I have no doubt. She’s a really nice person, and I think, if you give her a chance, you might love her, too.”
While they talked, he’d drawn a rainbow. Under it was a boy, a yellow dog and a picture of their house. He wrote,Welcome Home Dad and… “How do you spell Lexi?”
