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“Can’t I stay home with you, mommy?”
“We’ll see.”
With a quick smile in Martha’s direction, I led Jimmy out the front door and into the cold night air. In front of the car, I paused to help him zip up his jacket. Then I held the door open for him and waited until he was settled in the front set. I pulled the seatbelt over him, made sure it clicked into place, and went around to the other side. I started the engine and backed out of the driveway.
Jimmy pressed buttons on the radio, a furrow appearing between his brows. “Are you going to live with us now?”
I cast a quick glance in his direction before turning my attention back to the road ahead. “Yeah, I am.”
“Mommy talked to me about it,” Jimmy replied without looking at me. “I like that three of us are going to be a family.”
A swell of emotion unfurled in my chest. “Me too.”
“Mommy told me this used to be your parents’ house.”
I gripped the steering wheel tighter. “It was.”
“It’s pretty,” Jimmy told me, pausing to sit back in his seat. “Do you miss your parents?”
“All the time.”
“I miss my dad all the time too.”
At the traffic light, I looked over at him and back at the road, at the restaurant complex looming in the distance, confetti of colors underneath the night sky. “I’m sure he misses you too.”
“Mommy says he does, and she told me he’s sorry he couldn’t be here.”
I slowed to a crawl and eased into a parking spot outside the cluster of restaurants and shops on the outskirts of the suburbs. “I know that’s true.”
“Are you going to be my dad now?”
I switched off the engine and turned my full attention to Jimmy. “Do you want me to be?”
Jimmy wrestled with his seatbelt, his expression thoughtful. “Yeah, I like you.”
With a smile, I helped Jimmy remove the seatbelt and slide it back into place. Together, we stepped out of the car and headed in the direction of the restaurant. While we waited for the food, the smell of ginger and garlic lingering in the air, Jimmy talked. He told me stories about growing up, his hands gesturing on either side of him. I listened to him intently, hanging on his every word and growing more grateful by the second.
Jimmy was a great kid, and I was relieved he had accepted me so readily.
And with very little fuss too.
It was obvious that he had a big heart, just like his mom.
By the time we made it back to the car, I was debating whether or not to tell Jimmy the truth. A short while later, when we pulled up outside the house, and he raced up the stairs, and into Martha’s open arms, I knew it was the right thing to do. I kissed Martha on the cheek on my way through the door, and she smiled at me.
The three of us sat together around the kitchen table, chopsticks held to our lips.
Laughter and conversation filled every corner of the house.
When we were done, Martha led Jimmy upstairs to get ready for bed. I put the remaining food in containers and wiped the counter. Upstairs, I lingered in Jimmy’s doorway and waited for him to crawl under the covers. Then Martha and I took turns reading him a story until his eyelids grew heavy. Before we left the room, Martha pressed a kiss to his forehead and tucked the covers around him.
With a smile, I took her hand and led her into the bedroom.
She left the door open and sat on the edge of the bed. “He’s definitely going to give me a hard time in the morning.”
“I can stay home tomorrow. We can have a family day.”
Martha shook her head and kicked off her shoes. “It’s okay. He needs to settle into a routine, so it’ll be good for him.”
