AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Listen to your dad, Hazel,” Lennon says.
She keeps kicking. “Party!”
“If you don’t listen, you won’t get dessert tonight. There’s peach pieandGrandpa’s birthday cake, so you’ll really be missing out.”
She keeps kicking.
Lennon sighs, quietly. “She’s stubborn,” she mutters to me, under her breath.
“Wonder where she gets that from.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I raise my voice. “Hazel. Stop kicking, or no riding for a week.”
Finally, the pounding against the back of my seat stops. I glance over at Lennon. “She got that from you too.”
“When our son is breaking every window on the property with a baseball, I’ll remember that.”
My head snaps toward her. “Are you talking hypothetically?”
Slowly, Lennon shakes her head. “I saw it on one of the tests they ran at my appointment last week, by accident. The tech felt so badly, and I hadn’t decided if I was going to tell you. I know we agreed we weren’t going to find out again.”
“It’s a boy?”
“Yes.”
“Wow,” I whisper. I’ve had to travel regularly for most of Lennon’s pregnancy. Aside from seeing the bump, this is the first moment where it’s really hit me we’ll have another child in a few months.
Now, more than ever, I wish we were at home and alone. But I can’t miss my father’s fiftieth birthday. We’re nowhere close to the relationship I plan to have with my son, but we’re on much better terms than we were for most of my life.
I drive all the way up to the house, managing to squeeze in between two cars right in front of the center walkway. All the trees and bushes have been wrapped with twinkling white lights, illuminating the whole yard.
Lennon climbs out of the passenger seat with her pie, while I unbuckle Hazel from the back. We head around the side of the house, toward the back patio where the party is being held. It’s a balmy fall evening, ideal for an outdoor gathering. Knowing my mother, she had a tent on standby in case it rained and heaters lined up in case it was cold.
“Grandma!” Hazel begins struggling in my arms as soon as she spots my mom. I set her down, a smile automatically forming as I watch Hazel run over to her.
My mother stops talking mid-conversation, leaning down to listen to my daughter. The hem of her dress drags on the dirty patio, and for once she doesn’t seem to care.
Hazel is still talking exuberantly when Lennon and I reach them. The women my mother was talking to excuse themselves, leaving us to a family moment.
“Caleb!”
“Hey, Mom.” I lean in to give her a hug.
“It’s so nice to have you home.”
“Thanks. It’s nice to be home.”
My mom smiles, then looks to Lennon. “You didn’t have to bring anything, Lennon.”
“I know,” she says, before handing the pie over. “I just had the ripe peaches and wanted to contribute something. You don’t have to use it tonight, I’m sure you planned for plenty of food. It’ll freeze well.”
“Thank you. That was very thoughtful of you. I’m going to put this in the kitchen. Caleb, you should say hello to your father. He’s standing over by the grill.”
I tug at my tie and nod. Thankfully, Hazel erases some of the awkwardness that sometimes lingers between us.
“I see Grandpa!” she announces, then makes a beeline for my father. Just like my mother said, he’s standing next to the grill, talking with a group of business colleagues. By the time I get to the grill she’s in my father’s arms, telling him all about the pie Lennon made and the tie that’s his birthday gift.
