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Henry
2016
If he hadn’t read the paper that morning, which sometimes he didn’t, he might never have been the wiser. They’d had a long, long night; Piper was sleeping in after feeding their baby, Luke, three times in the wee hours—growth spurt.
And now Henry was on duty with the little man who in spite of keeping them up all night was bright and chipper andsuperinto his oatmeal. The whole solid food thing was new—and it was everywhere—on Luke’s chubby cheeks, between his fingers, on the floor, on the high chair tray.
“Buddy,” said Henry. “You getting any of that in your mouth?”
Luke bounced happily, doughy legs kicking. “Ma. Ma.”
“Mommy’s sleeping. Let’s let her rest for a little while.”
Henry didn’t have to be in the office until ten; Piper could have another hour. Luke wielded his purple plastic spoon like a sword.
“Ah,” said Luke, which Henry took as an agreement. “Haha!”
A big gob of oatmeal went flying.
He wiped some from Luke’s mouth and felt the wild rush of love he often felt when looking at his son. The absolute awed devotion he’d felt the moment Luke had emerged—miraculously, impossibly—from Piper and into the delivery room. The bloody, squalling emergence of this perfect creature who was made from the love he had for his wife—it just blew him away. People had babies all the time. Why did no one ever talk about what a wild, over-the-top miracle the whole thing was?
He put Luke on the floor mat for tummy time and proceeded to read to him from the newspaper—sports, the weather, international news, the business section. He still liked the print edition, though it was probably easier to read it on his phone or iPad.
“Stocks are at an all-time high, little man. Good thing we already have the 529 going.”
Luke picked up his stuffed elephant and stuck it in his mouth, slobbering copiously, watching Henry intently. His curly dark hair was Henry’s. His eyes were Piper’s.
Henry reached out with a handy burp cloth to wipe at Luke’s mouth.
Henry didn’t know how to be a father. He had no role model. Wouldn’t have thought there was any such thing as a “father’s instinct” but Piper said he was a natural. And truly he just loved being with his child. He had the feeling that maybe 90 percent of it was just happily being there, doing your best.He doesn’t need anything but us, Piper had promised.All we have to do is keep him safe, love him, and do our best to make him a good human being, one that makes the world better, not worse.
The item was on the third page: Tech Entrepreneur Murdered in his South Beach Penthouse.
He might have glanced over it if not for the smiling face staring back at him, one that looked eerily familiar. He read on to himself about how the young man, just a year younger than Henry, was attacked so violently in his home that he was nearly decapitated. Surveillance footage was still being reviewed. Police had no suspects at the writing of the article.
He stared. The guy, with his dark hair and big eyes, slim build—they could be brothers. Henry’s heart started to thump.
“You let me sleep.” Piper padded in, bleary-eyed, and got down on the floor in front of the baby.
“You needed it,” Henry said, looking up at her. He folded the paper up.
“My little wild man,” she said to the baby. Luke smiled maniacally, kicked his legs. Wow, did babies ever love their mommas. Luke and Piper were inseparable. “You were partying all night.”
Luke grinned wildly, issued a shriek of joy, like he was the funniest guy in the world.
“Won’t you be late?” she said, sitting up and leaning in to Henry for a kiss.
“I’m going to head out now. I have to go to the data center to do updates anyway, not the office so I have some flexibility. Thought I’d let you catch up on a little sleep.”
He took the paper and she didn’t notice. Poor Piper wasn’t operating on all cylinders, totally in love, sleep deprived, and on full-time with Luke all day. He often came home to find her as he left her—hair up, wearing the same thing, a little dazed. He found it cute, her devotion, how she was all in with this new role. He’d relieve her in the evening so that she could work out, or take a shower, or just go for a walk. They’d eat as a family, put the baby down early, have a little couple time. There was an ease and a peace to their life that he cherished.
“I think we’ll go to Mom’s today,” she said. “She’s dying to show off Luke to her friends.”
“Good idea,” he said. “I’ll probably be late.”
“So maybe Luke and I will spend the night there?”
He didn’t love that but yeah, that was good. It would give him a little time to dig into what he’d just found. Not that he should.
