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There were dirt roads. But they were not the quickest way to cover the place, I soon found. We streaked across the snow-covered fields past two of the fenced chicken yards to a meadow away from the farm itself.
It was a beautiful, but cold drive, and I was glad Rick had made sure I wore my heavy coat and gloves. The snow seemed endless, and besides animal tracks, was pristine.
We got to the edge of the meadow and Rick stopped us, cutting the engine for his ATV, and dismounted. “This is it,” he announced. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“It’s perfect,” I said in awe.
The tree line was thick with pine, spruce, fir and aspen and there was a large rock outcropping off in the middle of some of the shorter of the trees. I heard the gurgling of a creek and walked over to the trees to see another wonderland just past them.
I went through and within twenty feet was another small meadow and in the middle of it ran the creek. Rick and Jace came to where I stood and Rick explained, “On this side is our land, the other side is BLM land. The house would come right up to the tree line and then there is plenty of room for whatever he’d want to build. More farming area, a big garden or whatever he’d like.”
“When are you telling him?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t want to pressure him into coming back here or think that I’m pressuring him.”
“Build the house, I say,” Jace suggested. “Show it to him and tell him it’s his for when he’s home. A place to get away. Then, if he wants to move home, he knows he has a home already without living in his parents' home.”
His parents, plural. I smiled to myself, but it must have shown. Rick whispered, “No need to be living with his two dads.”
I leaned into him, and he held me while we looked at the clear, crystal water running in the creek. “No need to live with us, no, unless he wants to.”
When we got home, Chandler excitedly ran in to greet us. “Where have you been? That apartment came through, Dad!”
“Oh, Chan, that’s just great.”
I asked, “What apartment?”
"Chandler was too late for the dorms. You know his late acceptance was going to mess with a lot, so we looked around one night on the internet and saw a place for a decent price that’s within walking distance from most of his classes.”
“No need to ride the elevated train,” Chandler said to me, smiling. “I may be a country kid heading to the big city with knowledge, but that did scare me some. I hate admitting that.”
“That’s okay, Chandler. We’re all scared of something.”
Colby ran over to the foyer and leaped, not into Rick’s arms, but mine. “Kan, Kan, come see! I drew a new picture for you! Chan told me to, but I wanted to.”
Rick smiled as he nodded to me. I said to Colby, “I can’t wait to see it.”
When we got into the family room, I set Colby on his feet so Rick and I could sit on the couch together, and Colby ran to his little drawing table to snatch up the piece of construction paper. Once he handed it to me, he crawled onto my lap. Rick leaned in to look with me, Chandler standing behind the couch to look too.
The picture had me immediately crying. Colby had drawn our home, the main house on the Belish estate, and in front of it were the four of us.
I had the black hair, of course, but the other three had bright yellow hair. Above the figures were letters. “I helped him with those,” Chandler explained.
Above Chandler was the word brother and above Rick and I both was the word daddy.
“I’m like Tango,” Colby said in a gleeful voice. “Chan said I’m like Tango.”
“Well, we both are, Col,” Chandler said, and when I turned my head to look at him, he was crying too. “We have two dads, just like the penguin in the book.”
“Yeah! But my daddies aren’t penguins,” Colby explained to his brother. “They’re boys.”
“Men, Colby,” Rick corrected, his own voice thick with emotion. “But, yes, you have two daddies.”
I handed Colby over to Rick and got up, hurrying to Chandler. I wanted to hug him, but I just stood there, tears streaming down my cheeks. “I…don’t know what to say.”
“Just say, okay, you’re our dad. That’s all you have to say. Oh, and that you’re gonna stick around for a few decades at least.”
I did hug him then, swearing, “Forever. I’m gonna be here forever.”
