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Now that he thought about it, part of that dislike could have been due to Theo’s friendlessness. Kids could tell when people didn’t like or merely tolerated them, but what was there not to like about Theo?
“Are kids mean to you at school, Theo?” he asked.
Theo split two fingers into “legs” and walked them across his forehead. “They get mad because sometimes I kick the ball too hard, but I never mean it when it hurts somebody. That’s when they say I can’t play anymore.”
“What do you do then?”
“Play by myself.”
He studied Theo’s face, torn between wanting to fight pre-K and kindergarten-age children for hurting his boy and begging them to please play with him. If they gave him a shot and learned who he truly was, they would love him.
“Whenever we go to recess at the same time as the big kids, Thandie plays wiff me even though she’s bigger’n me.”
Theo crawled on top of him and stared into his eyes, their noses almost touching. Joel moved the book to the side to avoid having it crushed beneath Theo’s thirty-eight pounds. They’d already taken him for two check-ups since moving to Sweden, but the pediatrician reassured them that Theo was perfectly healthy—just small.
“Joel, I didn’t mean to scratch Thandie.”
“I know you didn’t, buddy. Me and your mama know you didn’t mean it, but we have to make sure you understand it’s dangerous and remind you of the rules.”
Theo agreed, quieted, and resettled.
Joel finished the rest of the book.
Next, they read one about a little boy who lost his dinosaur.
When he thought they were finished and Theo was ready to “roast marshmallows,” Theo went to his bag and pulled out one last book. Joel scanned the cover and came dangerously close to bursting into a level of tears that would have madeTheouncomfortable.
“My teacher gived me this book.” Theo climbed back on top of him. “I aksed her if she had a book that I could read to you when I’m a gooder reader, and she said I can take this one home and read it wiff you so I learn the words.”
He swallowed twice before reading the title out loud. “You asked her for a book called ‘I Love You, Daddy’ to read withme?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Joel sat up.
Theo plopped his fingers into his mouth and threaded himself through Joel’s arms to see the pictures while they read.
Joel didn’t know how he got through the book about a baby bear who felt as if it could do things it never thought possible because of its father. He didn’t know how he made it without flooding the living room with tears. A few times, he had to stop and pretend to clear something from his throat to gather his composure.
Just like Theo didn’t want him to go anywhere, he didn’t want to go anywhere himself. At this point, wherecouldhe go except straight into a den of misery and unhappiness if they stopped being part of his life?
“Theo,” he kissed the top of Theo’s head, “thank you for bringing this book home for me to read with you. Thank you so much.”
After the story, they roasted marshmallows in the wood-burning fireplace, and he used the opportunity to reiterate fire safety to Theo four times to ensure he’d heard it once.
When they were done, he expected the sugar to have Theo bouncing off the walls, but all Theo wanted to do was sit with him in the tent and look at the stars through the patio windows.
He learned that dinosaurs were the “biggest animals to ever have lived,” Komodo dragons had “poisinspit,” and a “boxedjellyfish” was “the mostpoisinousthing in the world.” As Theo spewed out fact after fact, he made a mental note to get aNational Geographic Kidssubscription sent to the house.
Theo also wanted to know, if he was “really good,” whether he could get a pet iguana. Gage and Tayler had Ares, Mo had a puppy named Ginger, and Giorgio had secret piranhas, but there was no way in hellAyesha would agree to a giant ass lizard in the house, even more so after Carlton.
“Joel, are you gonna marry Mama?” Theo suddenly asked in the middle of explaining why a Komodo dragon wasn’t the same thing as a Water Monitor lizard.
“Well, I…uh…” Joel scratched the back of his head. “What do you think? Do you think your mama and I should get married?”
“Do you love Mama?”
“I do.”
