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“Joel, you tell nearly every man who approaches me that you’re my ‘husband.’”
“That’s because ‘boyfriend’ isn’t as effective these days.’”
“What about the guy I tried to help a couple of weeks ago? The one with the cane? Heaccidentallyfellagainst me.”
“Eesh, those older guys are some of the sneakiest. They think, because they’re older, they can grab your ass or a breast, and all you’ll do is giggle at how ‘cute’ they are. Accident, my ass. Don’t fucking touch my woman.”
“I shudder to think what you’ll be like when we’re married.”
“Much worse,” he said. “So much worse.”
She held in a laugh. “So, should I call the blonde back over? Tell her she’s all yours?”
“Huh. I think I like you jealous.” He kissed the back of her hand a second time, puffed up his chest, and raised his voice.“Excuse me, everyo—”
She cut him off with a hand on his mouth, grabbing the back of his neck and dragging him down to accomplish the maneuver. A few heads had turned in their direction, and she sent them a smile and shake of her head.
“Joel, what are you doing?”
He pointed at his covered mouth.
She removed her hand.
“Telling the world that you’re mine,” he said, a sly grin on his face. “At least, telling this room. I thought that’s what you wanted?”
She shoved him in the side.
They’d told the boys about their official change in relationship status and exactly what that meant. And she hadn’t seen them happier, even on Christmas morning. Josiah said he “knew it,” and Theo had then chimed in with, “I knew it too,” even though he had no idea what the “it” was.
The tour began with a brief history of the vessel, which revealed that the museum had been builtaroundit, a ship with an even shorter run than the Titanic; it sank only a half-hour after it launched. Over three hundred years later, the massive ship’s parts were salvaged.
As the museum orator spoke, Theo loudly asked,“Why do old ships always sink? Like the one in the movie Mama likes—The ‘Gigantic,’”and“Did they make them too heavy?”followed by,“I’m four, and even I know that was gonna sink.”
They were poignant questions and observations, but Ayesha gave him a stick of gum to give his mouth something else to do.
The boys’ eyes grew wider and wider as they approached the ship’s black and dark brown body. Josiah introduced Theo to a few of his school friends, and a couple of the girls who thought Theo wasså söt, so cute, were able to get Theo to hold their hands for a minute.
But Theo eventually gravitated back to his brother. Josiah’s personality often meant people with good hearts flocked to him, and the friends of his they met seemed to fit the bill.
It had been a few weeks since they moved in with Joel, and Theo still slept between them, but he didn’t appear to have any more nightmares.
As much as she wanted to jump Joel’s bones, she didn’t have the heart to encourage Theo to sleep by himself again just yet. She’d gotten used to waking up with his little hands on her face and his feet in Joel’s ribs. Sometimes, he woke her up with kisses, or she’d wake up to find him and Joel still asleep, Joel’s arm around him while Theo lay on Joel’s chest or across his body.
She wanted to hold on to those moments for as long as possible. Her little guy wouldn’t be little forever, and if he shot up the same way Josiah did, he wouldn’t be little for much longer.
“Ms. Savea?” Theo’s teacher, Lilly Mason, cut through the crowd and made her way over to them, dragging her husband along. “So glad you could make it, Ms. Savea. This is my husband, Trevor.”
The man tipped his head in greeting. “Hello, there. It’s nice to meet you.”
For some reason, the fact that Lilly’s husband had an Australian accent made the fine hairs on Ayesha’s arm stand up.
“Is Theo having a good time?” Lilly asked.
Ayesha gestured. “See for yourself.”
Whenever Theo was enraptured by something, he didn’t jump or run or fidget. This afternoon, notwithstanding his giving the orator the third degree, he’d remained so captivated that there’d been little to no desire to wiggle, sprint, or do cartwheels.
“He’s such a wonderful boy,” Lilly gushed. “I love having him in my class. I’m glad he had a chance to be here today. He is so good with facts!”
