AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You like salad?” he asks.
“That’s how I got so big and strong. Salad.”
He isn’t falling for it. His little lips pucker up like he’s suspicious of me. “That’s what Mom says aboutThe Avengers.”
“She’s right. I read about howThe Avengerseat a lot of salads, chicken, rice, fruit…they even eat beets and brussels sprouts.”
“Nuh uh!”
“Yeah, huh! If you want to grow up big and strong, you have to eat the right foods. Your mom is very smart about this. You need to listen to her.”
He huffs. “Okay.”
“Do you want some of my salad?”
He nods and holds up his plate, so I pour it next to his pasta. When he chomps into it, he notes, “This is pretty good.”
“Listening to your mom is always a good idea. She knows a lot.”
“Not how to stay warm.”
I chuckle. “No, not that.”
“What?” she asks.
“Nothing,” we say together. Then we go back to our salads. It feels good to eat dinner with them. Chatting about nothing or the events of the day, it doesn’t really matter. I just want to be with them. All the time.
When I’d gone home for the afternoon, it felt wrong somehow. My parents’ place had been home for so long, but now? Now, it just felt like the place I went when I wasn’t with my family. Strange.
After dinner and more dinosaurs, we tucked him into bed together, and it felt like an honor. We turned out the light, and he yawned, “Goodnight, Mom. Goodnight, Dad.”
I got choked up, but cleared my throat in time to tell him, “Goodnight, son.”
She closed the door, and I kissed her. She murmured, “Are you okay?”
“That’s not the usual response to a kiss.”
“You usually don’t look like you’re about to break down.”
I laughed softly and took her hand to lead her to the living room. When we sit on the sofa, I get to keep holding her hand, and it is wonderful. “Today has been a lot. I’m sure it has been for you, too.”
She smiled, sleepy and happy. “Yeah. But I think it went well for him.”
“Did it go well for you?”
She nodded. “I think it all went about as well as it could. You know, for a long time, I wasn’t sure I’d ever find you, but I imagined running into you at the grocery or run into you with my car—"
I laughed. “Thanks for that.”
“Hey, given the circumstances—"
“Okay, yeah. That’s fair.”
“So, I wasn’t sure Owen would ever meet his father. I worried about how much that would damage him psychologically, all that stuff. But now, you coming into his life at this age, I think this is just about as perfect as I could ask for.”
I took a breath. “Are you okay with him calling me Dad?”
“Well, you’re his dad, so—"
