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Rex gives my son – our son – one of those breathless smiles. “You bet. I promise.”
Leo sucks in his cheeks, eyes narrowing with suspicion, until it all breaks and he throws himself into Rex’s chest.
Rex is only unsure for a moment before he wraps his arms around Leo.
Just like I imagined. Once or twice.
The years they’ve missed together aren’t worth the beauty of this moment, though.
So what if Rex would have been terrified? So what if he would have run the other way?
What if he wasn’t? What if he didn’t?
I’m not usually the type to regret my decisions. Right now, though, I am.
After Leo finally lets go, my mother, Leo, and I walk Rex to the door. Goodbyes are cordial. I try to avoid Rex’s gaze for too long. It feels like he has something to say, and I’m not ready for that.
“You’ll have to let me know how that book about the walrus is,” Rex says to Leo. “Haven’t read that one yet.”
“I will!” Leo says, jumping on his tiptoes.
“Okay, well.” Rex inhales deeply and gives me one last nod. “Have a good dinner.”
“You too,” I say stupidly.
And then he’s out the door.
“Go wash your hands,” I say to Leo.
My son ignores me, limping away like I’ve just smashed the whole Lego set.
I sigh. “Why are they so difficult?” I say to my mother.
She is staring out one of the tiny windows by the front door.
“Mama?”
“He’s just sitting there.”
I roll my eyes. “He just got to the car, he’s probably… adjusting the mirrors or something.”
“No, he’s just sitting there, mami.”
Begrudgingly, I go to the window and look out over my mother’s head.
She’s right. Rex is in the car, a mop of dark hair, curled over the wheel and…
“He’s crying, Isabella.”
“Yeah, well, I want to cry too.”
My mother shoots me a glare. “Bah, you are cruel sometimes.”
“Cruel?!”
“You go talk to him,” she says, smacking my rear with the back of her hand before hustling back to the kitchen. “No dinner until you do.”
I clench my fists and remind myself the upsides of having my mother live with me greatly outweigh the downsides.
