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“Who is this woman, anyway?” he wondered. “I know all your friends and the only ones who have kids are Steph and Maya.”
“It’s um… it’s a new friend.”
“Justfriend orfriendfriend?”
“None of your business,” I said, flatly.
“Ooh, you must really like her then.”
Right on cue, my mother entered the kitchen with several photo albums in hand. “You must really like who, Carter?” she asked. “You have a girlfriend finally?”
I groaned. This was going to be a long night.
After the extremely mildchili dinner and cherry pie, Mom took over entertaining Holly with album after album of Max’s baby pictures. Holly was doubled over laughing at Polaroids of Max with cake smeared on his face and dressed as the Incredible Hulk for Halloween. Max hid out in the kitchen.
“How are you holding up?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t really had time to process it all. One day, I’m starting law school and the next, I get a phone call from Holly telling me she’s pregnant.”
“And telling you to move back to Blue Creek?”
“She didn’t ask me to move. I made that call.”
“Really?” I wondered. “Just like that?”
“I’m having a kid. I don’t want my child growing up without me around.”
“I get that.”
Max sighed out and rested his elbows on the table. He ran his hands through his hair and gave it a frustrated tug. All of my brothers did that when they were agitated. Pull their hair out.
“How do you know that you’re ready to be a parent?” I asked. “Or, at least, be in a kid’s life?”
Max was a smart guy and put two and two together quickly. “This is about the woman you’re trying to help, isn’t it? The friend?”
“Yeah. Her name is Zoe.”
“You’re dating her?”
“I…” I started. “I don’t really know what’s going on there.”
“But you’ve slept with her.”
I put up a hand, indicating that I wasn’t going to go into detail. He nodded and backed off.
“She’s got a son. Rex. He’s six,” I explained.
“I think I know where you’re going with this.”
“Yeah. You probably do. We have a good thing going, Zoe and I. She’s cool and funny and the chemistry is… everything,” I went on. “And her son is great. He’s a good kid. Really smart. Like… a real genius.”
“And the problem is…”
“The problem is that she needs a real-deal partner and her son needs a father figure,” I said, not for the first time. “And all I can offer is… me. I mean, Zoe needs a man like…”
Max nodded. He knew what I meant. Like our father.
“You put him on a pedestal, you know,” Mom chimed in.
