Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
JOE
My son came barreling down the hallway with Dexter on his heels, his tail thumping against the wall as they rounded the corner into the living room.
“Hey, bud, slow down,” I said, reaching over with an arm and catching him lightly by the shoulder.
Joey’s dark hair was mussed, his eyes bright with his smile wide. Dexter circled us before crossing over and plunking down on the floor with a heartfelt sigh. Weekends with Joey ran Dexter ragged. They loved each other.
Joey flung himself on the floor beside Dexter, smiling over at me when he rolled his head to the side. “What's for dinner?” he asked.
“We're eating at Grammy and Gramps’. I'm sure it will be one of your favorites.”
My son sat up and punched his arms into the air, letting out a whoop. “Grammy's a better cook than you, Dad.”
“I know,” I teased as I leaned over and ruffled his hair. “We need to be on time. Go wash your hands and face.”
“My face?” Joey looked horrified at the thought.
“Yeah, you've got dirt on your cheek, and you need to brush your hair.”
He slapped his hands to his head, smearing his hair down. “Is that good?”
“Joey.” I patted him between the shoulder blades. “Get up, you know the drill. Go wash up. We’re not leaving until you do.”
He rolled his eyes. Yeah, at six years old, he rolled his eyes.
His existence still blew my mind. He stood and trudged down the hallway.
I heard the faucet running. I jogged into my bedroom and sped through a shower.
I'd had a busy day and even done some work in the garage, so I had to scrub my nails.
My mind spun to my planned conversation this evening.
My parents knew I was dating Thea, but they didn't know I planned to ask her to marry me.
We hadn't figured out who was going to live where yet, but I wasn't going to let this chance pass by.
I loved her. I'd loved her in high school. When she’d moved away after high school, I'd figured that was the answer to my questions about our future. We’d been dating for four months now, and I'd seen her as much as I could.
The only times I didn't see her was when Joey was with me.
She was still nervous about meeting him, but I thought it was time.
I needed to let my parents know my plans.
Once they knew, I intended to finally introduce Joey to her.
I was nervous. My mom was still pissed off at Thea’s dad about what happened in high school.
My mom was also super cautious, all because Joey was the product of a one-night stand.
It seemed my dick didn't have the best—shall we say?
—judgment. Joey's mom, Vanessa, was not the most stable woman, and I stressed about that on occasion.
My mom wanted me to fight for full custody, but I didn’t know if that was best. Joey’s mom loved him and did her best. I thought that was the best anybody could ask for from parents.
I loved my parents, and they were solid, but Lord knows, they weren't perfect.
My dad was on the strict side, and my parents were known for emotional arguments.
We were a loving, loud, boisterous type of family.
I toweled my hair dry and took a last look in the mirror before zipping down the hallway.
My son was standing in the bathroom, looking at himself solemnly in the mirror.
He had actually brushed his hair. The part was crooked, but I didn't give a shit how he parted his hair. I could tell he’d washed his face because his cheeks were pink.
When he looked over at me, his freckles stood out a little.
“How do I look, Dad?”
I dipped my chin. “You look great. Grammy is going to give you a thumbs-up.”
Joey sighed. “No, she's gonna give me a big kiss on my cheek, and it's gonna squeak.”
I chuckled, resting my hand between his shoulders as we walked out of the bathroom. “She loves you.”
“I know. I love her too.”
After I started driving, he startled the hell out of me. “Mom says you have a girlfriend.”
I took a breath before taking a quick glance in the rear view mirror. He didn't look upset but rather curious and waiting expectantly. “I do. What did your mom have to say about that?”
“Just that you have a girlfriend.”
“I was planning to talk to you about her soon. How do you feel about that?”
“I don't know,” he replied, fidgeting with the zipper tab on his jacket.
“Good answer. You haven't even met her yet, so it’s hard to know how you might feel.”
“I know. I can't have an opinion until I know someone. It's not fair. That's what you said about that kid who moved to town that I didn't like.”
“Brandon?” I prompted.
“Uh-huh.”
“You're friends with him now, right?”
“I am.” Joey met my gaze asI glanced back when I stopped at an intersection. “What's her name?”
“Thea.”
“How do you spell that?” He loved knowing how to spell words and names.
“T-h-e-a.”
He silently mouthed her name. “Thea,” he repeated back to me. “I've never known anyone with that name.”
“She’s the only Thea I know too.”
“When do I get to meet her?”
Sometimes, I thought my son was telepathic. “I was planning to talk to your grandparents about her tonight. She means a lot to me.”
“But it's not been very long,” he chimed in.
“How do you know it hasn't been very long?” I returned, casting him a quick grin.
“Because I haven't met her yet. You always told me if you brought someone into our family, it would be someone you knew for a while.”
“Thanks for listening. I’ve actually known her since I was your age.”
“What?!” he exclaimed, slapping both palms on his knees. “No way.”
“Way. She's from Haven’s Bay. We grew up together. She was my girlfriend in high school. I was in love with her.”
When I slid my eyes to the back seat, Joey’s face held a look of horror. “You were in love with a girl in school?”
I chuckled at the distaste in his tone. “I was. When you get older, you might like girls.”
He cast me a skeptical look. “Um, okay.” After a pause, he continued, “So, you've known her since, since… before I was born.”
When this dawned on him, his eyes went wide, and he looked over at me. “I have. I'm going to talk to Grammy and Gramps about her tonight. I thought maybe she could come up for the weekend the next time you're staying with me.”
My son looked out the window. His little shoulders lifted as he took in a deep breath before letting it out in a giant gust.
“What was that?” I asked.
“A brave breath.”
“What's a brave breath?”
“We learned about it in school. It's something you do when you're not sure about something or worried and maybe your tummy hurts. You take a deep breath, and you feel brave,” he explained.
“Are you worried about meeting her? I understand if you are.”
“I want you to have a girlfriend.”
“Yeah?”
“Uh-huh.” I stole a quick glance, and he’d turned to look out the window again. And then, kicking my heart like it was a can to the side of the road, he added, “I wish Mom was your girlfriend.”
Oh, fuck. Every once in a very long while, maybe three times in his entire life, Joey said something like this. My heart ached every time.
“Yeah?” I asked.
Aside from the one night that resulted in Joey’s existence, we’d never been together. He didn’t have memories of us being together.
“Yeah, then we'd be like a regular family.”
I gathered my thoughts. “Joey, we’ve talked about this before.
There are all kinds of families. There is no regular family.
” When Joey was younger, I'd actually met with a therapist because I’d wanted guidance about how to talk to him about this.
“Families come in all shapes and sizes. Regular is whatever shape a family is.
Mom's a part of our family, but she doesn't live with us. Grammy and Gramps are a part of our family too, but they also don’t live with us.”
He took another brave breath and looked back at me. “I know. Maybe you can be with Thea, and we could do fun stuff together.”
“I'm definitely with Thea, and I would like it if we did fun stuff together.”
His hair bounced with his nod. “Should I tell Grammy about her?”
“Nope. I'll handle it.”
My little boy looked over at me, his brows almost sitting at his hairline with curiosity. “What if I want to tell her first?”
Oh, fuck my life. I didn't say that thought out loud, though. “You know what? That's fine. Why don't you tell her about this conversation?”
“Okay.”