Chapter 26 Maxford #2
We do as we’re told and Emma is sore to learn her total is four thousand, while I have over twelve thousand.
Nola adds her total to Emma’s but Emma is still short of what it takes to get a Squishmallow.
All I know at this point in the night is we could’ve bought a whole Squishmallow army for what we’ve spent on the chance to redeem only one at the arcade.
“Hmm, which one is the best one?” I ask aloud to myself, rubbing the side of my face.
“The fox,” she says under her breath.
I hold the fox in my lap on the drive home.
Emma lugs her suitcase up the stairs and tells us she’s going to bed.
Nola helps her get ready and comes outside twenty minutes later, dressed down in sweats and a hoodie.
She finds me lying in the grass on top of a thick quilt in a corner of my backyard.
I’ve started a fire in the firepit and it’s keeping this corner of the yard warm.
A couple of stars have broken through the light pollution, and there’s a party a few houses down and the music they’re playing wafts this way.
Nola lies next to me and wiggles herself over to my outstretched arm. Her body molds against mine and she lets out a content sigh. “You have an odd approach to parenting.”
“Does it bother you the way I handled that?”
She shakes her head. “Not at all. It was nice to not have to deal with it for once.”
“You’d tell me if I did cross the line, though, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“My brain’s pretty tired from everything today, so I can’t think of a better adjective than fun, but today was more than fun,” I tell her.
“It was perfect.”
“After Colorado, I have this tiny gap of time before I’m supposed to be in L.A. I think I need to stop by and see Stella. Do I still have a room at your place?”
“I’ll see what I can do but it’s gonna cost you.”
“A changed lightbulb.”
“Bingo.” She chuckles and rolls onto her side, facing me. “Man, I love you.”
And there it is. My heart nearly explodes inside my chest from the sheer joy this brings me. I smile and tell her, “I love you.”
I mean those three words more than I’ve ever meant anything I’ve said, but this was not how I thought I’d say it.
I know it’s not like a proposal where there is an expectation to the thought put behind the gesture, but I’ve had nothing but time lately and I’ve been waiting for the right moment to share those feelings.
I’d pictured it happening on a day when we don’t smell like a mix of cheap pizza, old arcade, and an undercurrent of ferry.
Where we didn’t start with a ballgame and end with me making a tween mad.
I will proudly be that kid’s bonus dad, but I wanted to tell her mom I loved her for the first time somewhere romantic.
Nola deserves that and so much more. She shouldn’t have to hear it while lying on my childhood quilt as The Fly’s “Got You (Where I Want You)” gets cranked to top volume at the house party.
Now that we’ve said it, I tease, “You love me against your better judgment?”
She teases me right back. “Obviously.”
“Obviously?” I say in mock offense.
“Well, you’re a little difficult—”
“I’m a Hutchings,” I clarify. “I’m certain if we’d been royal enough to warrant a family crest, that would’ve been our motto.”
“And you’re grumpy.”
“Not as much anymore,” I lower my voice.
She matches the softness with her response. “That’s true.”
“And neither are you.”
Somebody down the street sings along to the final chorus of the song and we burst into exhausted, happy giggles. There’s no way I ever want to do life with anybody but her.
The next morning, after Belgium Waffles for the kid and breakfast skillet for the adults at Bocco Café, I walk Nola and Emma to their gate at SeaTac Airport.
Emma dragged down our pacing, having to stop and look for some new gum Reese says is the most important flavor invention of their fifth-grade lives, and now I’m cutting it so close to making it to my own plane on time.
The chartered flights are down by the international terminal, across the airport from domestic commercial flights.
I slide my backpack off and pull out a sore subject.
Emma’s eyes light up at the familiar fox. “I knew you’d give it to me! You’re not a monster.”
“Nice try.” I hold it above her head where she can’t reach. “This is still mine, but he gets scared when I’m gone and needs you to take care of him. I’ll come check on him Thursday night, okay?”
“We get to see you again next week?” she asks excitedly.
I’m happy to be forgiven. “Yep. Can you take care of him for me?”
“Yes!” she reaches up and gets hold of his little foot. “I’m going to name him—”
“He has a name. It’s Ben Franklin,” I tell her and Nola snort-laughs. “It’s my favorite name in the whole world, so don’t you try to change it.”
Emma pretends to be put out but she hugs the stuffed fox and says, “Got it.”
With her occupied, I turn my attention to Nola. “And as for you . . . I hate this.”
“Me too.”
“We’ll have to figure out some way for you to work and be my groupie this summer. I know you can’t make every away series, but maybe some of them?” I’m hopeful.
“I love you,” she says and pulls me in. Everything and everybody around us disappears. For a couple of brief seconds, time slows and I have the knowledge I can face anything in the world, knowing I have her by my side.
We’re interrupted by a woman’s voice broadcasting over the airport speakers.
“Ladies and gentlemen, would SeaTac passenger Maxford Hutchings please meet his party in the designated gathering area? Your teammate, Mr. Larsen, says he knows it’s hard for an old man, such as yourself, to do, but you need to run. ”