Epilogue
DUSTIN
She was crying. And it was all my fault.
Cat shook her head at me as she squatted down so our daughter could hug her.
“That’s not Dad!” our daughter Eli was crying.
“Yes, that is Daddy. He just shaved his beard.”
I kneeled down next to them. “It’s okay Eli, it’s still me. It’s just that you can see my face now.”
Ever so reluctantly, Eli reached her hand out and touched my cheek. “Where is the hair?”
“It’s gone,” I said. “I had to shave it off for the playoffs.”
I could tell her little five year old brain was thinking hard. “Okay, Daddy,” she said, and—tentatively at first—gave her new, beardless dad a hug.
“What’s the playoffs?” she asked.
“Well,” I started. “The playoffs are how we decided who will be the champion.”
“Does the champion have to shave?”
I laughed. “No, it’s just a superstition.”
Oh boy. We were going down the rabbit hole. Eli was getting to that age, though, when all she did was ask nonstop questions.
“Okay,” was all she said instead, and thankfully went over to the corner of the house to play with her legos and dolls.
Cat and I smiled at her, then at each other.
“She’s got the curious bug,” Cat said, leaning against the railing of our roofdeck.
I’d convinced Cat to come live in Chicago with me, and she didn’t hate it. Well, except for the winters.
“I know,” I said. “Curious. Just like her mother.”
Cat ran her hand over my cheek. “I do like the look without the beard. I haven’t seen your face in so long.”
It was such a nice day, and the sun was beaming down on us. It seemed to me like the sun was kissing the cheeks of Cat’s golden skin, and I couldn’t help myself. I closed my eyes and kissed her.
She massaged the back of my head with her hand. “I really hope it’s naptime soon,” she said.
“Me too.”
When we turned around, Eli was staring up at us, one barbie doll in each hand.
“This is Mark, and this is Mindy,” she said, holding up two dolls. I noted Mark was dressed in a suit, and Mindy was dressed in a white wedding dress.
“Very cute,” Cat said. “And what are they doing?”
Eli thought for a moment, then said, “They just met.”
I was about to interject, when Eli spoke first, finishing her thought. “…and they’re getting married now.”
Both me and Cat’s eyes widened to the size of craters. “Oh, that’s nice,” Cat said. We gave each other the ‘oh crap, is our kid really doing this’ look that only parents know.
Eli considered the dolls for a moment, then looked up at us.
“How did you and Daddy meet?”
My heart started to pound furiously, about as hard as it did during any hockey match.
Cat grinned. “Why don’t you take this one, Daddy?”
“That, Eli,” I said, clearing my throat, “Is a very interesting story.”