Chapter 9 #2
There was a table by the door that had photos of her and Luke that I stopped to look at.
He was of various ages in the photos and looked like a happy child.
I smiled to myself as I picked up the last photo, instantly drawn to it.
Luke was probably two or three in the photo.
Carolina held him up in the air as he beamed down at her.
A park was in the background. I couldn’t help but wonder who’d taken the photo of them two as I sat it back on the table.
Just as I sat down I heard tiny feet running down the hallway.
“Is he here yet, Mama?” Luke yelled.
Just as he rounded the corner, he came to a stop at the sight of me. My breath caught in my throat, and I swallowed hard to keep my emotions at bay.
“You’re here,” Luke whispered as he stood there taking me in.
I was too stunned to move and unsure of how to respond. Get up and greet your son.
I snapped out of it, stood, and knelt to his level.
“Hi, Luke,” I managed to choke out. I blinked back tears as I watched him wait for a beat and then come toward me.
I thought he’d be standoffish meeting a new person, but I was proven wrong as he ran and crashed into me.
I wrapped one of my arms around him and used my other to catch myself to keep both of us from falling to the floor.
Once I felt steady enough, I wrapped my other arm around him and took a deep breath.
Tears filled my eyes as I knelt there hugging my little boy.
I didn’t want to let him go, but I knew I had to.
I tried to pull back, but his arms remained tight around my neck, so I decided to stand, and he wrapped his legs around my waist. I made sure I had a good grip on him as I walked us over to the table and sat down.
Tears hit my shirt, and I instantly panicked.
Him crying wasn’t a good sign. I looked over to Carolina for guidance, but she had tears streaming down her face as she held the pot of pasta in her hands.
Her lip trembled as she shook her head and walked over to the table to set the pot on the waiting potholder.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket, and I took the moment to just embrace Luke. I’d give him all the time he needed to get his emotions out.
My phone dinged in my pocket, but I ignored it.
“Hey, Luke. You ready to eat, buddy?” Carolina asked as she tried to coax him.
Luke pulled back but didn’t remove his arms from around my neck. Tear stains lined his little cheeks.
“You’re not leaving, right?” he asked, and his lip quivered as he waited for my response.
“No, I’m not goin’ anywhere,” I promised, and I meant every word. Nothing would ever keep me from him again.
He scooted off my lap and went to his place at the table. Carolina plated our food, something I wasn’t used to. Once she said grace, we all sat there unmoving.
“I helped Mama make the sauce,” Luke said, breaking the silence as he took a bite of his food.
I took a bite and moaned. This sauce was better than my mama’s, but I’d never tell her that.
“It’s really good,” I told him with a smile. He smiled from ear to ear after hearing my praise as he continued eating his food.
I looked over to Carolina who gave me a reluctant smile as she looked back down to her plate and took a bite of her food.
Luke gobbled down his food rather quickly. Carolina was right; that boy did have a good appetite.
“Can I have some more pasta, Mama?” Luke’s tiny voice asked.
“You can. Once you eat your salad,” Carolina responded, and Luke groaned.
I withheld a laugh because I hated vegetables at his age too.
Instead of fighting her, he reluctantly ate his salad. Once he was finished, Carolina gave him another small serving of pasta.
“What’d you do today at Grandma and Grandpa’s?” Carolina asked.
“We worked on the castle. It’s almost done. It’s huge. And I helped Grandma make cookies. But she only let Grandpa have one because he needs to watch what he eats. She let me have two,” he said as he cupped his hand to his mouth like he let out a secret he wasn’t supposed to tell his mother.
“Oh, she did, huh?” Carolina said with a grin.
“Only because I begged for one more,” he quickly added, I was sure to cover for his Grandma more than anything. That was what I did as a boy.
“What kind of cookies?” I asked, continuing the conversation. I never wanted this night to end.
“Chocolate chip. The best kind there is,” he said as he took his last bite of pasta.
“I have to agree with you.”
“You know how to make sure they're super gooey?” he asked as he kicked his feet back and forth.
“How’s that?” I honestly didn’t have a clue.
“You add extra chocolate chips, and you don’t cook them like the package suggests. You cook them a few minutes less and take them out ’cause they continue to cook once you put them on the rack to cool,” he said proudly.
“That’s interesting,” I said with a smile, loving how much he seemed to enjoy cooking.
“Can I be done now, Mama?”
“You can, but what do you need to do now?” Carolina asked as she leaned her head to the side to wait for his response.
“Put my dishes in the sink,” Luke said as he stood and grabbed his plate and cup and carried them over to the stainless-steel sink and dropped them inside.
“Thank you, buddy,” Carolina praised.
“Can we watch Rio now, Mama?” Luke asked with a yawn.
“We can, but you need to get a bath and put your pajamas on first,” Carolina said as she began to clear the table and put the dirty dishes in the sink.
Once the table was cleared except for the pots and bowls holding the contents of our dinner, she turned toward me.
“I’ll go get the water ready for his bath and get him ready for bed. We’ll be right back,” she said as she hurried off down the hallway.
I couldn’t just sit here as I waited for her to return. She looked tired and scared as she sat across from me. As quietly as I could, I searched her cabinets, which were sparse of dishes, before I found some containers to store the leftovers in.
After I’d put those in the fridge, I rinsed the dishes and loaded them into the dishwasher. After finding the detergent for the dishwasher, I put some in the dishwasher and set it to wash. I found some cleaning spray and wiped down the table and counters.
Just as I was finished and walking into the living room, I heard Luke running back in my direction with Carolina following closely behind.
“Are you ready to watch the best movie ever?” Luke asked as he ran around me and hopped on the couch. He pulled the throw blanket off the back of the couch and settled in as he waited for Carolina to get the movie set up.
“Leo has a gift for you, bud. Why don’t you open that first, and I’ll get the movie set up?” Carolina suggested.
I grabbed the bag off the love seat and sat on the floor. Luke uncovered himself and joined me, sitting across from me and waiting for the go-ahead to tear into the bag.
“You got me a present? What is it?” he asked with wide eyes.
“Why don’t you open it and see?” I said, a little nervous as to if he’d like it or not.
He threw the tissue paper to the side and pulled out three Lego sets and two of my old firetrucks. I hoped he liked them since they weren’t new.
“This is so cool. Mama look at these,” he said in awe of the Lego sets as he carefully inspected each of the boxes.
“Those are cool, bud,” Carolina said as she sat on the couch behind us and looked over Luke’s shoulder.
“Will you help me build them?” he looked up at me and asked. His voice a tiny whisper, so much different from his loud, excited voice from before.
“Of course,” I said proudly.
“These trucks are so cool. They’re the old model-style firetrucks. I haven’t seen them in stores before,” he said as he sat the boxes of Legos to the side and pushed the trucks around the floor.
“That’s because those were mine from when I was about your age,” I told him, wary of his response.
“Really? That’s awesome,” he said as he made a siren sound and pushed the trucks around the floor, one in each hand.
I couldn’t contain my smile at his excitement over having something of mine.
“Can we watch the movie now?” Luke asked as he looked over at Carolina.
“Why don’t you carry your new toys to your room first? And what do you say, Luke?” Carolina questioned.
She was such a good mom to him. She was patient but firm, and just by watching the look in her eyes as she watched him play I could tell she had so much love for him.
“Thanks, Dad. These are the best,” Luke said as he picked up everything and trotted off to his room.
My breath caught in my throat at hearing him call me dad. Tears welled in my eyes, and I turned my head to hide my emotions, hoping to keep them at bay and that Carolina hadn’t noticed.
“He’s a great kid,” I managed to choke out before I got my emotions in check and turned back to face Carolina.
“Yes, he truly is.” She beamed.
I wanted to talk to her about him and about what it meant now that we’d met, but it’d have to wait because as soon as I opened my mouth to ask, Luke barreled back into the room the same way he'd left it.
“Did you put them away or toss them on the floor?” Carolina said with a grin.
“I put them on my dresser so I could put them away in my closet before bed,” he said as he covered up with the blanket.
I got up off the floor and sat on the love seat opposite Carolina and Luke. I didn’t want to crowd them.
“Can you sit over here with me, Dad?” Luke asked with a yawn, and I didn’t know what to say. I looked over at Carolina for permission, and she nodded and then looked down at Luke.
I sat on the opposite side of Luke taking up the last cushion of the couch, putting my arm on the back of the couch behind him. I expected him to cuddle into his mom, but he shocked me when he laid his head on my chest and curled into my side.
I smiled down at Luke just as the movie began to play. Carolina moving caught my attention, and I turned my head to look in her direction. She was putting her phone in her lap as she stared down at Luke and back up at me, a warm smile on her face.