39. Callie
Callie
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21ST
S taring at the expansive rubber duck mural in Nick’s gym is my new favorite pastime. The beauty and nuance Chloe puts in her art is unmatched. I see something new every time I come here.
Which is three times a week for strength training. We hit up Wingspan just as often for flexibility. You never know what kind of games Piper and the kids will dream up for next year’s War, and Kodi reminded it’s never too early to start training.
“Did you find the new duck yet?” Nick asks me.
“Not yet. I’ll find it though!”
“Move more this way,” he dramatically jerks his head towards his right shoulder. He knows I don’t like hints, but he also knows I’ll stand here all day without one.
Then I see it. A rubber duck with a dark brown ponytail and a little diamond stud on her beak. I run my fingers over it and look back at Nick, who winks at me.
“Well, it’s official,” Finn declares as he drapes his arm over my shoulder. “You’re a swallower now.”
“Oh, come on, you knew I was one before,” I laugh.
His cheeks go red and he leans in. “I thought we agreed no sex jokes in public.”
He’s right, we did. I couldn’t help myself.
“You ready to spar, Stavropoulos?”
“Psh. I was born ready, Finnegan. Let’s go!”
We’ve already wrapped our hands, so we just grab some gloves before we climb into the ring.
“Just a reminder…” Nick begins.
“Play nice,” Finn and I call back.
“I shouldn’t have to say that every time.”
“We know.”
“All right, round one. Callie attacks, Finn defends, jabs only.”
After setting up, Nick rings the bell and Finn and I start to circle. We’re not really boxing each other.
Not yet anyway. I have plans.
Right now it’s just what Nick calls “conditional sparring,” which is more for practicing technique than anything else. But it’s a real treat getting to throw punches at my boyfriend and calling it exercise.
“Don’t forget,” Finn throws the first jab. “My parents’ house Thursday at 2:00. They’re not taking ‘no’ for an answer, so just bring some dinner rolls and stop whining.”
“I don’t know, Thanksgiving? Are you sure?”
“Again, that’s a ‘yes’ on the dinner rolls and a ‘no’ on the whining. Besides, you haven’t had a traditional Thanksgiving in how long? My mom’s turkey is the stuff of legend, you’ll love it.”
“All right, all right, fine. Dinner rolls, 2:00.”
Finn waggles his eyebrows. “If you win this match, I’ll let you pull on the wishbone.”
Nick clears his throat. “Strike one.”
We may or may not have been asked to stop sprinkling innuendo into our trash talking during open hours at the gym. It’s a three strike rule.
“How’s the new condo treating you?” I ask. He and Lex have been looking for one for a while now, and they just moved in to a three bedroom off Elm behind the school.
“It’s good. Wade just told me my bed’s getting delivered tomorrow so I can finally get rid of that shitty air mattress. I didn’t think anything was going to be worse than the couch.”
“Why didn’t you just sleep on the couch?”
He tilts his head to the side. “Because it doesn’t fit in my bedroom.”
“Well then, tomorrow’s a big day. You finally get your big boy bed!” I throw my forearm up to block his punch.
“Wanna help me christen it?”
“Strike two,” Nick sighs.
“I keep meaning to ask you,” I’m running a little short of breath now. “What are you gonna do with that third bedroom?” It had always seemed strange that they were holding out for a bigger space when it’s just the two of them.
“Oh, uh, no plans yet. Just, um, I don’t know, maybe a guest room.”
“Right, for all those guests you have over all the time?”
“Actually, I, um…it’s funny,” he laughs. “It’s just something that Lex said when we started looking around.” He hurls one punch and then another, both of which I expertly defend.
I knit my brows together. “What did she say?”
“Well, she just said that maybe…uh, someday— someday , okay? Not like tomorrow, but she thinks we might…possibly…one day…have…a baby."
“What??”
It was a rookie mistake, leaving myself unguarded like that. But you’d think my super-athletic boyfriend would have enough presence of mind to not throw a jab when both my arms were at my side.
His mitt contacts my jaw, enough so I feel it, but not enough that it hurts.
Then he’s by my side in an instant. “Holy shit, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”
I rub my mouth and open and close it a couple of times for good measure. “I’m fine, I’m totally fine.”
Nick already has his hand on my shoulder to check on me. “What did I tell you two about this? You know what I have to enforce now.”
I snap up to meet his eyes. “No! No headgear! It was his fault.”
“And whose fault was it last time?”
“Mine,” I concede.
“Both of you go sit over there, I’ll bring you an ice pack.”
We do as we’re told, Finn apologizing the entire time.
“I promise, I’m fine. That was by far the least shocking thing that happened over there.”
His cheeks turn red and he looks to the ground.
“So Lex said she wants us to have a baby?”
“I think what she said was ‘you’re not getting any younger, Dad.’”
I’d laugh if I was capable of processing anything else right now. “But you’ve thought about it. Right? I mean, that’s why you kept looking for a 3 bedroom?”
Finn rubs his palms over his thighs. “Yeah. I mean, I hadn’t thought about it until she said something. But between that and what happened on Halloween...I don’t know, it feels nice to think about Lex having a little brother or sister. One that’s not a ferret.”
“When are you going to stop seeing him as a ferret and start seeing him as your son?”
“When he stops biting me every time I come over.”
Nick interrupts us by handing me an ice pack. “You’re sure you’re okay? You don’t need anything?”
“Felt like a gentle breeze,” I assure him. “I really don’t even need the ice pack.”
“Thanks, Nick,” Finn says. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
I don’t really hear the rest of what they say to each other, because I’m looking at that duck mural again. And I swear to you, on the grave of Jericho Tuft, the scent of my dad’s cologne fills my nose. After all the times I’ve talked to him over the years, it’s like he’s finally talking back.
Finn and I leave Put Up Your Ducks and walk hand in hand to the parking lot. “Yeah.” I tell him.
He stops and looks at me. “Yeah? Yeah what?”
“Yeah, I think a baby…I think a baby would be wonderful.”
A slow smile spreads across his face. “Really?”
“Really. Not, like, right now , but…yeah.”
He’s grinning like an idiot as he unlocks the car and slides in. “So, when were you thinking? Maybe next week?” he asks.
“Leo!”
“Calliope!”
We stare at each other.
“I’ll play you for it,” he finally says.
“ What? ”
“The sleds and the, uh, the ping-pong thing. We do that again, winner takes all.”
“You can’t base having a child on that!”
“Fine, yoga?”
“No!”
“Come on, you’ll have a small shot at winning if we do yoga.”
“You know how babies are made, right? And you know this conversation isn’t exactly lending itself to doing that?”
He leans in and brushes his lips to mine. “I’m just all in, Athena. That’s all.”
“Tell you what,” I purr, kissing him again. “Why don’t we spend the next few months practicing before we decide?”
Both of his palms are on my face now, and I run my tongue over his lips to deepen the kiss. He groans and practically lunges over the console to get closer to me. “Practice is good,” he breathes.
“Practice is amazing,” I confirm.
*Knock, knock*
“Ah!” I scream. I can’t see who’s out there because we steamed up the windows. But I can guess.
Finn rolls the window down to see Jonah looking at us with utter disappointment. “You two know what the word ‘discretion’ means?”
I wave. “Sorry, Chief. We were just leaving.”
He raises an eyebrow at me, and Finn adjusts his shorts before backing out of the parking spot and heading out.
“I am, too, by the way,” I tell him. “All in.”
He grins and grabs my hand. “I know you are. That’s all I need.”