Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 124320 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124320 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
“Aunt Mona can cook vegetables from our garden,” Noah says, oatmeal flying past his lips.
“Son,” I chide. “That’s disgusting. Don’t talk with food in your mouth.”
He rolls his eyes. I lift one brow. Shamefacedly, he mutters an apology. We have a system in this house, Noah and I, and there is never any doubt who is the boss of it.
“Vitamins.” I point to the little dish of gels and gummies I laid out.
He eyes the pile of pills, mouth twisted up.
“Remember Pop?” Aiko asks. “How big he was? And see how big Daddy is? Take your vitamins, and you’ll be big like them. Your dad used to be little, too.”
“You were?” he asks.
“I was one of the smallest kids in my class.” I raise my right hand. “Promise. Then around tenth grade, everything changed.”
“And you got big like Pop?”
“Not quite,” I say dryly. “Pop was six feet, six inches. Two inches taller than me, but I made up a lot of ground in a couple of years.”
“And that was from taking vitamins?” he asks hopefully.
Honestly, no. That was just genetics. “Absolutely it was the vitamins.”
In ten minutes, we’re out the door and headed for the airport. When we arrive, I unload Aiko’s small battalion of color-coordinated luggage.
“I’ll miss you so much,” Aiko says, holding Noah’s face between her hands. “You’ll be good for Daddy, right?”
“Yeah.” He bites his lip, and I recognize his “I’m supposed to be a big boy and big boys don’t cry” face. “A month is a long time, though.”
“It’ll fly by,” she tells him, her voice falsely bright. They’ve never been apart this long before. None of us have. “And we’ll FaceTime, okay?”
“Aiko!” a tall, sandy-haired man calls from the curb. “Perfect timing.”
Surrounded by his own collection of bags, he eyes my ex-girlfriend like she’s his favorite dessert.
“Um, yeah.” She glances up at me, blinking fast and licking her lips. “Chaz, this is, um…he’s…”
“Ezra,” I say, stepping forward with an extended hand. “Nice to meet you, Chaz.”
“Uh, hi.” He shakes my hand, and his hazel eyes flick between Aiko, Noah and me.
Noah’s taking in everything with his sharp eyes and quick mind. I don’t give a damn if Aiko screws Chaz. We’re done, but Noah doesn’t understand that yet. In his mind, we’re his parents. We live together. He doesn’t see us any differently from his classmates’ mommies and daddies who are married, and how we handle this transition into this next phase of life could affect him for years to come. It should be thoughtful and careful and measured and put his needs at the center, not our own.
I look to Chaz and Aiko, a hard set to my mouth, a warning in my eyes.
“Noah, Chaz works with Mommy,” I say pointedly. “He’s going on safari, too. Isn’t that cool?”
“Wow,” Noah says. “You’ll take lots of pictures, right?”
“Of course,” Chaz says, his smile uncertain. “So many pictures that we have to get started right away, buddy.”
Noah hates being called “buddy.” He thinks it’s infantile. His word. Not mine. He looks up at me and scowls, and I give a subtle shake of my head, silently reminding him to be respectful. I grab a cart for all Aiko’s bags, getting them loaded. Once that’s done, it’s time for Noah and me to go. There’s such a mix of things in her expression.
Excitement. Hope. Anticipation.
Sadness. Guilt. Uncertainty.
“I won’t,” she says softly. “I mean… I don’t have to if you don’t want me on this trip. If you want to think about it, I can—”
“Ko.” I squeeze her hand and look at her directly to emphasize my sincerity. “Enjoy your trip.”
She searches my face, like she has to make sure she won’t be damaging something irreparably if she takes this step with Chaz, but we’ve been broken a long time. We’ve held this relationship together with Gorilla Glue, masking tape and sheer force of will. But there are too many gaps and holes and tears. What we had will never be whole again, but we can be something new.
Noah and I watch his mother walk into the airport with another man, and I don’t feel anything but hope that this can be the start.
I glance down at the watch on my wrist, at the email that might mean seeing Kimba again. There’s a stirring in my chest at the thought, like hope shaking awake parts of me that have been asleep for years. I don’t have time to think about it now, but take a second to reply that I’m honored to be recognized and looking forward to the banquet.
“Dad,” Noah says, not patiently. “Can we please go now? It’s the first day of summer break.”
“I did hear that somewhere.” I chuckle and muss his hair. “Let’s go…buddy.”
Chapter Twelve
Kimba
“So I’ll be in Atlanta for a few weeks,” I say, looking down the conference room table at my team. “I’m spending some time with my family between campaigns.”