I didn’t know if Michael understood or not, but he laughed as he clapped his hands together, looking up at me with his cute baby smile. In the end, he did make a mess, and under Angela’s stern look, I cleared it up, then went back to get clean and changed again.
Mom and Winston arrived almost an hour later on the dot, and because Angela was still busy setting up the table, Michael and I went to open the door for his grandparents. They broke into wide smiles when they saw him.
“Hey guys,” I said gently, waving Michael’s little hand at them. “Come on in. Angela’s been working hard to make lunch.”
“You can all come into the kitchen,” she called out. “I have everything ready, just waiting on you three.”
We headed to the kitchen, to find the table perfectly set for four people with the food in dishes in the middle. Because Michael ate before everyone else, he was left in his high chair as the adults settled around the table. I felt a little guilty for not helping set everything up, but I knew Angela loved doing it all on her own. She was practically glowing, and I had the temptation to kiss her, so I did, ducking into peck her cheek before quickly pulling away.
She sent me a glare, but it quickly melted into a smile.
“He’s growing bigger and bigger every day,” Mom sighed, leaning in to pinch his cheek. “He looks so much like you when you were a baby, Ben! I’ll find your old albums and send them to you.”
I groaned. “Mom, not the baby albums.”
“Everyone, please dig in,” Angela cut in, though she was looking a little too amused.
“Angela, your cooking is as wonderful as always,” Winston said.
Angela laughed. “You haven’t even tasted it yet!”
“I can see it and smell it, and from that alone, I know it’s going to be delicious.”
Everyone filled their plates, and Winston made so many appreciative noises as he ate that it made the rest of us laugh. Michael didn’t know what the adults were laughing about, but he joined in just because he could.
“So,” Winston said. “How does it feel to be a famous author?”
His timeworn face beamed with pride, and Angela’s cheeks flushed lightly under the look. I rubbed her back, but I was proud of her as well.
Angela’s book wasn’t just accepted by the publisher. It took a while and some effort, but her book sold out in its first print run and quickly became a bestseller. I became her manager, and we’d been busy doing book tours and events for the past couple of years to solidify her fan base. Mostly, we were stay at home parents, though, and I managed her social media presence from home so we wouldn’t have to move around too much, though when we had to, we would leave Michael with his doting grandparents.
“She’s started a new project,” I said, boasting about my wife’s fame. “She has a lot of people waiting for her second book, and a lot of her fans were happy to hear it when she mentioned a second book was in the works.”
“What are you writing about now?” Mom asked curiously.
Angela shot me a glare, then laughed, a little sheepish.
“I’ve been busy looking after Michael, but now that he’s growing up, I’ve got more time. I have a basic outline plotted already. This new book is about an older woman and a younger man.” She sent a smile at me. “The moment I have my first chapter done, my manager will be the first person to read it.”
“We’re trying to stick to a schedule to see how it would work out, so she can write more books. She’s got a lot of ideas, and I’ve seen some of the ones she’s written out. The plan is to have this book come out in six months, relax for a month, then tentatively start another one for this year.”
Winston laughed.
“Maybe you should write about a professor and their student?” He suggested, he and Mom shared a look as they held hands. “I feel like a lot of people would be willing to read something like that, no?”
Angela hummed and looked at him with amusement.
“That’s a great idea, Dad, but I just have one question. Would that mean I was writing about your life story or mine?”
Their gazes held before they both smiled. Laughs were shared around the table, and we continued our meal.