“Can you talk?” she interrupts.
He knows what she’s really asking is whether his mother is within earshot. “Yes.”
“Let me guess. Lisa fell asleep in front of the TV.”
“Out like a light.”
“And you’re…?”
“In the bedroom.”
“How are you?” she asks.
“Miserable.”
“Me, too.”
“Come home,” he says.
“I want to.”
“Then, come.”
“I can’t. Not while she’s there.”
“I know.”
“So, what do we do?”
“I don’t know.”
“I think you do.”
He smiles. “That’s what Maggie said.”
“What doyousay?”
Aiden rubs the space between his eyes. “That my mother isn’t the problem,” he acknowledges. “Iam.”
“What do you want, Aiden?”
“I wantyou.”
“It’s not just me anymore,” Heidi reminds him.
“I want youandthe baby.”
“Ourbaby.”
“Ourbaby,” he repeats. “That’s what I want. That’sallI want.”
“That’s allIwant,” Heidi echoes.
There is a moment of silence. “You have to understand that she’ll take back everything—the house, the car…”
“Let her. I don’t care. We’ll figure it out.”
Another silence, this one longer than the first. Aiden pictures himself sneaking along the dusty, bombed-out streets of Kabul, no clear idea where he’s going or what he’s supposed to do. He jumps to his feet, sweeps the image aside with a wave of his hand.