“What?”
“Spontaneous sex in the middle of the day, in the kitchen, of all places. It’s been years since I did anything like this.”
“Me, too. We were impaired by having young kids underfoot.”
“If you wanted to find someone you could have unimpaired loud daytime sex with on the regular, I wouldn’t blame you, Gage.”
“There’s no one else I’d rather have loud daytime sex in the kitchen with than you.”
“You should think about it some more before you commit to anything.”
“There’s nothing to think about.”
“Laney is three. If we stick it out, that’s fifteen more years of parenting before we’re somewhat free, and then they come home and bring their laundry and their drama, and it’ll never end.”
“I love Laney. It would be the honor of my lifetime to get to see her and her brother and sister grow up and to help you turn them into the amazing people they’re already on their way to being.”
“Are you going to freak out about all this the minute you’re alone again and realize you’re making a huge mistake?”
“I don’t think so, but if I do, you’ll lure me back into your arms, right?”
I squeeze my arms and legs tight around him. “Yeah, I will.”
18
IRIS
I’d forgotten what it feels like to be happy like this, even with clouds of uncertainty and upset remaining over my head. The day after I sent the text to Eleanor, she still hasn’t replied, so I call Joy.
“Hey, honey, can’t wait for tonight and some time with my wids. This week has sucked the big one.”
“I’m looking forward to it, too.”
“What’s up with you?”
“I reached out to the woman. The one who had the kid with Mike.”
“Baby, what’re you thinking doing that?”
“I thought maybe I could talk to her mom to mom and resolve some things, but she hasn’t responded.”
“Let me reach out as your attorney. You can give me a dollar tonight to retain me, and I’ll send you my standard client agreement to sign. I’ll handle this for you.”
“Are you sure? I know how busy you are.”
“Anything for you, my sweet girl.”
“I’ll only do this if you let me pay you.”
“No deal. This is a few phone calls that I’ll make on behalf of my dear friend. Please let me help you with this. I would’ve offered before now, but my week spun out of control.”
“You have to let me do something for you in exchange.”
“I’ll think of something.”
“You do that.”
“I love your bossy-mom voice. How many hours until martini time?”