“Did I feel bad before? That seems like a long time ago.”
His grunt of laughter is just what I wanted to hear. “Let’s go pick up the kids and find a fall festival with pumpkins and face painting and apple bobbing.”
I look over at him. “You really feel like doing that?”
“I really do.”
21
IRIS
After dinner at a pizza place the kids love, Gage drives us home in my minivan, keeping up a steady stream of chatter with the kids the way he has all day. They had the best time carving pumpkins, having their faces painted and riding on ponies. We never got to the apple bobbing, which was just as well after the face painting.
Gage insisted on paying for everything and was fully engaged with them the entire time. We even took a group photo, the first of the five of us together. For a while there, it felt like we were a normal family doing normal family things on an autumn Saturday.
In exchange for dinner at their favorite place, Gage got them to agree to baths and pajamas the minute we get home.
He’s good with them, and they like him, which is a relief.
“Mr. Gage,” Tyler asks when we’re nearly home.
“What’s up, pal?”
“Are you going to be our new daddy?”
“Tyler!”
“Are you, Mr. Gage?” Sophia asks.
“I’m sorry,” I mutter to him.
“I don’t know about that,” Gage says, “but today was fun, right?”
“So much fun,” Tyler says. “That’s why I want you to be our new daddy. You’re good at models, too.”
“That’s very sweet of you to say, buddy, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“What does that mean? Get ahead of ourselves.”
“Your mom and I aren’t ready to have those sorts of conversations yet.”
“When will you be?”
“Oy,” I whisper.
Gage squeezes my thigh. “I don’t know, but not for a while.”
“Why?”
“That’s enough, Ty. We need to be thankful to Gage for a very nice day and not make it into something it’s not.”
“Shouldn’t we get to say who our new daddy is?”
I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. I turn in my seat to look at my son, who’s wearing a defiant look. “Enough.” He’s heard that tone of voice often enough to know I’ve reached my limit.
Poor Gage. This is the thanks he gets for giving us a beautiful day—being put on the spot by a daddy-starved seven-year-old.
After we pull into the garage, Gage reminds the kids of their deal.