“Okay, but do not just show up for dinner. If he’s in a good mood, I’ll ask you to come over and we can go from there. Otherwise, we shoot for tomorrow, okay?”
“Alright, fine,” he says.
“If he’s in a good mood tonight, you can plan to be here by five. We have dinner at six.”
He nods once before leaving the house. I take a seat on my couch and sigh. I really hope this doesn’t go wrong.
Noah is in an exceptionally good mood after school because his teacher made him her helper for the day and rewarded him with a lollipop at the end. I sit him down and discuss his father with him once again, and mention that his dad is joining us for dinner. He seems pretty excited. Michael arrives at exactly 5 p.m. and Tia gets Noah from his room when Michael enters the house.
I gesture for him to take a seat. His eyes are a little unfocused and he looks nervous. It’s nice to see him riled up like this. I don’t get to see it often. It’s a good look on him, and it makes me smile.
“I told him the truth,” I say to Michael quietly.
He looks at me. “Oh yeah? And what did he say?”
“He seems excited to meet you,” I assure him.
“He doesn’t hate that I wasn’t around, does he? He doesn’t hate me?” he questions worriedly.
“Michael, he’s just a child. He didn’t even know he was missing anything until recently. And I can assure you that he doesn’t hate you. He’s a sweet kid.”
“Mama,” my son calls.
He and Tia have appeared at the doorway to the room. Tia gives me an encouraging smile while Michael and I both get to our feet. I move toward my son and kneel in front of him.
“Monkey, you remember we talked about seeing your daddy today?” I ask.
He bobs his head up and down.
“Is that him?” he questions, pointing at Michael who is standing completely still behind me.
“Yes, he’s your daddy.”
I stand up and take his hand in mine before walking closer to Michael.
“Noah, meet your dad. His name is Michael.”
“Hi, Michael. You’re tall,” Noah says with wide eyes.
I laugh softly under my breath. Michael looks shell-shocked right now, but he quickly recovers and kneels in front of Noah.
“Hey, Noah. You can call me Mike if you want.”
My son nods. “Mike,” he repeats. “It‘s nice to meet you, Mike.”
“Nice to meet you too, little man,” Michael says, stretching his hand toward him.
Noah beams before placing his small hands in Michael’s larger one.
“You want to see my toys?” he questions excitedly.
And we’ve lost him.
Michael chuckles before nodding and getting to his feet. Still holding his hand, Noah leads him to his room. Tia and I follow quietly.
“That’s a lot of books,” Michael says upon entry into the small room. There’s a small shelf at the edge of the room that holds all his favorite storybooks and novels. “Your mom told me you like to read.”
“I love to read. It’s fun,” Noah says.