“Malcolm loves to have his hair played with like that.”
“I used to do this to my Malcolm and he’d relax right into a deep sleep. He was born with a headful of cotton-white hair.”
“So was that boy in your lap.” Zac sighed and then went on to say, “Stevie, I have to tell you again how sorry I am about you losing your son.”
“I appreciate it. I wanted to tell you about him before today but the timing was never right. After seeing your tattoo earlier though, I knew it finally was.”
“I’m curious about something.”
“So ask me.”
“What made you choose the nameMalcolm?”
“It’s a strong Scottish name.”
Zac nodded. “That’s exactly why I chose it.”
“It’s a good name,” I said, then leaned down and kissed the top of Malcolm’s head. When I met Zac’s gaze again, he was shaking his back and forth.
“I can’t get over the way that Malcolm is being with you. He’s totally at home,” he said.
“I love children.”
“And it shows.”
“They’re little for such a short amount of time and their childhood should be as happy and peaceful and magical as possible. Full of unicorns and fairy dust and rainbows.”
Zac smiled. “And mermaids.”
“Yes. And mermaids.”
“Malcolm is never gonna forget this day with you.”
“I won’t forget it either. The look on his face when he saw my tail was priceless.”
“I know. He was so excited. Thank you again for doing all of this for him. I was so surprised when you invited us over here.”
“Something inside me told me to do it—that it was okay. I didn’t think about it earlier, but now I’m wondering how Avery is gonna respond to you having brought Malcolm over here to swim with me. He’s so smart, and I feel like he’s gonna talk to whomever he can about this day.”
“If he does, then he does. I’ll handle whatever comes of it.”
“Okay. I just don’t wanna cause any issues for you.”
“You’re not, Stevie, so stop worrying.”
“I’ll try. And by the way, I see that you did what I suggested. The cut on your bottom lip and all those scratches on your body already look better.”
“Thanks to you. Normally, I just let them heal on their own.”
“Do you mind telling me when the altercation between you and Avery happened?”
“Last night.”
I shrugged. “What caused it?”
“Nothing. Avery is just volatile, and when she drinks, it’s worse. She looks for things to fight about. I usually don’t engage, but last night I did because I had enough of her. I spoke my piece on the way I felt about her behavior and she started trying to claw me up and hit me like she’s done before.”
“And you held up your hands to block her blows, didn’t you?”