Once I was finished with Ben, Julian came over and helped me put my helmet on, even though I didn’t need help. He kissed me on the nose before following suit. He looked sexy as hell in a helmet. I’d seen one on him before, but, up close, I liked it even more.
Ben couldn’t keep the grin off his face, and the one on his father’s mirrored it. I thought before I could see so much of Julian in Ben, but, up close, he was a miniature version of him.
Excitement and anticipation built in all of us as we climbed into our own respective karts. My blood began to pump as I waited for Julian to pull out of the pit area, and I wondered if this is how Julian felt every time he got behind the wheel of a race car.
As soon as we left the pits and got on the track, I put my foot down on the accelerator. We plunged into the first corner and slowed down. I was going slow enough so Ben could drive beside me. I liked having him in my peripheral vision just in case, heaven forbid, something happened.
We came to the sweeping S-bend, and Julian hooted as he flew around it. I was laughing, and my face was starting to hurt from all the smiling I was doing. It’d been forever since I had this much fun, and to be doing it with my two favorite people was exhilarating. Ben must’ve had his foot pushed down as far as the peddle could go. He was keeping up with me fairly well, but I knew it was as fast as the junior cars would go. I didn’t want to leave him in the dust.
Speaking of leaving people in the dust, my eyes roamed around looking for Julian, and he was nowhere to be seen, when all of a sudden, he pulled up beside us. The grin on his face was so wide that I saw those cute little dimples and wondered how his face didn’t hurt in that position. A smile hadn’t left his face since we arrived. It was taking me back to all the times we came here as kids.
On the next lap around, I pulled back into the pit. I wanted them to go around together by themselves; giving them time to bond. I could tell that it was hard keeping that slow pace with Ben, but I knew he was just excited to be doing it in the first place. I took off my helmet so my vision wasn’t obscured while I watched.
I listened as Julian yelled over to him. “Race you to the finish line, kiddo!” He hit the gas slightly, but really didn’t go any faster.
I hadn’t realized how competitive Ben was until he got out on that track, and by the look on Julian’s face, I could tell he loved it. He kept up pretty well as they flew around each bend. And when I say flew, they were probably only going ten miles an hour, if that. I stayed in my kart as I watched them go.
Julian was completely in his element behind the wheel as he took each turn with ease. Watching him was hypnotic, and I could watch it all day long. As promised, he stayed with Ben, allowing him to inch forward as each minute passed.
Ben had his tongue stuck out between his teeth as he concentrated on getting around the track beside his dad. He inched further and further in front of Ace until he was a whole cart length.
Unlike his normal racing, he didn’t seem to mind letting his kid win. In fact, it brought utter bliss and joy to his face. Toby waved the checkered flag as Ben crossed the finish line and cheered, little hands were thrown into the air in joy before he quickly replaced them on the wheel, realizing it was a silly idea.
“Yes!!! I won! Dad, did you see that?” He jumped out of the cart and bounded over to me. “Mama, did you see me? I beat Dad!”
I leaned up and ruffled his hair. “You sure did, sweetheart.”
Julian walked up behind him and held out his fist to bump it with Ben. “Great job, dude. You were going so fast.”
“I know, right? That was so amazing!!! You gotta race Mama now. She needs to have more fun.”
“Well, what about you?”
He chewed on his bottom lip. “Umm…”
Julian held a finger up to me as he walked away, telling us to wait. “Hey, man. Can we get one of the double carts so Ben can ride with his mom?”
Five minutes later, we were strapping into the double car, and I was putting my helmet back on. “You ready?” I sing-songed to Ben.
“Let’s beat him, Mama!”
Julian’s eyebrows furrowed. “I’m feeling the love, guys.”
Ben snickered beside me, and I couldn’t help but chuckle along.
Julian popped back into his kart and headed out of the pit when Ben and I followed him. He slowed down to a stop to wait for me. When I pulled up beside him, I realized how much of a high he was on.
He leaned over toward me and gave me a brief kiss. “Think you can keep up, babe?” He whispered against my lips.
“I’m going to blow you so out of the water you won’t know what hit you.”
“You want to make a bet on that? I win, we discuss this blowing situation. You win… Well, if you win, I’ll do whatever you want.” He waggled his eyebrows as he whispered, and I prayed Ben couldn’t hear him. I didn’t want to answer questions.
“That’s a pretty confident statement, but there’s no chance in hell you’re going to.” I was feeling sassy.
He kissed me again. “Eww, Mom… Dad… that’s totally gross.” We pulled away laughing. We were that totally gross couple of parents. We were becoming my parents, and I couldn’t complain one bit.
A part of me was waiting for the other shoe to drop because it always did. I’d never had something go so completely right without at least one thing going wrong. I’d hold onto the joy and pleasure having Julian back in my life would bring until that changed. I just hoped, in the end, he didn’t break our hearts. Not that he’d do it intentionally.