Page 36 of Foxed Up

"Okay." I was grinning at him. If it wasn't guilt over the incident at the precinct, just kindness, that was even more endearing. I clapped him on the back, and we started down the aisle after Eli.

Wallace hesitated, then grabbed another multigrain loaf off the shelf, as if he couldn't resist. "I'll pay you back," he said.

"Don't worry about it. I think I can afford some extra 'toast.'"

Eli came running back, his eyes bright and his face filled with joy. He held a different brand of peanut butter in each hand. "Can I get these?" He held them up for my inspection.

One had a lot of sugar in it, the other less so. "All right. Wallace, you need anything else?" We both looked at him, as he shook his head.

"Candy," said Eli innocently. "We forgot to get candy." He looked at us expectantly.

Wallace gave me a sheepish look. "Dark chocolate, maybe?"

I rolled my eyes and groaned. "Fine. Candy aisle."

"Yes!" Eli jumped a little. "I like shopping with you, Wallace," he said. "Come on!" He led the way fearlessly, my boyfriend trailing after him, listening intently to whatever Eli was telling him.

I rolled my eyes and pushed the cart in their wake. I liked it, too.

#

At home, Eli was still wound up. He raced around the house playing wildly, and I let him. I'm sure he'd have quieted down if I'd turned on the TV and let him watch cartoons, but I'd rather he got out his energy this way. He had to sit still at school, he had to focus on homework, and he had to keep trying to act his age and not drop things in the grocery store; he needed some time with no expectations.

Wallace, meanwhile, kicked his shoes off and curled up on the edge of the couch. He read avidly as he broke off bits of his dark chocolate and ate it. He'd ended up picking a big bar of unsweetened baker's chocolate, and showed every sign of enjoying it in all its bitter glory. He looked like he planned to eat the whole thing.

I got out my laptop to catch up on some Netflix. The three of us didn't interact at all for a while. But somehow it was cozy and friendly anyway, Wallace quietly flipping his pages, and the occasional soft cracking sound of a bit of chocolate being broken off.

Eli ran back and forth through the house, making whirring noises and keeping up a running commentary to himself as he held up LEGO airplanes and ran with them, or made his action figures pose in weird spots around the room, aiming their guns and glowers here and there. One had a particularly vitriolic look on its little plastic face, and was missing part of his hand. The other hand held a gun pointed right at me. Eli clearly thought that was hilarious. But he didn't aim any at Wallace. I guess we were still in a honeymoon phase there; he didn't want to risk offending the guest.

"Hey," I said suddenly, slapping my knees gently. "We forgot about math homework."

Eli froze. Clearly, he hadn't forgotten about it, but had been hoping I would. "Dad…" he complained, slumping. "Can't I just fail this time?"

I stared at him in disbelief. "No. What did we say about trying your best?"

"That I have to. But I try my best ateverything. I'm just stupid at math. I want to keep playing." He wore a mutinous look, but it covered something else: real fear about this homework.

"We'll work on it for fifteen minutes and then you can go back to playing."

This seemed to relieve him at least a little. Fifteen minutes was at least not forever. He went to get the timer, grumbling a little. He glanced at Wallace, apparently wondering if he'd offer to help, but Wallace didn't notice, absorbed with his chocolate and his book. He'd already said he wasn't good at such things, so I wouldn't have expected him to jump in and make it easy for Eli the way he seemed to be able to do with other subjects.

Eli sighed loudly, grabbed his math workbook, and climbed up on the couch beside me, sitting as close as he could. Wallace shifted a little to make more room and absently offered us part of his chocolate bar. Both Eli and I stared at the bitter offering with mild alarm.

"No, thanks, you enjoy," I managed.

Wallace did.

After fifteen minutes of whiny son, frustrated dad, and very little actually getting done, we were both relieved to hear the timer ring. Eli had been darting hunted glances at it every few seconds, and now he dropped his pencil with open relief.

"Put your books away," I reminded him as he hopped up.

"And put your shoes near the door," said Wallace absently. He was on the last quarter of his book. Damn, he read quickly! He turned another page.

"Daddy'll say it," warned Eli. "He'll saythat word."

"I won't. Put them beside the door, not in front of it." I reached out and turned the plastic action figure away from me, aiming it towards Eli. He ran off laughing. Once math was no longer in the picture, his good mood came soaring back.

I glanced at Wallace again. There was a bit of chocolate on one side of his mouth.Messy fox. I smiled at him fondly and put a hand on his knee. "Hey. You think you want to stay?" It was time for him to decide.