Page 55 of Manny Included
“I’ve missed our meals,” he admitted.“It’s been wild.”
“Yeah.It’s nice to get some adult time together.And I have to admit, if I’d known what it was going to be like when the kids were out of school, I’d have bailed back at the beginning.Run in the other direction, screaming.”
“Soon will be camp, and that makes things a lot easier.They both really like camp.This time next year, I think that Belle will be ready for overnight camp.Maybe.”They talked about it this year, but not after what had happened.
“Really?As in sleeping away from home?”Bay sounded skeptical.“She can’t be old enough for that, can she?”
“Not this year, but some kids do, you know?”It scared him a little bit too.
“Does she want to do that?Go away for like a week?All by herself?”Bay seemed flumoxed by the idea.
“I don’t know.I didn’t ask, because it wasn’t an option this year, but she’s talking about sleepovers…”
“I gotta admit, the concept of that is scary as fu-udge.”
“Yeah.Do you remember your first one?”His had been a disaster, he’d ended up calling his mom to come get him.
“Nope.I do remember fighting with Tony the first one we had at our place.He kept trying to play with my friends and I did not like that.At all.”Bay chuckled and shook his head.
“Oh, I can see that.Were you a jealous friend?”He’d been a quiet, gentle little boy.
“I sure didn’t want my baby brother playing with me and my friends.He was just a kid and we were nearly grown.After all, we were all of two years older.”
“Eons.That’s totally eons.”He couldn’t help his grin.
“I sure thought so then.”Bay chuckled, eyes a little far away, clearly remembering.
“Yeah.He was a great guy, my best friend.”
“Yeah, he was a good guy.And what happened wasn’t fair.Some days, that hits harder than others, you know?”
“Yes.”There was no question about that.Some days sucked.
“You make it better,” Bay said softly, hand moving to slide along his thigh.
He met Bay’s eyes, nodded, and swallowed around the lump in his throat.“So do you.You… make everything easier.”
Bay took his hand, twined their fingers together and they sat there for a while, just holding hands.
Then, like they’d made some sort of decision in silence, they both began to eat, digging into the spicy, umami-laden goodies.
The Dungeons and Dragons movie was entertaining—both fun and actiony—and silly and sweet in the end and lots of fun, even if he had seen it a half dozen times already.
Bay had a great laugh, too.“That was amazing.I can’t believe I’d never seen it before!”
“Me either.It’s so campy and wonderful.”
“You remember I’m not a movies guy.I mean I like them, I just never have the opportunity.Well, until now.That’s true of a lot of things.”
“I know that you had to give a lot up to do this, but I love spending time with you and letting you be a movies guy.”Was that too much to say?
“I’m not sure that what I gave up was that important.It’s not like I’m not still doing the work.It’s just not the only thing I’m doing.It’s not my entire focus and identity anymore.And the other stuff I’m doing is pretty important, I think.”
“I do too.I think you’re a great father figure for the kids.And…” He looked down and then looked back up.“A great partner for me?”
“We do seem to work well together, don’t we?”
“I think so.”And that was the truth.Bay and he made a decent pairing.