Page 45 of Power Move

“Lots of people have a car for nice days and a car for work,” Davey shrugged.

Lots ofrichpeople.

“What do you drive? Are you investing in a mom mobile?” Davey looked over the menu.

A server with blue hair and anime tattoos appeared. “Can I get you coffee or anything?”

Davey looked over. “I’m ready to order if you are, Eva.”

“I’ll have an order of french toast with double the whipped butter and syrup on the side,” I said. “And you already brought my coffee, so I’m good.”

“I’ll have a mug of coffee and breakfast platter 5. I’ll have eggs and the hashbrowns not the home fries.”

The woman nodded and took our menus.

“So, what is your ride?” Davey pressed.

“I drive a 1997 Ford F-250. It is beat up, both mirrors are scraped to hell, there are no cupholders, and it sounds like a plane taking off.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Definitely not. I’ll show it to you if you want. It even has a bench seat.”

“How old are you versus that thing?”

“It’s a little wild,” I admitted. “But it’s our other vehicle. We haul hay with it and pull a horse trailer. It’s the car that taught me how to drive. But really, I just needed something until I had money to buy a car outright. Or enough of a paycheck to get less-shady financing.”

“What?” Davey cocked his head.

“I have very little money from before my split,” I said. “Not enough to buy a reasonable car. And I have no credit in this country—only in the UK. It counts for essentially nothing.”

“Shit. Well, we should remedy that.”

I shook my head. “David, I don’t want to do that. This is why we’re meeting. I will buy a car when I can get a good deal?—”

“I’ll just buy you a car. It’s for our kid. You deserve to have a safe car. If that truck got in an accident?—”

“What if your car got in an accident?” I asked. “Don’t police my body.”

He backed off.

“Okay, so here’s what I want,” I got back to business. “I don’t want to exclude you as you demonstrate sincere intent. I also need you to understand that babies are dependent mostly on their mothers. They need us for food and general welfare for the first few months.”

Davey nodded. “Yeah. The baby will need to feed every couple hours at first—at least once every 3-4 hours. And then it just depends. So, it’s not like you will be going far for awhile.”

I cocked my head. “What are you, Encyclopedia Britannica?”

He blushed. “I read some stuff.”

It was endearing beyond measure.

“So, I don’t think overnight custody exchanges are going to be a thing in the first year of life. That’s just being realistic. If it changes or we want to try some things, we can do that. I don’t even know if you want to be responsible for any of this. I don’t want to speak for you.”

“Why?” Davey asked as the server brought coffee. “I’m the baby’s parent. I should want to parent. That’s not my concern.”

“What is?”

“Bonding? It’smybaby, too. I will ultimately defer to you because your body has kept it alive and will continue to. I know that Cal has taken a rather hands-off approach on these matters, as Daphne is the one growing a human. I still want to bond, Eva.”