Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 71843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
“No I—I just immediately thought that Jory had married a woman because he had kids.”
Kola crossed his arms and furrowed his brows, looking much like his father. No one could ever say that Kola was not his father’s son. Their expressions were nearly identical. “My father’s gay, why would he marry a woman?” And before Ben could answer, he turned to me. “This is the second one of your friends,” he began, emphasis on the word “friends,” “who thought you had married a woman. I don’t get it.”
“Oh, well, you see, this gentleman’s older,” Hannah told her brother, putting her hand on Ben’s shoulder, using her upbeat voice that she employed whenever she was teaching someone something. “And back then, gay marriage wasn’t legal, and there was a lot of prejudice against two men being together, so a lot of them didn’t get to have kids.”
Ben lifted his hand to speak. “I––”
“I mean, think about it, back in the early eighties it was still so taboo.”
“Early eighties?” I groused at her. “Really?”
She snorted out a laugh “Late eighties?”
“Wow,” Sam scoffed.
I threw up my hands.
“No, I know there was prejudice,” Kola told her, and then looked at Ben. “But why did you go right to my father marrying a woman?”
He cleared his throat. “Well, for me, the only way I thought I could have had kids was to get married and have them.”
“Did you try going to an adoption agency?” Kola inquired.
“Honey, maybe Ben––”
“No, it’s okay,” he told me, facing Kola. “I had friends that went who were turned down, and they were together. I was alone, so I assumed I wouldn’t have even been considered.”
“That’s so sad. I’m sorry,” Hannah said, patting his shoulder. “But listen,” she told him, “even though we all have our own path…” she said, shooting me a look, “you’re still young, and you don’t look decrepit, so maybe think about adopting now.”
“We all have our own what?” Sam asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” Kola told him.
“You should think about it,” Hannah told Ben. “If you want a child, it’s not too late. We weren’t babies when they got us, and we turned out okay.”
“Yeah,” Kola told him. “I’m going to Stanford. My plan’s to be a doctor.”
“And I’m going to be a superhero-slash-environmentalist-slash-corporate synergist.”
“A what?” I asked her.
“Uncle Aaron says that’s what it’s called when you do many things in a corporation that combine work with the community as well as building sustainability.”
“God,” I groaned.
“What?”
“Nothing, B, your father’s just jealous that he didn’t get to be a synergist.” Sam told her.
“Well, it’s probably too late for that,” she said, giving me Bambi eyes, “but you’re an amazing graphic artist, so I think Uncle Dane knew what he was doing when he made you do that.”
“Uncle Dane didn’t make me do––”
“Yes, he did,” Sam assured me.
“He said it was his idea,” Kola said, eyes narrowed as he looked at me. “Are you saying that Uncle Dane lied?”
“No,” I backtracked quickly. “I just think that I had some say in my life.”
“Oooh, I’m telling Uncle Dane you called him a liar.” Hannah cackled evilly.
“Now let’s not be hasty,” I soothed her.
She cackled some more and returned her focus to Ben. “Sorry, back to you.”
He lifted his head and grinned at me under his mask before returning his gaze to my angel of a daughter.
“You should have a child. You’re not too old, and so many kids need good homes,” she said authoritatively. “If you’re not sure, maybe you could foster some kids first.”
“That’s a good idea,” Kola chimed in, smiling at Ben. “My aunt Aja did that with a St. Bernard after one of their dalmatians died a couple years ago. Now what she found out is that St. Bernards and Uncle Dane’s den were not a good fit, you know? And really, a big dog wasn’t working for them.”
“But,” Hannah said brightly, her eyes sparkling, “she did discover that pit bulls were a whole other story.”
“They have two pit bulls now, Leopold and Arthur, plus their dalmatian, Juni.”
He looked from Kola, who’d just spoken, and then back to Hannah.
“Fostering saves lives,” she pointed out.
“I––”
“Not that they’re comparing the fostering of dogs to the fostering of children,” I told him.
“He didn’t think that,” Sam said, and then glowered at Ben. “You didn’t think anything that stupid, did you?”
“I—no. I got the fostering part of the lesson.”
“Yeah, see,” Sam said pointedly, his focus back on me. “People can make intuitive leaps.”
God.
“And, by the way, so you don’t worry,” Kola began, “the St. Bernard got a really good home too. That’s important to note.”
Ben had a bemused expression on his face. “I’m so glad I saw you and your family today, Jory. It’s truly been a pleasure.”
I had my doubts about that, we were an opinionated, annoying group, but if we were supposed to give Ben Adler a push to seek out and love the child he always wanted, then that was a Fourth of July well done.