Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“Well, Kola did something very heroic, but the rest of it, I suspect due to Mr. Hunt’s involvement, was never going to see the light of day.”
I could guess that whoever George worked for when he was deployed did not want his picture up anywhere. Taking care of various social media accounts could be tricky if you weren’t the US government.
“Well, you were great, and I appreciate you.”
He smiled, gave me a pat on the shoulder, and then he was gone too, closing the front door behind him. I was alone with my son and his two best friends.
“Huh,” I said, thinking of something before walking into the kitchen to get myself a glass of water.
“Why did you make that noise?” Kola asked me.
“No reason,” I replied, shaking my head, telling myself I would not even glance over at the potatoes. The boys were making dinner; it wasn’t my show. I had offered to take over, they had all been through trauma earlier, after all, but I was assured that they wanted to cook. It would make everything normal again.
“C’mon, Pa,” Kola insisted, walking over to me.
I reached up to put my hand on his face, and my eyes filled, replaying the video—for the hundredth, thousandth, time—in my head.
“I’m okay,” he promised, stepping forward and putting his arms around me as though our roles were reversed and I was the child.
I was shaking as I hugged him, imagining, for a brief moment, what my life would be like without my firstborn. Whenever I read books or watched movies or TV shows where the parent lost a child, I understood that one could continue living, but how long would it take to get to that point afterwards? A few of the people Sam’s folks knew had lost children, and Regina would always remark, “Oh, Jory, you should have met Tessa before her son Sean died. She used to have the best laugh in the world,” and it wasn’t that Tessa didn’t laugh anymore, but it was different now. There was never complete happiness, because how could there ever be? I would be forever altered if I lost either of my kids, and I wondered if Sam and I would be the people who were stronger and sealed our bond even tighter after a loss like that, or if it would tear us apart as we both retreated inside ourselves.
“I’m fine,” Kola whispered as he held me. “You have to live in the now and not dwell on what could have been. You have to see me as I am, safe and sound.”
After a moment, I eased back and looked up into his face. The scowl could not be helped.
He cleared his throat. “Jake had to take either Psych 101 or Intro to Art History, and since Hannah got way too excited about art history”––he glanced over at Jake, who made the cutting motion with his hand––“he took psychology instead.”
“Again,” Harper announced, “I really don’t need to be psychoanalyzed on a daily basis by someone who has no idea what he’s even talking about.”
“You don’t know,” Jake volleyed back. “I might change my major to psychology.”
Kola whimpered.
“We don’t have to see a shrink, we have Jake now,” Harper explained sarcastically.
“Well, Eli’s right. That was a horrific experience, and you will all see a therapist.”
“I wonder if I can get extra credit for that,” Jake wanted to know.
“Why don’t you focus on the potatoes that you’re turning into soup.”
I shook my head, thinking I would call Aja in the morning and get the name of someone for all the kids to see.
“So,” Kola prodded me, “what were you thinking about when you said ‘huh’?”
He never forgot anything.
“I was just thinking about what Harper said about his family understanding how things, sometimes scary things, happen with us, and in our home, and I was remembering a time when Jake’s folks weren’t sure they wanted their son near the kid with two dads.”
“They didn’t?” Jake looked confused.
“You were all very young, but they had some concerns about our values and––”
“Oh yeah? Really?” Jake nearly snarled. “With you and the chief deputy still married after all these years and them not?”
“You realize that them getting a divorce has no bearing on anything but their own relationship, right?”
“He might not have gotten to divorce in his psych class yet.”
“Stop,” I warned my son before returning my attention to Jake. “At that time, they didn’t know any other same-sex couples. Sam and I were the only ones, so it was an adjustment. It’s a testament to your and Kola’s and Harper’s friendship that we’ve all been gifted with learning things from each other.”
Jake nodded. “What did you learn from my folks?”
“And mine,” Harper chimed in.
“I learned how to be a better ally to people of color from your mother,” I assured Harper. “She taught me what to do and what not to.”