the other day. I was certain she expected me to set the kid straight about when it was okay to hit someone.
I would but I was not going to lecture the kid about what he did. I firmly believed he did the right thing. I wasn’t his dad, and she wasn’t my wife. I didn’t have to bow down to her out of fear she’d withhold sex or make me sleep on the couch. I remembered my dad sleeping on the couch a lot throughout my childhood.
I knocked on the door. Jace answered. When he saw me, he smiled. “Nash.”
“Hi, Jace. Did your mom tell you I was coming?”
“I thought she was lying,” he said.
“Why would your mom lie to you?”
“Because I was mad at her,” he answered nonchalantly.
I nodded and began to understand why I was here. “I see. I hope you’re not still mad at her.”
He looked up at me and laughed. “Nope. Mom, Nash is here!” he said.
She came out of the kitchen with a towel in her hands. I felt like I had been transported to a parallel universe. I was walking through the door after a long day at work. Saige was in the kitchen preparing dinner and our son was welcoming me home. This was the life I used to pretend I had when I was little. I used to dream about growing up and having a family of my own. I was going to be different than my dad.
I snapped myself back to reality.
“Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes,” she said. “I got home late, and this lasagna does not want to cook.”
“It’s fine.”
“Why don’t you show him around?” she said to Jace.
“I’ll show you my room,” he said and grabbed my hand.
“You can take off your jacket if you’d like,” she said.
“I would like, thank you.”
I peeled it off and draped it over the back of the couch before following Jace into his room. His room didn’t look much different than mine had when I was his age. I walked around and noticed the number of books he had on a tall shelf.
“Do you like to read a lot?” I asked him.
“Yep. I like to play with my cars and stuff too, but mostly I read. That’s why they call me a nerd.”
“The kids at school?” I asked and picked up a book that seemed rather advanced for a kid his age.
“Yes.”
“Are they still bothering you?”
“I don’t know,” he answered.
I got it. He didn’t want to talk about it. I understood and I wasn’t going to make him talk about anything he didn’t want to. I was just the friend. “Have you read all these books?” I asked.
“Most of them.”
“Wow. That’s impressive.”
He was smart. Just like his mom. I wasn’t that smart. At least, I didn’t think I was. He showed me a couple of things he made with Legos.
“Dinner’s ready,” Saige called.
“That’s us, buddy,” I said.
“Do you like lasagna?” he asked.
“I do,” I said. “It’s one of my favorites.”
“Mine too!”
“Wash your hands,” Saige said.
“The bathroom is in here,” Jace said.
I followed him in. We took turns washing our hands before we went to the dining room. Saige was just finishing with the setting of the table. “It smells good,” I said.
She laughed. “We can pretend I made it.”
“Works for me.”
“I’m glad you’re not mad at Nash anymore,” Jace said.
I looked at her and smiled. “Was she pretty mad at me?” I asked while looking at her.
“Yes.”
“Did she say mean things?” I pressed.
She flashed me a dirty look. “Jace, will you pass me the bread?” she asked.
I chuckled. “I don’t know, I think your mom might owe me an apology,” I said. I was enjoying pushing the boundaries. I could see her blush and knew what she was thinking about. I was angling for another apology. Her very special way of going about it was appealing.
“Mom, did you say you were sorry?” Jace asked.
She shot me a dirty look. “I did.”
“You did?” he said as if he wasn’t convinced.
“She did,” I said. “In fact, she was very serious about apologizing to me. Do you know what she did?”
“Nash,” Saige warned.
“What did she do?” Jace asked.
I was going to enjoy this. “I was really busy at my other job,” I explained in kid speak. “Your mom kept calling but I didn’t answer because I was busy.”
“You weren’t at work on the weekend,” she quipped.