enough that he won’t hear us fucking when I’m home.
I follow her into the shitty foyer with tiles at least three decades old, past a broken-down elevator with a ‘do not use’ sign, and up three flights of stairs. By the time we reach the top, I reconsider my resistance to sharing the load.
My son hangs like dead weight, red faced from gravity, but lulled into relaxation from the climb. His diaper is full and desperately in need of a change. His hair won’t stop growing. His knee is all skinned up from walking to the park yesterday.
My son has no fear.
Refuses to slow down.
Gives no fucks for what anyone says.
He makes me proud.
Stopping at 334, with a shaking hand and hesitant eyes, Nell turns back to me, but her fist taps the hollow door and has Bobby’s relaxed body turning to full alert.
“Cool it, Bud. Lay back down.”
“Home?”
“Yeah, but this is Uncle Geo’s place. So we gotta be cool. No forks on the table. Actually,” I meet Nell’s eyes, “no forks at all.”
She nods. “It’s safer that way. We don’t want him to stab Geo and get us kicked out.”
I laugh at the thought.
Geo wouldn’t kick us out, but he’d probably stab me with a fork as payback.
Unlatching one chain, then a deadlock, I scoff at the uselessness of Geo’s security. His door’s so flimsy, I know it’ll have a Bobby shaped hole in it within a week.
I’ll need a third job to pay for a sturdier door.
The timber swings open, and like no time has passed between the last time we saw each other and now, I come eye to eye with my best friend and his big stupid grin. “Bry! Fuck me, son!” Stepping in so fast, Nelly sidesteps to avoid being bowled over, Geo throws his arms around my neck and squeezes so hard, he crushes my ribs against my lungs. “You’re a sight for sore eyes, Bry. Holy shit, I missed you.”
Stepping back, he turns to Nell and pulls her in close and crushes her like he crushed me, despite the fact they never had a hugging relationship before.
Everything went down so quick back before we married.
We weren’t together.
Then we were.
Two days later, we married and got outta dodge.
“You look amazing, Nelly. Oh my God, I’m so happy to see your faces.”
Shell-shocked, she steps back, but he hardly notices as he turns back to me with lit eyes and glances down at a not at all relaxed Bobby in my arms. “No fucking way. It’s a little Bryan!”
Nelly’s gonna kill me if he doesn’t stop swearing so much.
Clapping his hands together as though to warm them, Geo’s eyes flick between mine and my son’s. “Can I hold him? I wanna meet the little dude.”
Laughing, I drop my bags to the floor, since this rude-ass hasn’t invited us in yet, and picking Bobby up properly, I bring him to sit on my hip. “Bobby. This is Daddy’s friend, Geo. Geo, this is my little buddy. He’s my best friend, now. You’ve been bumped.”
Geo’s snake-eye dimples pop playfully. “I don’t even care. Look at him!” He turns to Nell. “It’s like you incubated, but he’s all Bry.”
She laughs nervously. “Yeah, you’re telling me. Maybe I’ll get lucky second time around.”
“You guys are gonna go back again?”
“Actually.” I grin like a fool. “We already did. You need to be more careful when you hug my wife, asshole. That’s my kid in there.”
“Shit!” Excitedly, he spins and pulls her back into his arms. My poor bride is simply a ragdoll for him to push around. Her cheek smooshes when he kisses it. Her teeth grit when he squeezes her tight. Her toes come off the floor when he lifts her. “You guys! I’m so psyched for you.”
Taking his shoulder in my hand, I yank him back. “In fact, you can just stop hugging her altogether.”
He laughs and comes back toward me for a hug. “I’m so fucking proud of you, man. Look at this! You’ve got a family. Your kid’s badass. Look at his eyes; he’s got attitude.”
“He’s got so much fucking attitude, Geo. He scares me.”
Barking out a laugh, he reaches forward and takes Bobby without asking a second time.
A lot of kids might freak about that. Some kids might burst out in tears and cry for their mommy. But not Bobby. He smacks Geo in the face and giggles like a fool.
“Hi Bobby. I’m Geo, and I’ll be your best friend, too.”
“Geee-ooooo.”
“Yeah, exactly!” Proud as a father,