divorce I can admit it’s not great.”
“See? This is the perfect arrangement—we get along great, and it’s not like we have feelings for each other or anything. We’ll just be roommates who happen to have a kid.”
“But what about down the track if you and Josh want to live together or get married and have kids of your own.”
I shrug, although I know she can’t see me. “Hey, they made it work on Full House, and that was the eighties. We’re way more progressive now.”
“And Josh is on board with this?” she asks skeptically.
“Okay, well, I technically haven’t talked to him about it yet. But I know he’ll be on board with whatever’s best for Chase. Which is this.”
She’s quiet for a long time and then finally she lets out a sigh and says, “Alright, let’s just look at some places first. We don’t need to decide just yet.”
But I’m already grinning from ear to ear, because I know this is definitely happening. I’m going to be living in the same house as my son.
“Look at this one—it’s in Brooklyn, and it looks perfect for us.” I hold my iPad out a bit farther so Laura can see the features of the apartment I’ve found. “Three bedrooms, two bath, it’s all sleek and modern looking. And, look—the bedrooms are on different levels. You and Chase could have your own floor. Or I could be on the same floor as Chase and you could have a floor to yourself. Whichever you prefer, I don’t mind.”
The corner of her mouth quirks up in wry amusement. “Okay, fine. Let’s go check it out.”
“Sweet. You want to go now?”
“Now?”
I nod. “Yeah. It says there’s a showing in half an hour.”
“Fine, let me just change Chase and we can go.”
While Laura’s changing Chase, I fill the diaper bag with the necessary supplies and grab his little coat from where it’s hanging on the coatrack by the door. When she returns, she hands him to me so I can put his coat on while she unfolds the stroller.
“Have you called Josh to meet us there?” she asks distractedly as she works through the hundred or so steps to get the stroller unfolded.
“Um, no…”
With the stroller now unfolded and ready for Chase, Laura straightens up and eyes me suspiciously. “You haven’t told him yet, have you?”
“I—”
“Connor…”
“Don’t look at me like that! I had every intention of telling him last night but then he walked in the door and there was this whole blowjob situation and then we came up with a creative use for the marinara sauce I’d made for dinner and then we needed a shower…and the whole thing just slipped me mind.” Plus, even though I know Josh will be on board with this I also feel like this is something Laura and I need to work out for ourselves as Chase’s parents.
Laura shakes her head in exasperation. “God, guys really are incapable of thinking of two things at once, aren’t they?”
“What, and when you’re having sex you’re coming up with your shopping list?”
“Actually, I’m usually replaying Ryan Gosling movies in my head,” she says with a smirk.
“Well I know you weren’t doing that with me.”
She arches a brow at me. “Oh yeah? What makes you so sure.”
“Please, not even Meryl Streep could have faked it that well.”
She shrugs. “Maybe I’m just that good.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “You’re pure evil.”
She just chuckles and takes Chase from my arms, placing him in the stroller and fastening the restraints. “Come on, let’s go before this viewing ends.”
20
Josh
I’m just finishing up making some toast when I hear my phone ringing from Connor’s bedroom. It’s Saturday and we’ve taken it pretty slow this morning, so it’s already close to noon. I love these lazy days, though. I mean, I love when we have Chase as well, but these days where we have no plans and no reason to get out of bed for hours are just pretty much the best.
I stalk over to Connor’s room and grab my phone from the nightstand. And it’s not until I hit the accept call icon that I realize it’s actually Connor’s phone, not mine—one of us should really change our ringtone to avoid this confusion.
Not wanting to be rude, I put the phone to my ear and say a greeting.
“Hello?”
“Hi. Connor Kelly?”
“Not it’s not, but just hold on one second and I’ll see if I can get him for you.” I walk over to the bathroom to see if Connor’s