Page 107 of Tangled Emotions

Their heads were close together as they mumbled, and when I peeked in, Frank was on one knee, eye to eye with my son. Tears filled my eyes watching their interaction. Matt deserved to have a dad-like person in his life.

When they finished talking, Matthew came over and wrapped his arms around me. “Mama, would you like to go bowling with me and Doc? We could treat you to pizza.”

“But you worked hard on dinner.” I stroked my son’s head.

“We can eat it tomorrow.” He looked up at me with excitement in his eyes.

“That sounds like a plan.” I looked down at my clothes. “But I need to change. These clothes aren’t good for bowling.”

“Thanks, Mom.” He gave me a full smile and let go. “We’ll wait for you.”

“Matthew and I will put dinner up.” Frank gave me a wink.

“Thank you. I’ll be right back, boys.” I headed to my room and changed into jeans and tee. With as slick as my hands were, this might be an interesting night.

Frank

My eyes were locked on Edith as she left the room to change. Meanwhile, Matt still bounced around, unable to contain his happiness.

“Will you play some arcade games with me?”

Reaching out, I pulled him for a hug. “I can do that.”

“Mom’s not big on video games, she tries but.” He shrugged. “I still can’t believe you’re Frank.”

“It’s a good thing, right?”

“It is.” He nodded. “So good. Do you like my mom like really like her?”

I looked down into his eyes, nodding. “I do.”

“Sweet!”

“Let’s go sit and wait for her in the living room.”

“Okay.”

This kid reminded me of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. He bounced everywhere, especially when he was happy.

He made his way to the coffee table and picked up his current Lego creation, moving blocks around, adding to it and focusingon the task at hand.

Good to know something calms him down.

Edith came into the living room and gave me a sweet smile. “I’m ready.”

“Mom!” Matt’s head whipped around to look at her. “Doc is gonna play some arcade games with me!”

“Better him than me.” She laughed and walked over to slip her feet into her shoes. “Gentlemen, I am hungry.”

Together, the three of us went out to my SUV for a family night. Matt chattered away about school, his friends, and the games he couldn’t wait to play.

I reached for Edie’s hand, and she took it, running her other hand over the top of mine. The feeling of being here with her and Matt felt so natural that it blew my mind.

When I pulled into Arcadia, the mostly empty parking lot surprised me. “I thought this place would be hopping.”

“Games.” Edie kissed my hand as I parked. “There’s probably a ton of kids inside, while their parents are at the pub, or parties watching the games.”

I shut the car off. “Even better.”

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