Page 12 of The Family Man

I smile broadly at them. “Hi.”

My son’s eyes move quickly taking in everything about me. It hits me, my son. I have a son. He resembles Daire when he was a kid.

I can feel those tiny green eyes on me. I turn to my daughter. “Hi, Poppy. I am—”

Before I can finish introducing myself, Poppy pulls on her aunt’s jeans. “Aunty Cam. I don’t like him. I wanna go home.”

Did that hurt? Yes. Even though I am clueless about the joys of parenting, it hurts. I hear a small groan; I gawk at Daire for help.

“Hey! Do you guys like ice cream?” Daire says as he comes to my rescue. He stands at my side.

My son nods and peers up at his Aunty for permission. At least they are trained. Thanks Jessica.

“Go on.” She nudges him.

“Hi, I am your Uncle Daire. You look just like me as a kid. Do you like peanuts?” Daire asks.

Before my son can respond, his sister pipes up “No, he is ‘llergic and we can’t have ice cream for breakfast. See please take us back they will kill us.”

My daughter is a firecracker. “I think we can bend the rule for today, princess.”

I stare at both of them. “Hi, I am your dad. My name is Zac, you can call me Dad or Zac.”

She leers at me with curiosity and mild disgust. Is it possible for a five-year-old to hurt your feelings? Because she is destroying mine.

“I am allergic too,” Daire says, my son gazes at him like a hero. “Now about that ice cream.”

Daire stretches out his hand and Nikhil, walks slowly toward Daire and takes his hand.

Am I jealous? Yes, my son trusts my brother more than me. My daughter has not let go of her aunt’s jeans.

I observe my daughter, she has my entire face. Even the way she talks with authority, like she’s the one in charge just like me. It’s eerie. I didn’t need a DNA test to know she was mine. Her cute yellow sundress is covered in butterflies. Even her light blue sandals have butterflies. I see a theme going here. Thank God, I put them in her room.

Her hair is dark like mine, it’s thick and healthy, her skin is pale like her mother’s. She was a beautiful child.

I am mentally high five myself. I did that!

“You like it?” I hear Daire ask, I stand and glance toward the kitchen. Nikhil is sitting on the island and my badass lawyer brother is sharing an ice cream with my son.

Nikhil nods his head and smiles as he licks his spoon. God, he is going to be a heartbreaker by the time he reaches middle school.

Like his sister Nikhil has my dark hair, he looks more like Daire as a kid than me. I was stocky, Nikhil is long, he is going to be tall when he gets older.

Nikhil waves to his sister to come over. She shakes her head and grips on to her aunt’s leg even tighter.

Camella rests her hand on Poppy’s head. “Let’s sit down.”

Then I heard a loud scream and the words, “I don’t care I will kill him!”

* * *

SAGE

Am I in a good mood this morning? No! I had little to no sleep last night. My neighbor had a sex marathon.

She moaned all night like a cat in heat. I contemplated calling the police. Instead, I went downstairs to my guest bedroom, and slept there. I would have loved to have slept in today. However, I am a woman of my word. I got up, did my yoga, and I got ready to go to church with my sister.

I mean after hearing my neighbor go at it, I need prayers. What should I pray for? Maybe I will pray for sex. Wait, can I pray for sex? Like good sex? With all these twisted thoughts, I decided that I need to appear innocent and cute for church today.

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