Page 88 of The Fake Husband Play
Mimi nods seriously as I pull up Grammercy’s contact on FaceTime and hit the button. “It is,” she says, still in that weary tone.
But the second Grammercy appears on the screen, his hair still damp from his shower and the interior of a simple hotel room behind him, she brightens. “Hey, there, guys,” he says, eyes concerned as he glancesbetween us. “I didn’t expect to hear from both of you so late. Is everything okay?”
“Mimi has angry hips and wanted to get some advice,” I explain as Mimi scoots more fully onto my lap, the better to see Grammercy on the screen.
“My hips and legs are being so mean to me, Gee,” she adds. “I was trying to sleep, but I kept rolling around and around, and my pajamas got all tangled, and my side bottom feels like it’s on fire.”
Grammercy’s lips turn down in sympathy. “Oh man, I hate that. Side bottom owies are the worst. You can’t do anything without using those muscles.”
She nods fast, her pain temporarily forgotten in the magic of someone understanding how she feels. “Should I get in the bathtub with ice like you said? Mama and me can use the ice in the fridge.”
Grammercy frowns, giving her the gift of seriously considering that impossible suggestion for a moment. We’d never be able to get enough ice to fill a bathtub from the relatively small ice maker, but he doesn’t crush her dream. He helps transform it, instead, explaining how sometimes an icy rub can work just as well.
Then he tells her exactly where he left a special tube of tiger balm with added arnica in her bathroom.
He bought it before he left.
Just for her.
I press my lips together, glancing sharply down as Mimi thanks him, my throat suddenly too tight. This isn’t roommate caring. This is stepdad caring, papa-in-the-making caring, and it’s so beautiful it breaks my heart a little.
“I hope you feel better, bug,” he finishes as Mimiagrees to try the balm and let him know how it went when he gets home tomorrow. “Love you lots.”
“Love you, too,” Mimi says casually, like she’s been saying it forever. Like, this isn’t the first time they’ve crossed this particular threshold. Meanwhile, I’m fighting a fresh wave of emotion as she asks, “Did you score lots of goals tonight? I had to go to sleep before the game was finished.”
“Just one goal,” he says. “But we won, so the Voodoo is still undefeated.”
“Yay,” Mimi says, looking genuinely pleased as she squirms off my lap. “Come on, Mama. Let’s go find the tiger.”
“Be right there, baby. I’ll meet you in your bathroom in just a second.” Holding Grammercy’s gaze through the screen, I add in a softer voice, “Thank you. That was perfect.”
“I’m glad I could help, even just a little. I’m sorry she’s hurting,” he says. “And you, too. I know you hurt when she hurts. I’ll be back soon to help, okay? Plane leaves tomorrow at ten a.m.”
“See you soon,” I whisper. “Sweet dreams.”
“Sweet dreams,chère,” he murmurs, the warmth in his voice going straight to my bones.
I end the call, exhaling in a rush. “Sorry,” I apologize to Makena. “I need to go get her settled again.”
“No worries, honey,” she says softly. “Go be the great mama you are. I’ll be here when you get back. I won’t leave without saying goodbye.”
Lips curving, I nod. “Thanks.”
Feeling very lucky, and so much less alone than I used to be, I join Mimi, who’s already found the balmand her stuffed tiger from the stuffy storage bin, and brought them both back to her bed.
I open the tube, letting her sniff it before she lies back to let me rub in the cream, starting with the hip that’s hurting the most.
As I smooth the balm over the side of her glute, her quad, then down to her calf, I can feel the knots and inflammation the PT warned us about. But on the other side of this, she promised more stable joints, fewer micro-injuries, and—hopefully—less pain.
In the meantime, however, Mimi’s little body feels like she just stepped off a battlefield, not a playground.
But thankfully, the balm seems to help. Slowly, as I massage one leg, then the other, she melts into the mattress, the icy heat giving her some much-needed relief. We’ve used creams like this beforeandarnica creams—we’ve tried just about everything at this point—but never the two together. The fact that Grammercy went out of his way to find something new, something to at least try to help, is the straw that breaks denial’s back.
That’s it.
I’m in love with him, the forever kind of love.
The kind that takes root in your heart and never lets go.
