Page 93 of Curveball
“No reason. Did you buy me a car for my birthday?”
“Natalie, your birthday is still months away. What’s with all the questions?”
“You said we wouldn’t guess and it sounded like a dare.”
Max turns his head away and murmurs, “For fuck’s sake,” and I kind of agree. Then again, he did sort of tell her to guess.
“Well, it’s not really news like that,” he says.
“Is it news that maybe Dylan would want to hear at the same time?” Adele asks, and Natalie pipes in.
“I’ll add him to the call!” and seconds later, there’s the ringing of another caller being added.
“Hey, everyone’s there!” Dylan answers, seeming excited to see us all. He lifts a hot dog to his mouth and takes a bite. “What’s going on?”
“We’re getting a puppy, we might be moving to Florida, and the Jeep I want for my birthday is parked in the driveway,” Natalie gushes. “Can you believe it?”
“Not a single word,” he deadpans. He cruises their campsite as he talks with us, and we get a view of tents, and a campfire, and Gabe and his dads sitting in folding camp chairs. “What’s really happening?” he asks, and he seems more alert than a minute ago.
Suddenly, I’m afraid to tell him that I married Max. We never even dated, not really, and this will be such a shock to him. How will he handle having another man in our life, when the last one wasn’t anything to look up to?
I’m hesitant to share our news with Natalie and Adele, too. They’ve been together since the day Natalie was born, sharing a special closeness since Max has always had such a wacky work schedule. Maybe we should wait to tell everyone. Wait until?—
“Palmer and I got married today!” Max exclaims.
Damn it, Max!
“Damn it, Mom!” Dylan shouts, and my heart sinks.
But Natalie and Adele are cheering and high-fiving, andI am confused. Everyone always seemed to get along well. What happened to change that?What have I done?
Max looks perplexed as well, beaming, yet clearly holding back, as if questioning whether it’s okay to laugh along with them.
“Dylan, I’m sorry. I . . .”
Then, I realize . . . Dylan is not angry, butpouting.
“What’s going on, guys?”
“Come on, Mom. I bet those two that you guys wouldn’t do anything until I got back. That’s what they’re cheering for. And now, I owe Adele twenty dollars.”
What?
“You didwhat?” Holy hell, how many times in this kid’s life was I going to have to say that?
“Adele, you’re in on this?” Max asks in obvious amazement.
“Of course, I’m in on this. It’s easy money. You can pay up when we’re back from the beach, kid.”
Dylan moans again. Suddenly, he’s full of questions and the conversation is going in all different directions.
He wants to know if we’re moving into the big house. Max is quick to respond that we are.
He wants to know which room will be his. Max asks which one he wants, and he chooses the game room. Natalie immediately shuts him down.
Natalie wants to know if I’m going to finish my summer classes because she still needs a ride to school for her tutoring students. I answer I am, at the same time Max answers no way. We’ll be talking about that later.
Dylan asks if we can get tickets to any ball game we want. Max tells him yes, as long as his homework is done. Natalie hoots with laughter, till her dad gives her the same restriction.Then, she reminds him that is how we all came together in the first place, andthat shuts him down.
