Page 41 of Defending A Promise
“I can’t drink beer, silly. I’m only four.”
“Can you drink root beer?”
“Yes.”
“Then we’ll have root beer. How does that sound?”
“Yummy. Do you think giraffes can climb?”
Nicholas and I ordered burgers with fries and root beer and then for dessert, we ordered milkshakes. We’ve been chatting about everything under the sun and even some things about outer space. I had no idea kids had so many questions and I had no idea how stupid I am.
“So, are you and Mommy married now?” Nicholas catches me off guard and I have no idea what to say.
“Why do you ask?”
“Because you and Mommy slept in the same bed last night. Joey, at school, said that means you’re married. Are you?”
I’m not sure how to approach this subject, especially with how things ended earlier today with Riley, and we’ve not really talked about any of this. I don’t want to tell him something that she’s not ready for him to know. What the hell do I do?
“No. Your mommy and me are not married, but I love your mommy very much.” There, that should be safe, right?
“Are you going to ask her to marry you?”
Fuck, how do I answerthat? “I don’t know, Nickels. If I did, would you be okay with that?”
I watch him think about my question while taking a sip of his chocolate milkshake and then he nods his head. “Yes.”
“You would? Why?” I keep repeating in my head that curiosity killed the cat.
“Because Mommy used to be sad a lot of the time and now you make her happy.”
Curiosity killed the cat. Curiosity killed the cat. Curiosity… “You think I make her happy?”
He nods. “Yeah. She smiles a lot more when you’re around.”
“I think so, too.” I agree with him. “You ready to hit some playgrounds?”
“Why are we going to hit them?” He asks as we climb out of the booth, and I lay some money on the table.
“It’s just a figure of speech.”
“What’s a figure of speech?” he asks as he takes my hand on our way to the car.
Here we go with the questions again.
Once he’s buckled into his car seat, I find a playground that has the biggest swing set in Hibiscus Harbor. For at least an hour, I watch him run around climbing on everything and playing with the other kids.
Other parents are sitting on benches chatting with each other, but I stick close to Nicholas. His mother has a stalker who wants Nicholas. I’m not losing him on my watch.
As I’m pushing him on the swings, Gladys, Joan, Betty, and Florence walk by on the walking trail.
“Hi, Declan,” Joan says as they approach.
“Hello ladies. How’s the walking going?” I ask as I push Nicholas a little higher.
“Who’s this fine young man?” Gladys walks around in front of Nicolas’ swing, so I hold onto the chains to prevent him from kicking her in the face.
“Hi. I’m Nickels,” he says to her with a little wave.
