Page 107 of Welcome to Forever
“Make sure you take—”
“Slow bites. I know, Dad,” Ben said through chews. “You don’t have to worry about me while you’re gone. Slow bites. No getting out of my chair by myself. I’ll make you proud.”
Micah leaned in and kissed his forehead. “You already make me proud, son.”
An hour later, they pulled into the school and Micah’s gaze hung on Kat standing in the doorway, greeting the students. Sucking in a breath, he went through the usual routine: getting Ben’s chair on the ground, helping Ben out, handing him his book bag and lunch. No hugs and kisses here, just a quick salute. “Aunt Clara will pick you up after school, okay?”
Ben nodded. “Yeah, Dad.” He started rolling forward, stopping when he heard Micah’s phone ring.
Glancing down, Micah cursed under his breath. Jessica had some timing.
“Is it Mom?” Ben asked, a hopeful tone rising in his voice. He turned and started wheeling himself back. “You only get that face with Mom. I want to talk to her!” Ben’s face was as bright as it got on Christmas morning.
Jessica probably wasn’t calling to talk to him, though. No doubt there was some selfish motive behind her phone call. “Hold on, buddy. Let me talk to her first.” His jaw tightened as he answered, keeping an eye on his son. “Hey, Jess,” he said, working hard to keep the agitation out of his voice.
“Micah,” she said, sounding…different somehow. “I’m glad I caught you. I wasn’t sure if you’d be at physical training yet or not.”
“I take Ben to school in the mornings,” he said flatly. Which she’d know if she was any kind of mother at all.
There was a long hesitation on the other line. “Is he with you?” she finally asked. “Can I speak to him?”
Micah’s gaze moved to Ben, who was hanging on every word. “School’s about to start,” he said, wishing to God he didn’t have to hand the phone over. But he did, he knew he did. “Make it quick.”
Ben snatched the phone with his right hand as Micah offered it. “Mom! I miss you. Are you coming home?” Words rattled out of his mouth excitedly. Then he stopped for a moment and listened, making Micah squirm.
He wanted to know what Jessica was telling him—no doubt more lies that he’d have to deal with later.
“Yeah. Okay. I will,” Ben finally agreed. “I can’t wait! ’Bye, Mom. I love you!” He clicked off the phone and handed it back to Micah.
“You will what?” Micah asked suspiciously.
“I’ll do my best at school and listen to you and Aunt Clara.”
“Of course you will,” Micah said, irritated. If Jessica knew her son, she’d know Ben always did those things. He was a good kid, who deserved better.
“And she said she’d be coming to visit after Christmas.”
And you believe her?Micah wanted to ask. But he bit his tongue instead. Of course his son believed her. Ben was forgiving to his core and he believed people when they told him something. If only it was that easy.
“You have to walk me into the building now,” Ben said. “The bell’s already rung. I need you to sign me in.”
Micah glanced down. Signing him in meant possibly seeing Kat, and after last night, he definitely didn’t want to face her. She’d poured her heart out for him and he’d sent her away. But it was the right thing to do.
Wasn’t it?
“Come on.” He started walking. “After Christmas, huh?”
Ben nodded, his right arm pumping the wheel of his chair with renewed energy. “After Christmas. Mom is coming to visit me, and she said she’ll bring presents from overseas,” his son said happily.
Micah smiled, but inside there was a growing ache in his chest as they approached the double doors of the school. Ben was so forgiving and loving. Where he’d learned those things, Micah wasn’t sure, because he certainly didn’t feel that way about his ex. And despite her sincere apology last night, he’d turned Kat away. “I wish I was more like you, buddy.”
Ben stopped wheeling and turned his head, looking up at Micah with those large, golden eyes that betrayed every emotion swirling in his little body. “Dad, you are. We’re two of a kind. That’s what Aunt Clara always tells me.”
“Two of a kind, huh?” Micah repeated.
“So, are you going to see Principal Chandler again, before you leave? Maybe she’ll give you ice cream, too.”
Micah squatted down, giving Ben a serious look. He was about to give the speech he’d given his son a hundred times already. He didn’t need anyone else in his life. He had Ben, and Ben was enough. The words didn’t come this time, though. Because it wasn’t enough. Not for him, and not for Ben. They both loved Kat. She was part of them now and they could forgive her anything, a thousand and one times if necessary, because that’s what people who loved each other did.
