Page 60 of When We Were Young
Both kids shot him rude looks, but he didn’t care. They were too young to drive, so as long as they were here, they were his. He kept his voice stern. “Get in the car. Both of you.” Their attitudes were terrible, so Noah upped the stakes. “Oh, and you can’t take your phones.” He held out his hand. “Give them to me.”
“What?” Olivia shrieked. “You can’t do that!” She looked like she might burst into tears. “A phone’s private property.”
“Well, it’s my property today.” Noah took both phones and put them in a basket on top of the fridge. Then he corralled the kids into his old VW. Older still, apparently.
Fifteen minutes later they were at the park—something that hadn’t changed—and Noah spread the blanket out on the grass near the swings. The kids weren’t hungry yet, and with no phones they wandered onto the playground. Noah wasn’t going to give up. If this was a day with his kids, he was going to make it the best possible.
“Let’s have a contest. See who can swing the highest.” He walked past them to the swings and took the middle one. “This old man’s still pretty strong.” That much turned out to be true. Even though the years had disappeared, Noah was still an athlete. His brain was a mess, but his body was fit.
Maybe it was his challenge, or the way he made the contest sound fun. Whatever it was, the kids dropped the worst of their attitudes and joined him, one on either side. In no time they were laughing, all three of them. Pushing their feet to the sky, as high as they could go.
“Come on, Dad,” Olivia whined her complaint. “Give us a break. We could never beat you.”
“Never.” He chuckled. The rush of air in his face, the grove of trees, a hundred shades of green everywhere he looked. Somehow his headache had faded. He was with his children and they were having fun.
Finally.
Whatever had just happened, the three of them felt like a family again. Only Emily was missing. But Noah didn’t want to think about that. Not now. After a few minutes, he slowed his swing a little. He was in good shape, but he couldn’t keep going at full speed.
At the same time, Aiden pushed past him. The boy was almost as tall as Noah now, and clearly strong. “Yes! I did it!” He pumped a little higher. “I beat you, Dad.”
“You did.” Noah chuckled. “I have to admit. My son has me by a yard.”
“At least.” Aiden sounded proud of himself. His eyes looked alive for the first time today.
On Noah’s other side, Olivia slowed down, laughing too hard to push herself. “Uh... you make it look so easy!” She grinned at Noah. “I really thought I could do it.”
They stayed on the swings a little while longer. Noah forced himself to think of something else. “I know!” He looked from Aiden to Olivia. “Synchronized swinging!”
“What?” Livi couldn’t stop smiling. “Synchronized?”
“Definitely.” Noah made up the rules as quickly as the words crossed his lips. Aiden would kick his legs up, then Noah, then Olivia last of all. “So it looks like a pattern.”
It worked for a while and both kids thought the effort was cool. At least that’s what they said. When they finished swinging, Noah ran to the monkey bars. “Fastest time across wins.” The bars were high above the ground. Noah had to climb up to reach them. “Aiden, time me.”
“I can’t.” He made a face, but it was more silly than frustrated. “You have our phones, remember?”
“True.” Noah thought for a few seconds. “Okay. Count like this: one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand.” Noah pointed at him. “That’s the best we can do.”
So Aiden counted while Noah moved as fast as he could across the bars and back again.
“Eighteen!” Aiden hurried over and took Noah’s place. “I can beat that, easy.”
This time Olivia counted, and Aiden turned out to be right. He moved down the bars and back in just sixteen seconds. Olivia wanted a try next.
“Spot me, Daddy. In case I fall.” She turned to him, her eyes pleading.
But all Noah could think was that she’d called him Daddy again. His baby girl. His Livi. He was at her side immediately. “I’ve got you, Livi. Give it a try.”
Her expression changed and she looked at him, all the way to the deepest place in his heart. “You called me Livi.”
He allowed a light laugh. “I’ve called you that since you were born.”
“Not for a long time.” Aiden was listening. He squinted at Noah and a grin tugged at his lips. “I like it.”
Olivia’s smile filled her whole face. “Me, too.” She gripped the bar ahead of her. “Okay, here goes.”
She made it from the first one to the next before she fell into Noah’s arms. He easily caught her and set her gently down on the mulch that covered the play area. But when her feet touched the ground, she didn’t let go. She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight.
