Page 19 of Codi
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The biggest park in New Carnegie is Astor Park, located near the city’s capitol building and surrounded by a skyscraper cityscape. I usually prefer taking Lucas to smaller parks near our home, but since we’re close, my suggestion to visit Astor is a big success. Lucas knows there’s a large Tyrannosaurus rex statue near the children’s playground—largely due to the natural museum nearby—and he would climb all over it all day every day if I allowed him to.
When we arrive, Codi stops me from reaching for my car door. “Wait a moment.”
I pause, surprised. There’s something in his voice—not quite a comment, yet not really a request, either. Codi smiles at me as he gets out of the car, unfastens Lucas from his seat, and helps him down. Then he saunters around the front hood to the passenger side. He opens the door for me and extends his hand.
I’m both bewildered and exhilarated.He opened the door for me?My heart flutters again. Maybe it’s a silly thing to get excited about, but men don’t open doors for me, either because I don’t let them, or they just don’t care.
I have so many questions when I take his hand. “How?” I stammer. “How did you... know how to do that?”
Codi glances curiously at me as he helps me out of the car, like a gentleman helping a lady out of a horse-drawn carriage. “How to do what?” He chuckles, appearing incredulous. That catches my attention all the more. “Open a door?”
“No—opening a door for a woman.” I definitely feel like royalty at the moment.
Codi only smiles as he lets my hand go. His hand is warm and broad, and I find myself wishing he continued holding mine. “The internet,” he answers wryly. “Obviously.”
“Oh, obviously,” I counter playfully. “Of course. The internet. I knew that.”
Codi’s slowly turning into a wise guy, and I’m enjoying every minute of it. I didn’t know androids could have a sense of humor. Maybe it’s because that inhibitor thing he had installed in him is gone, or because he’s been repaired.
Or maybe he’s always been this way, and I’m only seeing it now because he’s growing comfortable being around Lucas and me. It’s funny, thinking a machine would feel anything, let alone needing a sense of comfort or safety. Yet, knowing Becca and Oliver, I already know better. It’s the best-kept secret in the world, and it’s on the cusp of being blown out into the open.
Androids can feel. Oliver feels. Why wouldn’t Codi feel too?
It’s the end of March, and while warm weather is around the corner, there’s still a chill that causes me to pull my jacket closer around me. I can see fog in the air when I breathe. We follow a winding pathway through the park. The trees on either side of the pavement, stretching high above us, haven’t started budding yet with the coming spring.
I remember visiting this very park as a child on a trip with St. Morgan’s school. Everything is almost exactly the same, even the majestic old cathedral with a steeple that rivals some of the towering businesses around it. Silent, empty stone fountains are turned off for the colder months, but still look beautiful on their own.
As the children’s playground comes into view, Lucas tugs impatiently at my hand. He’s caught sight of his favorite dinosaur. “Hurry up, Mommy!”
I let him go, and he runs ahead of us as fast as his little legs can carry him. Codi’s voice rumbles with soft laughter next to me.
“A T-rex,” he says with some amusement. “Something tells me we’re going to be here for a very long time.”
His white eyes find mine, gazing intently at me, through me. I glance down at his lips, and a part of me wonders what it would be like to kiss him.
He blinks at me, brow knitting in confusion. “Denise?”
I realize I didn’t respond to him, only stared, and snap out of my own thoughts quickly. “Yeah, you’re right.” I shove my hands into my jacket as we walk side by side. “Bright side of it is, he’ll tire himself out and go to bed early tonight.”
“Will he? Good.” Codi mirrors my pace, appearing in no hurry to reach the playground. In the distance, Lucas climbs up the dinosaur’s back and then slides down its tail, quite happy. “Very good.”
“Why is that very good?”
Codi looks at me and smiles. “I would like to finish that dance we started.” He adds with a chuckle, “Preferably uninterrupted by bathroom breaks.”
Laughing under my breath, I do my best to ignore the feeling slowly growing in the back of my mind. Something’s happening here, and I like where this is going. Part of me wonders if a dance at the end of tonight might end up in the bedroom.
I hope it does.
“Where is his father?”
The question stops me in my tracks. I stare at him in surprise. Codi, perhaps sensing my response, stops too. “I’m sorry. That’s not my business, is it?”
“N-no, it’s fine, just... ” I try to shake off the cobwebs. “Wasn’t expecting it. You speak your mind. I like that. Always speak your mind, Codi.” I shrug. “And... I don’t know where Lucas’s father is. Honestly, I barely remember his name or what he looks like. I was a bit tipsy when we hooked up.”
“You never sought him out?”
