Page 8 of The Fadeaway
Christian comes running out of his room, messy blonde hair and a smile that doesn’t understand his mother isn’t a morning person. “I need to pack some treats for Rex!”
“Already done. They’re in your backpack. Did you brush your teeth?”
Instead of answering he looks up like he’s trying to remember that far back. That’s a no.
“Come on, let’s brush them real quick.” I put my backpack and the soccer ball back down and he skips off down the hallway. I follow behind, picking up toys and dirty clothes in his path. I can hear the faucet turn on and then the unmistakable sound of him karate chopping the water with his toothbrush. I resist raising my voice, it doesn’t do any good, but gently correct him as I enter the bathroom. “No playing in the water. It makes a mess, remember?”
“It’s just water. It’ll dry.”
Fair point.
Wordlessly I help him brush his teeth, clean up the water with his bath towel, and then I grab my stuff again. It usually takes two or three tries to get out the door. I plan for this by adding a fifteen-minute buffer.
“Do you think Grandma Nadine will let Rex sleep in my room this time?” Christian asks as I head for the door, hopeful this time we’ll make it to the other side.
I bite back a smile at how much he loves that silly dog. I’m pretty sure she bought it just for Christian, but hard ass Nadine would never admit it. Christian loves animals. Always has, but it became a full-blown obsession sometime over the last year. We can’t have pets in our apartment building, but even if we could, there’s no way I could give a dog the kind of attention it deserves.
“You can ask her when we get there, okay?”
He nods excitedly.
“Daddy is coming down late tonight, so you’ll get to see him this weekend too.”
He races back to his room for a toy hehasto take. I feel bad that he’s more excited to see the dog than his dad, but in his defense, the dog is far more reliable.
It’s less than an hour drive to my hometown where Victor’s parents, and my own, still live. When we arrive at Nadine’s house, she’s coming out the front door, Rex at her heels, before I can get Christian out of his car seat.
“There’s my favorite grandson.”
“Grandpa told me I’m youronlygrandson.”
“Did he?” She puts on her best fake disbelieving voice. “Well, that makes you even more special then, doesn’t it?”
She manages to get a quick hug before he wiggles out of her grasp and starts to chase Rex around the front of the house.
“Stay away from the road, buddy,” I call as I grab his suitcase and hand it to Nadine.
“Thank you.”
She waves me off. “Don’t need to thank me for watching my own grandson. We love having him here.”
And I know she does, but still, I’m thankful for the role she’s played in Christian’s life.
“The feeling is mutual,” I say as I watch my son run around carefree and happy. Kids are resilient. That’s what the doctor told me when I’d asked how being raised primarily by one parent would impact him.
Victor, Christian’s father, makes it down for a weekend about once a month to see him. As far as my son is concerned this is normal, he hasn’t gotten to the age where he compares his situation to others, but I know it’s coming. He’s in daycare and started preschool last fall and though he’s seen a diverse group of kids from all sorts of families, eventually my son is going to ask me the hard questions about his father.
Still, Nadine takes him every other weekend, even when Victor doesn’t come down, and she’s gone above and beyond what I could have imagined. The woman wasn’t my biggest fan when she found out that Victor knocked me up, but she’s never held that against her grandson.
“Congratulations on your play.” My gaze shoots up to hers in surprise. “I saw your mother at the grocery store. She’s very proud.”
“Thank you.”
She nods, and we stand there awkwardly.
“You want me to come get him on Sunday?” I offer.
“Nonsense. Bill and I will drive him back after Victor leaves, like we always do.” She huffs like my offering is the real imposition. "And besides, Christian likes to go to that pancake place in Valley so we'll take him for pancakes and then drop him off after. Unless you'd like to join?"
