Page 116 of Have a Bear-y Little Christmas
I didn’t mind it. Let them be kids for longer. If things kept going well, I’d have to deal with three teenagers at the same time, three teenagers who would be into kissing, but Ireallytried not to think about it.
“You only have yourself to blame,” I taunted the kids. “It was your guys’ plotting that made this happen.”
“And we don’t regret a thing!” Max answered from his seat between Addy and Eva. Once we started riding around more regularly, I had offered to set up his booster in the very back seat so he could have the entire bench to himself, but he’d politely told me he preferred the way it was now. It still tickled me pretty pink how well our kids got on.
Eva and Addy’s teachers had commented that in the months since they’ve gotten to know Max, their socialization had drastically improved in school. Granted, none of their teachers knewaboutMax. But three separate ones had stated a marked difference since the holiday break.
“It is just our duty as your children to be repulsed every time you suck face,” Addy said with conviction.
Now it was Jeannie and my turn to make disgusted sounds.
“Suck face? Really? Is that what we’re calling a tender peck on the cheek now?” I asked.
“Well, what else would you like? Snogging? Necking? Tonsil hockey? Swapping spit?”
“Macking? Canoodling?” Eva supplied.
It was my fault. I’d played with fire, and now we were all suffering the consequences. “All right, ya bunch of thesauruses, I get it! I get it!”
Jeannie patted my hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll always give you a hello kiss no matter how many synonyms our kids come up with.”
“And that’s why you’re the best,” I said, giving her another quick peck on the lips. Naturally, that caused another chorus of objections from the back. I laughed and pulled into the road.
Thankfully, we weren’t going far. Our destination was none other than the ice rink where we had all met.
It almost felt like another life. A time before Jeannie and Max but also after Zara. A gap where I had been quite lost and unintentionally cruel to myself. While I wasn’t going to pretend that I was a completely healed person, I took solace in the fact that I was a whole lot better now than I had been then.
“Man, I can’t wait for this,” Max said, practically doubled over as he leaned across Eva’s lap to glue his face to the window. “Water places ‘n’ stuff weren’t really allowed before because the doctor said it’s a huge vector for germs, so I’ve been wanting to do this for ages!”
Was that true? Despite being involved in Max’s life and his recovery, I was still finding out new facts that made me realize just how incredible kids who survived cancer were.
“What does that mean?” Eva asked, and I grinned. Not too long ago, she would have stayed quiet and waited until she was alone with Addy to ask. Now, she was much better at asking in front of other people. Sure, those people were mostly Max and Jeannie, but still, it was progress.
And, as usual, Max was always happy to reply. I really cherished that about him. He was really a great kid in many ways, but his sheer exuberance to interact andtalkto my girls was unparalleled. “Water parks and places with a lot of water and a lot of people—especially us kids—have a ton of germs to make someone with a compromised immune system really sick. Plus, a lot of chances to get hurt.”
“Ah, I see.”
Eva didn’t have to ask what a compromised immune system was. She knew that well enough from her mother’s condition. That was an unfortunate reality of having a loving relationship with someone who was chronically ill: sometimes kids had to learn things a little early because that was just their circumstances.
“It’s nice that they changed the rink into a kid-friendly wading pool,” Addy mused from between the pages of the book she was reading. Max had somehow gotten two Sherlock Holmes paperbacks on one of his dollar-haul days, and he’d given them to Addy as soon as he’d finished, claiming shehadto read them so they could talk about it. “Having low-cost ways to escape heat is vital to a community.”
Addy always talked like, well,Addy,but even that sounded a bit unlike her. “Where did you learn that from?” I asked
“It’s kinda a long answer.”
“That’s okay. I’d like to hear it.”
“Me too,” Max added, straightening in his booster. Jeannie and I were hoping that in the next year, he would weigh enough not to need it.
“I would also like to know, if you’re keen to share,” Jeannie said.
“Me too! Me too!” Eva was always Addy’s biggest cheerleader.
“Well, if youinsist.There’s this YouTube series…”
Addy took point on the conversation, and honestly, I was grateful for the distraction. Because that fizzing excitement was back in full force, simmering under my skin and wanting me to speed a bit.
I managed to keep myself steady, and we arrived at the community center right on time.
