Page 15 of Say I'm Yours, Firecracker

My mother made a sound of adoration, and my cheeks went hot when I noticed her eyes were wide and glassy.

“Mom,” I groaned.

“I’ve never heard you speak about anyone like that. With such open affection. It makes me happy.”

Her strong willed, easy going nature was something I didn’t know I needed in my life. A fast paced Firecracker who didn’t let anything bother her. Just thinking about going back to her had my lips rising into a smirk.

“I hope one day y’all can meet her.”

My mom patted my hand. “We will.”

I sat in my old room after showering off all the previous day's grime. I needed to figure this out, to get a clear head so when I saw Ronnie again I would be less anxious and more helpful.

A knock came on the door frame, followed by my father’s deep rasp. “Come to lunch with me today?”

“Sure.” I nodded.

I trailed him down the steps and into their garage where he unlocked his SUV for me to climb into. Mom’s car was already gone, she was a busy lady after all. With all the charity work she had been doing I was surprised she even stayed this morning for coffee.

We didn’t speak as he drove us to their country club, we parked and he waved to a few men also dressed in golf attire on our way into the building. The hostess eyed us both with appreciation.

Before Ronnie, I would have openly flirted with her, but now it felt wrong. Even though I knew Ronnie wasn’t ready for a relationship, I still felt a connection with her. Like our lives were destined to be interwoven somehow.

I didn’t want anything to mess that up.

She walked us to my father’s favorite low table with plush leather covered chairs. The men around us had cigars smoking and liquor flowing.

Ah, to be retired.

“Son, I wanted to talk to you without your mother around.” My dad said after the waitress had come by to take our orders. “This woman, she’s not asking you for anything?”

“No.” I lowered my brow, immediately on edge.

“Good. I just want to make sure, before you go through all of this, that she’s not after your inheritance.”

“Ronnie isn’t like that.” I couldn’t help the way I defended her. Even though Ronnie never asked me for anything other than emotional support, I knew, deep in my soul, that my money had nothing to do with it.

“I had to ask.” He took a sip of his drink, “When this one is born, you’ll understand.”

“This one?”

“Finny Boy, I have no doubt that once you have one, you’ll want three more.” He chuckled and I blanched. “You have so much love to give, that you’ll be surprised at the way your heart wants to burst the second that baby is born.”

“I’m scared.”

“I know, and that’s okay.”

“I can’t keep running away from this, or she’ll never let me be a part of our kid’s life, or hers.”

“So you’ll work hard on yourself with Dr. Fitz, and then you can go back to her and never let go.” His look was sincere, “we’ll be here when you need us. Especially those first few months.”

“Thank you.”

I didn’t know what else to say, we had never been the share your feelings type of father and son duo.

We spent the rest of the meal talking about the changes in our lives and catching up. It was refreshing and I found my anxiety lifting more and more by the second.

“Before we close out our last session I want to commend you on all of your hard work.” Dr. Fitz had been my therapist when I was a teenager, going through body image battles.

---