Unexpected Arrivals(82)
“What do you think, Cora? Should we let the little monster crash the Carpenter pad?”
“I’m not a monster. I’m a superhero.” Legend stood and flexed his muscles to show us his power.
I reached out and tickled his sides, turning him back to the giggly mush he normally was. “I think that would be wonderful.” And then I realized, we hadn’t mentioned it to Gwendolyn—just before it dawned on me, we didn’t have to. James had custody and was Legend’s legal guardian, not to mention, father. Yet out of courtesy, I asked, “Would that be okay with you, Gwendolyn?”
She seemed as surprised by my request as I was, but James offered me a gentle smile, knowing how hard it was for me to ask her for anything, let alone permission.
“I’m sure he’d love that.” A tear glistened in her eye, and she turned away to remove the evidence before it fell.
“You hear that, buddy? You get to spend the night with us. What do you want to do?”
“Can we play hide-and-seek? I bet there’s a ton of places to hide in that big house. Oh, can we get pizza? Dottie doesn’t like pizza, and we haven’t had it since my mama got sick. Or maybe ice cream for dinner? That would be cool.”
“How about pizza for dinner and ice cream for dessert?” James tried to negotiate. Legend hadn’t figured it out yet, but if he put up any sort of fight, James would concede.
“Hide-and-seek?” The kid was smart. He aimed to get everything he was after.
“Of course,” James agreed.
“Can we go now? Dottie’s baked like chicken and tough like a shoe. She needs a nap because she’s old, too.”
I couldn’t stop my laughter. “You’re just like your dad. I think you got a few similes mixed up.”
He didn’t have a clue what a simile was, but he beamed at being compared to his father. And I couldn’t stop giggling at this little version of my husband. They looked nothing alike, but even at five, I saw so many of James’s traits in him. The way he laughed, the way he thought, the way he pulled his hair when he was frustrated—it was like a miniature replica of the man I loved, and for the first time in my life, I wondered what our children would have been like.
“Why don’t I run home and pack a bag for you?”
“Thanks, Dottie. That would be great.” James grabbed Legend and ran toward the water with him under his arm like a football.
Gwendolyn gathered her things and shook out her towel. I’d noticed the more time we spent with Legend, the more subdued she became. And as she said goodbye with a promise to return with clothes for Legend after showering, it dawned on me what all she would lose if we took him to New York.
“Do you need help?” My offer came out before I could stop it.
“Thank you. I can manage. I’ll see you both in a little while.” She waved at me and then to Susan before walking up the boardwalk to her car.
Any thoughts I had earlier about the possibility of wanting children were squashed by the end of the night. I was too old to chase multiple kids around an enormous house. By the time we finally got Legend to sleep, I was exhausted, and James could barely move. Legend had so much energy even after being zapped by the sun for hours.
When I finally dropped my weary body onto the bed next to James, I didn’t think I’d be able to keep my eyes open for five more minutes. “It’s a good thing we don’t have more kids. I don’t have a clue how people do this.”
I crawled under the covers with my husband. No matter what the day brought or how it ended, this was my favorite place to be—in his arms. It soothed any ailment and fought back demons. James had been my haven since the day we met. He kissed my forehead, and I closed my eyes. Although, it seemed as soon as I’d drifted off, I woke to frantic cries from the room next door.
Without thought, I threw the blankets back and dashed into the hall, never waking James. Bursting through Legend’s door, I found him in a ball in the middle of the queen-sized bed. I couldn’t understand anything he said over the crying, but whatever it was had destroyed him. He trembled when I turned the bedside lamp on, and the instant I sat on the mattress to pull him into my arms, my shorts were wet, and it only got worse when he made his way to my lap. Legend had wet the bed, though I wasn’t sure he even realized it at this point.
It seemed more important to calm whatever had him upset than to change either of our clothes. So I rocked him in my arms and tried to quiet him with my touch before bothering him with my words.
“Did you have a bad dream?” I asked in a hushed voice after the tears eased up.
He nodded his little, red head against my chest and clung to my arm.
“Do you want to talk about it?” When he didn’t answer, I kept talking. “I used to have really bad dreams after my parents passed away. They would keep me up for hours, but there was never anyone around to hold me or tell me it would be okay.”
“I miss my mama,” he whimpered.
I still missed mine every day, and she’d been gone for almost half my life, but I couldn’t lie to him and tell him that would stop. It wouldn’t—ever. Instead, I offered him the only truth I had. “I know you do, and you always will. I promise it will get easier. And you have your daddy now. And me. And I promise, we both love you very much.” My hand stroked his hair absentmindedly, although I thought it comforted me as much as it did him. “Can I tell you what I miss most about my parents?”