“I wish I could retire early.” She gave me a long sigh.
“It’s highly recommended, although once Valeria starts school in two weeks, I’m not sure what I’ll do with myself.” That was not a coy comment, that was a legitimate concern. I’d stepped away from practicing law to give Lennon the freedom to live his dream. I didn’t wish to run through candidates for nannies. None would suit. I was too persnickety and took great pride in that when it came to child care. Lennon ended his tune, a tiny teaser about a penguin with green flippers who got made fun of by the other “normal” penguins. If the crowd wanted the entire song, they would have to buy his CDs, stream it, or hire him to perform at a party. I may not be a corporate lawyer, but I did know not to give away the milk free as the old folks say.
Lennon smiled at me and waved. I waved back, a thin beam of summer sun catching on the thick gold band on my left ring finger.
“Well, you could chill out with that sexy new husband of yours,” she teased.
“We just returned from our honeymoon week in Nantucket. I’m not sure he could handle any more chilling. He could barely walk from the car to the airport when we left the island.”
“You reallyhaveloosened your necktie since you met Lennon. I approve!” Rissa laughed aloud, which got a small snort from me. Yes, it was true. I had grown a little less rigid about things. Not all things, of course. People with sock feet in public. Nope. No. Sorry. Keep those socks in your shoes, please and thank you.But other things, like teasing with friends, then yes, I was given to poking fun. Learning to release control of everything was an ongoing process. One that would take years with no guarantees of my ever being loosey-goosey like my husband.
“For your information, I have no tie on today.” I pointed at my bare neck.
“I noticed. You’re actually wearing a T-shirt.” I was, that was true. A tee that had the logo of a dancing dino on the front. Pure publicity for Lennon’s company, which I would slip off when we were home. I was more a polo sort of casual guy when relaxing. “Next, you’ll be strolling around the Common in shorts and that cool dad socks and sandals look.”
“I am pretending not to have heard that.” I sniffed, which gave her a laugh. The final song of the set came to a close. The crowd clapped madly. Adults all the way down to the tiniest newborn had been enraptured with the music man. Much like me. I pushed to my feet. “The three of us are heading to the gardens for a swan boat ride, then grabbing some Italian ice at Marchetti’s across the street. You and Chandler are more than welcome to come along.”
“No, you three go. I have to get home and fawn over my man before he gets lost in a baseball game for the rest of the afternoon. See you tomorrow.” She gave my arm a pat, then chased down the girls and her son. I picked up our large family-size blanket and gave it a shake. Bits of cookie flew to the ground. I could feel the park squirrels waiting in the trees like hungry panthers waiting to pounce on those bits of sand tarts. Family-sized. What a novel concept that had been for me for many years. Now it felt right. Of course a husband and child were not for everyone, and I would never push this lifestyle on anyone else. But for me, it was everything. My heart had never been fuller, my home louder, and my office at the top of the stairs messier. I so wished Aida were here to see her little girlblossoming. Sadly, she was not. She was now a part of the great sea as we’d hired a boat and, with proper legal papers, spread her ashes over the rolling whitecaps of the Atlantic. We’d all cried, but it had been closure for Valeria and me.
“Uncle Wes, Lennon says his throat is very parched from singing and hopes we can maybe scabble the schedule and get Italian ices before the swan boats?” Valeria ran over, pulling her soon-to-be legal guardian number two in her wake like a reluctant puppy.
Lennon, in his terrible purple top hat and Valeria in her new straw bonnet with flowers—she had recently seenEaster Paradewith Grandma Cole and now insisted on flowery bonnets—stood staring at me with big brown and blue puppy eyes. As if I could resist either of them singularly, but both?
“Well,” I said as I tucked our blanket under my arm. “Since it is warm and since Lennon has a parched throat, I suppose for medicinal reasons we can do Italian ice first.”
“Yay! I would like a cherry ice,” she announced as she skipped past the two of us. A young couple with a stroller smiled at us and commented on what a lovely family we were. I agreed one hundred percent.
“I would like a grape ice and a kiss,” Lennon announced. So I gave him a smooch under the linden tree where our story had begun.
“Can you stop kissing for like five seconds?!” Valeria said with perfect exasperation.
Lennon and I both sighed, took one small hand each, and crossed the Common. We were singing a song about a little duchess with two handsome uncles who freed a dragon from his chilly tower. One of Lennon’s originals, obviously.
It might not make the Billboard Top 100, but it was at the top of my favorite songs of all time.
THE END
