“He’s wrong; I’m hilarious,” the beefcake replied with a devious glint in his eyes. He looked like trouble. Not the kind that would land you in jail, but the kind that would have my mom’s prayer circle holding extra sessions. I liked him immediately.
The brunette tucked against his side elbowed him in the ribs before extending her hand out to me. “Hi. I’m Carly. This is my ol’ man, Wasp, and our son, Trent.”
Smiling up at me, an adorable little brown-haired boy took a deep breath and let all his words loose at once. “Last night I had a dream I was fighting with the Avengers and then they became bad guys so I had to beat them up, and then I ran into DJ Marshmallow and he was a bad guy, too, so I punched him in the face until his nose was bleeding.”
Trent was a little younger than my students, but I’d dealt with his kind before. Mostly in the cafeteria or on the playground. He wiggled in his seat, anxiously waiting for my reaction. Kids liked to shock and awe. Just like adults, they also liked to be heard and valued.
“So… you beat up bad guys?” I asked, letting him know I’d paid attention to his tale.
He nodded, still watching me.
I went right in with flattery. “I had no idea I was going to meet a hero today. I would have dressed up.”
His smile widened, and he puffed out his little chest. “Someday I’ll be asuperhero.”
“Of course you will, buddy,” Wasp said, ruffling the boy’s hair. “But you gotta drink all that milk first, so you can grow up big and strong.”
Exaggerating every swallow, Trent downed the contents of his glass before plopping it back down on the table. Then, grinning, he flexed his biceps. “My muscles are gonna be big, like Dad’s.” His expression turned thoughtful. “Not my old dad’s, but Wasp’s. He’s the one with the big muscles. Not as big as Havoc’s, but bigger than everyone else’s. Wasp—this dad—works out everyotherday. Not every day, because you gotta give your body time to rest. He’s my dad now. The judge asked me if I wanted him to be and I said yes, so she signed a paper. Mom made it into a picture and hung it on the wall. Now I have two dads.” He held up two little fingers. “One is in Heaven watching over me and one is here to teach me how to beat up bad guys.”
That was a lot of information to take in. As my brain struggled to make sense of it all, Carly squeezed Trent’s shoulders. “Maybe we don’t need to tell every new person our life story.”
He stared up at her, confusion drawing lines across his forehead. “Why not?”
Wasp chuckled. “Come on buddy, let’s go talk about it while we wash that syrup off your face.” He held out his arms and Trent jumped into them. Standing, Wasp carried the boy out of the kitchen.
Carly fondly stared after the duo, watching them turn the corner and disappear before she faced me. “Sorry about that. Amelia, right?”
“Mila,” I corrected. “And please don’t apologize. Trent’s adorable.” I thought about telling her I taught third graders, but decided against it. The less people knew about me, the better.
“Thank you. He’s a handful, but I wouldn’t trade him for the world. Still, navigating his father’s death has been… interesting. It’s so hard to know what to tell Trent, and everything he hears gets passed along. He’s like a little parrot with no filter, horrible timing, and no concept of what’s socially acceptable.”
I gave her my best reassuring smile. “Someone call Webster, because I don’t believe I’ve ever heard a more perfect definition of the word ‘child.’”
She laughed, and the lines of worry disappeared from her forehead. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”
“The sad thing is, I’ve known grown adults who suffer from the same afflictions.”
“Good point.” She shook her head. “I didn’t really grow up with parents, so trying to learn how to be one kinda sucks ass.” Her smile turned self-deprecating. “And I guess Trent isn’t the only over-sharer in the family. Those small-town habits die hard.”
Coming from a tiny community, I understood what she was saying all too well. I too once trusted strangers with information about my hopes and dreams. I hope life didn’t kick Carly in the teeth like it did me. “Where are you from?” I asked.
“Idaho. Seattle’s a nice change. It was kinda crazy at first, but it’s grown on me. At least we’re coming out of the rainy season, so you should actually see some sunshine. The winter months can be brutal. I work as a barista, and we’re always joking about adding Prozac to the coffee so people can cope with the constant gloom. We wouldn’t actually do it,” she hurriedly added, “but after more than a hundred straight days of rain, it gets tempting.”
“No judgment here.” I threw my hands up. “There are way worse things you could put in someone’s coffee.”
She laughed again. “True. Wasp said you’ll be staying at the fire station for a while. Will you be joining us for the ride up to Vancouver?”
“No, unfortunately. I need some time to settle in and get over my jet lag.”
“I get it. Relax, and maybe when we get back, the ladies can all take you out for a drink or something.”
Not likely. Carly seemed nice enough, but I wasn’t here to make friends. Besides, if she ever found out what I did, she’d probably write me off as a slut and never want to talk to me again. I didn’t need that kind of rejection in my life, so it was better to avoid nice girls like Carly all together. “I’d like that,” I lied, having every intention of blowing off her and whatever ladies she was talking about.
Carly beamed me a smile before glancing up at the door and waving excitedly. “Oh, look. Jessica’s here. She used to be my roommate. I swear, the woman is a saint. I’ll introduce you.”
I wasn’t prepared for more introductions, and Levi was nowhere in sight. If I wasn’t starving, I would have pretended to go to the bathroom and slipped back upstairs to my room.
“I’m actually really hungry,” I said, drifting away from the table, toward the food warmers set out on the bar.
