“Felix, what’s that one saying?” Emmy tugs on my shirt, pointing at a bright-blue fish.
I shake off my thoughts and crouch next to her to peer into the tank. “He’s complaining about his roommate. Apparently, the yellow fish snores.”
“Fish don’t snore!”
“How do you know? Have you ever had a sleepover with a fish?”
Emmy skips off to press her entire face against the glass of the next tank, leaving nose prints and breath fog like she’s trying to meld with the exhibit.
“She’s great,” I say.
“I know.” Jared watches his niece with a fond expression. “She’s probably the best thing that could have happened to us.”
My eyebrows fly up at that.
“Sophie must have been a young mum,” I venture.
“Yeah, she was only seventeen when Emmy was born. Our mum died the year before,” he says quietly.
Oh wow. I didn’t expect that. Poor Jared. At the look on his face, I have the urge to give him a hug. But I don’t want to overstep the friend definition between us.
“How did she pass away?” I ask.
Jared swallows. “Cancer. It was quick but not quick enough, you know?”
I make a small sound of understanding. “How old were you when it happened?”
“Twenty-three. I’d just finished my paramedic training, and suddenly, I was trying to figure out how to raise a grieving teenager who was determined to prove she didn’t need anyone.” He runs a hand through his hair, blowing out a breath. “It was a pretty crap time.”
“I can imagine.”
“Sophie went completely wild, dropped out of school, and started using drugs. Then she found out she was pregnant. She didn’t even know who the father was.”
“Shit,” I say.
“Yeah, it was shit at the time. I was terrified. But honestly, it was probably the best thing that could have happened to her. Because she suddenly had something to live for, you know? It managed to pull her out of her downward spiral. I’m not advocating for teenagers to get pregnant, but becoming a mum gave Sophie a purpose when she really needed it.”
“It must have been really hard for her as a teenage mum though.”
“Yeah, it was. I lived with her and Emmy at first to help with everything. It’s not like I had much experience with babies, but we managed to muck through.”
“When did you move out?”
I hope I’m not interrogating him. It’s just that Jared knows so much about me, as I pretty much word-vomit every time he’s around. I crave these little snippets about his life that I can get in return.
“I moved out last year. Sophie…she reached a point where she needed to feel like she was doing this herself, you know? She’s twenty-one now and desperate to prove she’s not a screw-up. So I got my own place, but…” He gestures vaguely.
“But you’re still doing everything you can without making it obvious,” I finish.
“Yeah, I’m still doing everything I can to help them. And it’s not a hardship. I love being an uncle.”
“I can tell.”
Emmy comes back over to us with her hands cupped mysteriously.
“I caught something!” she announces proudly, then opens her hands to reveal absolutely nothing. “It’s an invisible fish. His name is Steve.”
“Nice to meet you, Steve,” Jared says solemnly.
