“You and Will getting along okay?” Lance asked.
“Sure. He’s not the chattiest man I’ve ever been around, but he kind of reminds me of how Josh was before Cami. He did crack a joke, so I assume he can be interactive when he wants to be.”
“He cracked a joke?” Jessa asked.
“Yeah. We were talking about his car.”
“A joke about his car?” This time it was Lance. “I’m impressed.”
Amy looked back and forth between them. “Why? He doesn’t usually joke?” She’d thought him rather serious compared to how he’d used to be, but had thought it was maybe just with her since he didn’t know her.
“Not that I’ve heard. He’ll sometimes laugh at other people’s jokes, but never cracks any himself.”
“Guess we’d better mark this one on the calendar,” Amy said with a smile.
Jessa glanced at Lance as she said, “Yeah, we’d better.”
“I’m gonna head down. Did you need anything else?”
“Nope. We’re good,” Lance said. “I’ll be down in a bit.”
Amy detoured to her room to change into her shorts and then gathered her hair back up in a ponytail. Her mother had always frowned on her going out in public in shorts, and she’d never gotten out of the habit of changing before leaving the house. Shorts were, however, definitely more comfortable on a day like this.
She stopped by the kitchen, and made a pitcher of juice and put it on a tray with some glasses. Will was in the same seat he’d had before they’d left. He was looking at something on his phone but glanced up as she approached. He slid the phone into his pocket as he stood and reached for the tray. He set it on the glass-topped table in front of the chairs and poured some juice into the glasses.
When he handed one to Amy, she took it and said, “Thanks.” She settled back into the lawn chair and took a sip. “Jessa and Lance were certainly enjoying the ice cream when I left. Must be one of her pregnancy cravings.”
“Yes, I seem to remember Lance mentioning something about that.”
“Come push me, Amy,” Isabella yelled from the swing set.
“She knows how to swing,” Will commented.
Amy smiled as she put her glass down and stood. “I don’t mind giving her a few pushes.”
“Are you going to push me?” Isabella asked as she got herself up on the swing.
“Are you going to ask nicely?” Amy replied.
Isabella sat for a moment then said, “Would you please push me?”
“Certainly,” Amy said and smiled. She walked behind the girl, relishing the feel of the fresh grass beneath her bare feet. “Hang on.”
~*~*~
Will watched Amy push Isabella on the swing. He hadn’t missed her request for Isabella to ask nicely. As he observedAmy’s interactions with his daughter, he could see that he had failed in more places than he’d realized. Even asking politely was something he hadn’t forced her to do. It was just easier to give in. He didn’t know how it was when his sisters watched Isabella, but they seemed to be wary of insisting she toe the line when he was around. Amy, on the other hand, had just put it out there that if Isabella wanted something, she was going to have to ask nicely.
He knew he wasn’t doing his daughter any favors by allowing her behavior to continue. Maybe he needed to talk to his sisters about helping him out in working with Isabella. Watching Amy with his daughter brought an ache to his gut. Delia should be the one spending time with the little girl. When his eyes stung, he lowered his sunglasses to cover them. Sometimes he wondered what he’d do differently if he’d had the chance to go back. Would he listen to Delia and not push for children? That would mean he’d have Delia but no Isabella. He didn’t know what he’d choose. He wanted a family. He still didn’t understand why God couldn’t have let him have both.
As he sat there though, Will realized that he may have wanted both, but he wasn’t doing very well with what Godhadgiven him. It was becoming more and more apparent to him that he needed to change his outlook where Isabella was concerned. He did love her, but had such a difficult time showing it. In a way it had felt a bit like he was betraying Delia by loving the child she hadn’t wanted. However, hehadwanted that child and yet here he was, acting like he hadn’t.
“Hey, bro.” Lance sat down in a chair on the other side of Will. “How’s it going?”
“It’s going. How ‘bout with you?”
“I feel bad Jessa is cooped up in that room. She would love to be outside.”
“Couldn’t she just sit out here?”
