“Can we go to the zoo, Mommy? They have a new baby giraffe.”
“Sure!” I wondered if this would be a good way to introduce Bella and Lucas. Maybe meeting us there would take the pressure off, and he could see what it was like to entertain a five-year-old.
“Would you mind if an old friend of Mommy’s meets us there? I know he’d love to meet you.” At least I hoped he would love to meet her. It was time to find out.
“It’s a boyfriend?” My daughter asked an innocent but excellent question—one that I didn’t have an answer for at the moment.
“Yes, he’s a boy who’s my friend. Is that all right with you?” She nodded yes and went back to her Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Why it had taken fifteen minutes to work up the courage to call him and ask him, I couldn’t say. I was going to be a chicken and send him an aloof text, but you couldn’t hear someone’s emotional reaction to something over a text message—even with shouty caps or cute little emoticons. If he had an issue with spending time with Bella, it was best for all of us if I knew now.
Of course, he picked up on the first ring—I wasn’t even halfway through rehearsing how I was going to ask him in my head.
“Hey, Baby Girl, what’s up?”
“Hey, Lucas. Would you want to come to the zoo with Bella and me? It’s okay if you don’t want to, but I thought I would ask.” I must’ve said it all in one breath, and I winced as I waited for him to answer. I should’ve sent the chicken text message.
He laughed. “Were you afraid to ask me for some reason?”
“No, not afraid. But I wasn’t sure if you were a kid person since we never really talked about it and—”
“Yes, I would love to meet Bella and come to the zoo with you.” Thank God he put me out of my misery—and it looked like he was the kind of guy I hoped he was.
“Probably easier to meet us in the Bronx than to come here and then go together. Can you meet us in front of the World of Birds at … like … twelve?”
“Sure, thank you for asking me. What’s Bella’s favorite place at the zoo?”
“Definitely the butterfly garden. She loves butterflies; they’re all over her room.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Silly question, but who should I tell her I am?”
“I told her you were an old friend of mine who wanted to meet her. Let’s not confuse her with labels right now.” Or us, since we never used any.
I relaxed a little bit. If he wanted to meet her, it meant that my being someone’s mom wasn’t a problem for him, and he wasn’t afraid of what meeting Bella meant. Introducing Bella to Lucas was a big deal to me. Of course, legally, I was still married to Marc’s loser ass, but I could deal with only one milestone at a time.
When we got to the World of Birds and I pointed Lucas out to Bella, she grabbed my leg and hid behind me. She always took a long time to warm up to new people. I mouthed a “sorry” as I tried to pry her off me to introduce them.
Lucas gave me a warm smile and squatted, so they were eye level. “Hi, Bella. My name is Lucas. I’m very glad to meet you.” She peeked out from behind me.
“Your mom told me you liked butterflies, so I got here a little early to see if I could find one for you.” He showed her a plastic bag and handed it to her. She could never resist a surprise. She looked inside, and there was a pink and purple butterfly stuffed animal. We usually got one when we come to the zoo, and she put them on her bed, but we’d never found a purple one before. Her eyes lit up, and she smiled at him.
“Bella, what do you say?” I prompted her. She replied with a quiet thank you.
“You know, I haven’t been here in a really long time.” He leaned in and whispered, “Do you think you could show me around?” He offered her his hand, and she let go of my leg to take it. I was in shock. I expected to be walking around with her pulling on me for a good half hour. Lucas sure knew his way around a pretty girl.
“Come on, Mommy. Let’s go!” she grabbed my hand and pulled me along with them.
After a couple of hours of dragging Lucas by the hand everywhere, we stopped to have lunch.
“So, Bella, where should we go next?”
Bella giggled at Lucas. I was still amazed that she took to him so well. I’d been afraid she’d associate all men with her miserable father—like I had been doing until Lucas.
“Definitely the Butterfly Garden! But don’t touch the butterflies, you’ll get in trouble.” Bella gave Lucas a stern look, and he nodded.
“I definitely won’t. Promise.” Lucas gave me a little smirk.
“Are you done? Because we could go now.” Bella popped out of her seat and tried to pull Lucas by the hand to stand up.
