He is interrupted because we are attacked by a glitter cannonball.
“Daddy,” Frankie screams. She is followed by a cloud of glitter, which settles like a fine dust all over everyone. I pull shredded cheese out of her hair and wonder where it came from, because we are not serving anything containing shredded cheese. “Everyone’s going home. I’m hungry. Can we eat dinner? Can you make Sassy Shrimp (Thathy Thwimp)?”
“Frankie—” Dom starts gently, but he doesn’t have to, because Frankie has already noticed Emmanuel.
She sticks her shoulders back and juts out her hand towards him. “Hi. I’m Francine Flores. Nice to meet you,”Franthine Florethsays, and I smile, remembering this exact moment with her just a few weeks ago.
Emmanuel melts like I did. He holds out his hand like he did to Dom, and Frankie doesn’t hesitate to give it a firm shake. “Mr. Jean-Baptiste. I teach third grade. I love your shirt. Glitter is my favorite color,” he tells her.
“Mine is lavender,” she says, “but glitter is a close second.”
“What’s Sassy Shrimp?” I demand to know.
“Daddy fries shrimp with garlic and Sprite,” she says. “The Sprite makes it sassy.”
“It’s a Filipino thing,” he mutters. “Let me close out the tab and help Tim clean up a little first, Frankie, and then we can go. Did you bring your space encyclopedia?”
She nods.
“Can you look at it over there while I finish up?”
“‘Kay.” She skips away.
Emmanuel eyes Dom. “I think that little Sassy Shrimp just Samwise Gamgee’d you up Mordor.”
Dominic laughs, his face settling into those smile lines, and because I know Emmanuel well, I can tell he melts a little from that, too.
* * *
Georgia and Emmanuel soon leave, and Dom and I realize we’ll be here cleaning for longer than we anticipated, so I construct Frankie a dinner plate from the various (shredded cheese-less) appetizers and hors d'oeuvres we had from the beginning of the night. This includes three different cookies, so she was happy to pass on Sassy Shrimp.
We’re taking down the last of the streamers when Dom angles his head towards me. “Do you want to come home with us after this?” he murmurs.
“I’d love to, but I think that’s yours and Frankie’s decision to make.”
He sighs. “I feel like I’m blowing this before it’s really even begun. I don’t know how to broach this with her.”
“Baby steps,” I tell him gently. “We can start with tonight, and we can ask her how she feels about my coming over tonight.”
“What if she asks why?”
“Then we tell her in age-appropriate language,” I say.
He blows out a breath, running a hand through his hair. “That’s what her psychologist said to do,” he says.
We toss the streamers in the trash. His jaw is clenched so tightly I see the muscle in his temple. “I don’t have to come over if you aren’t ready, Dom,” I whisper. But shit. AmIeven ready? This seems like the opposite of finding myself.
He looks over. His face softens when he sees mine. “I’m ready,” he reassures me, reaching over to squeeze my hand. “I just don’t want to fuck it all up. Dr. Fung told me to do exactly what you just said. Frankie knows you already and is extremely comfortable with you, so we shouldn’t ask her if it would be okay if you came over, but to tell her you would be, and to ask how she felt about it.”
I nod.
“I’m just nervous,” he admits.
“I understand. We’ll play it by ear, based on her reaction.”
He does the thing where he digests my face and attempts to untangle my emotions. “You sure you’re okay with all this?” he asks me, almost shyly, checking in, and in this particular moment I push all reluctance aside.
“Yeah, Dom. I’m sure.”
