“Can I plan something?”
I rolled my head to face him and squinted to open my eyes. “What have you got in mind?”
“Something low key? Would you be willing to let me surprise you both?”
I grinned and closed my eyes, rolling my head back to face the sun. “She’s going to be tired, Beckett.”
“I’m sure. Especially after all the sun and then a nice massage. That’s why I’m thinking low key.”
“Well, I’ll tell you whatIwas thinking, so you can gauge based on that.”
“Go for it.”
“One word: Domino’s,” I laughed.
“Seriously?” he asked. “Do they even have Domino’s here?”
“Indeed they do, delivery and everything. I was going to get pizza delivered to the room so that she wouldn’t have to worry about getting all cleaned up and re-dressed to go out to dinner.”
“Do you eveneatDomino’s pizza? Isn’t that, like, sacrilege given that you live in New York City?”
“It’s a shameful secret, but yes, we do. Only occasionally. Want to hear an overshare?”
He smiled. “You know I do.”
I looked around to make sure no one was within earshot. “When I was twelve, I got my first period. I was devastated; I knew what was happening but, like, you can’t prepare for how you’re going to feel. Hormones are a crazy thing. So, I tell my mom, and it was like a Tuesday or something, first thing in the morning. She goes, ‘Call off work! My baby’s a woman.’ And she called in sick and let me stay home from school. We wore bathrobes andwarm socks and ate ice cream for breakfast and watched romantic comedies all day long. Then, around 2:00 p.m., she ordered Domino’s pizza. It was my first time ever having it. We got a mushroom pie and a pepperoni pie and also these garlic breadstick things. It was greasy and ridiculous, but we finished all of it over the course of the rest of the day.”
“You two are adorable,” Beckett said, giving my hand a squeeze.
“I’ll never forget that day. I always said that if I ever have a daughter, I’ll do the same thing for her when she gets her first period.”
“I’d imagine it must be traumatic.”
“It is, but it’s not that terrible when you get to watchSerendipityandMiss Congenialitywith your mom on a shitty, snowy day instead of having to face everyone at school.”
“What was the flavor?”
“Huh?”
“The ice cream flavor?”
“Oh, right. Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food. It was all the rage back then. Not my personal favorite from a taste standpoint, but it holds sentimental value.”
“What’s in it?”
“Chocolate ice cream, caramel, marshmallow, and these little chocolate fish. It’s good enough.” He nodded to himself. “Hey, Beckett?” I asked.
“Mm?”
“What about your family? Did you have anything like that?”
“Long time ago,” he said. “With my dad.”
“Yeah?” I didn’t want to be pushy, but I yearned for more information about him. I wanted to know everything: his likes, his dislikes, the whole nine.
“Sure.”
I stayed quiet, hoping he’d share. Finally, he did.
