“Yeah… I think so,” I answer, voice slightly hazy from fighting the need to sleep.
“Do you want to change yours too?” he whispers, pressing his forehead into mine.
“Ha ha.” I let my eyes fall closed as his warm breath tickles my cheek.
“Hear me out. I’ve been toying with the idea of changing my last name and creating a new one. I never loved the idea of having my father’s name. I think I’d like to start fresh.” He speaks purposefully but with obvious uncertainty.
“Okay…” I open my eyes. He has my curiosity piqued now—sleep be damned.
“What if we made a new one… together?” Warren’s voice slips back into its usual confident tone, but at a whisper.
“Would we be sharing a last name or…sharing a last name?” I ask anxiously.
“You tell me.” I hear his smirk.
No, you tell me.“Are you asking me something, Warren?” I let my eyes fall closed again.
“Not right now. That would come with a ring and a grand romantic gesture of some kind… but would you be open to the idea? Of the last name, I mean…”
I hesitate but can’t fight the reply burning its way out. “Yes.”
“Okay, start brainstorming last names, then… make a list.”
“Oh, any reason to make a list,” I mumble sarcastically against my pillow, knowing full well I’ll be making said list starting tomorrow.
“So far I have McAwesome and Bond,” he says, excitement like that of a puppy clear in his voice.
If I had the energy, I’d quip back. But I don’t. “Goodnight, Warren.” I groan.
“How do you feel about Buffett? Give the other Warren a run for his money…”
“Go to sleep, Mr. Buffett.” I turn away from him.
“Oh, so you like it!” He moves closer, his arms wrapping around me from behind, enclosing me in the world’s warmest safety net. “Goodnight, Ms. Bond.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
“Happy Birthday!”I sign to a half-asleep Luke, blinking at the daylight as he appears from his cave-like room. I couldn’t convince Warren to wear his, but Willow and I have our pointed party hats on proudly.
Luke looks between us, smiling as he sees the two balloons next to the couch. A giant one and six.
“Good morning,”Warren signs before grabbing Luke into a classic brotherly hug, one arm wrapped around his neck until he relents and gives in.
I get my own hug after. A group hug, I guess, since I’m holding Will.
“I know you’re leaving this afternoon to be all cool, aloof, and sixteen with other cool sixteen-year-olds, but we made waffles and have gifts. Tolerate us for two hours?”Warren gestures to the table, filled with toppings and freshly made waffles. I contributed the sliced fruit, but he did the rest—from scratch.
“You had me at waffles,”Luke replies, smiling.
We all walk over to sit around the table, and I prop Willow up in her high chair. Now that she’s close to sitting up on her own, she gets to be involved a whole lot more.
“So you don’t want the gifts, then?”I wink, and Luke laughs, but not with his usual warmth. Something is weighing on him. Perhaps birthdays are as difficult for him as they are for Warren—a reminder of all the missed ones before.
Warren places two gifts and a card I made in front of Luke. It features a picture of Luke dressed up on Halloween. Well, it can only be assumed that it’s a picture of Luke since his face is hidden.
I’d convinced him to get dressed up with me to hand out candy, which felt like a win, and he chose a t-rex costume that inflated. He was barely able to get through the door. The kids in the building loved it though; he chased a few of them around the hallways. The card reads “Have a Dino-Mite Birthday.”
He smiles, shaking his head at the card as he slips it out of the envelope. After putting it aside, he tears the wrapping paper off the first gift. A smart watch with a text-to-speech feature, a practical gift Luke had requested from Warren.
