“Well, he watches PBS and most of the kids on the showshave moms and dads. He once asked why he doesn’t call Chris ‘dad,’ and I had to tell him Chris isn’t his dad.”
“He must be pretty smart. That seems intuitive for a...” He cursed then lifted his eyes toward the ceiling in frustration. “I don’t even know how old my kid is.”
“I’m sorry, Jack.” The tremble in my voice was impossible to conceal. “I shouldn’t have lied.”
He gave a quiet, humorless chuckle. “Both you and I are wracking those up, huh?”
“What up?”
“Shouldn’t-haves.”
“Oh, yeah, I guess so.”
“When’s his birthday?”
“It’s September 5th.”
“Jules was right. She said Kacey was too big, too smart to be just now three.”
“I should’ve been upfront from the beginning. It was risky and stupid.” I considered telling him Jules confronted me, but even the memory of it made my stomach twist and a lump form in my throat.
“Let’s tell him. Tomorrow.”
I offered, “Okay, I can do it.”
“I’m off for the first time in days. Maybe afterward…I could take him somewhere.”
“Sure, we could go?—”
“No.” Jack averted his eyes, shifting. “I meant just me and Kacey. I’d like to spend some time with him.”
“Oh, uh, yeah, of course.”
Why did my heart feel like it might stop beating?
“I already feel so awkward as it is…I just thought that might be easier for me.”
I held up my hand and waved it across my body as ifno bigdeal.Who was I kidding? This was a huge deal. Monumental. My vocal chords felt paralyzed. I faltered for a moment.
“Miranda?”
“Yep.” I croaked.
“You don’t look okay with that idea.”
I gave my head a hard shake. “No, it’s really fine. You are entitled to get to know your son without me hovering around.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“I’ve just—we’ve just never been separated.”
“Wait. Not ever?”
“No. Not ever. Since he was born, we’ve kind of been a package deal.”
“Oh, well maybe we could…”
“No!” I stopped him. My voice tightened over that word. I cleared it. “I can have time to myself. Go on a walk. Go shopping alone. Or drink…coffee.”
