“I was wrong. We both were.” He ran a hand through his hair. “All of our previous interactions had taken place with or about Kelly. When we had the chance to actually know each other it— it was…she’s it for me, Dad. I love her.”
“Let me ask you something,” his dad said in response, which traditionally prefaced a hard question. “When youasked her to move in with you, did you list all the reasons it would be practical for the two of you and also better for Oliver?”
“I did.”
“Okay. Did you also include your feelings for her on that list? Did you tell her you want her to live with you because you love her and you want to make a life together with her?” When he paused, Brian shook his head. “So basically you asked her to give up her job and move to a different state because it would be more convenient, cheaper and allow you to be with Oliver all the time with the benefit of his mom being there all the time to help take care of him?”
“No.” Brian turned away, giving himself a moment to temper his tone before he looked back at his dad. “That’s not what I said.”
“But there’s a good chance that’s what she heard, son.”
He groaned and scrubbed his hands over his face. “You know how I can be, Dad. It’s all in my head and I blurt stuff out, but maybe not the right thing or in the right order.”
“You should probably try again, but this time with added feelings. And a little honesty wouldn’t hurt.”
“I can’t, Dad. She said we’re co-parents from now on, full stop. We’re still in the early days of figuringthatout, and me ignoring her personal boundaries would make it so much harder. I don’t want to make her mad.”
“I think you need to relax. Enjoy the day, and let her enjoy the day. Everybody will be focused on Oliver and you need to act natural. Don’t be pushy. Don’t be withdrawn. Justbe.”
“That won’t be as easy as you make it sound.”
“Nope.” His dad snorted, shaking his head. “Nothing about love is easy. But one thing I know for sure is that it’s worth it.”
* * *
They couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day to celebrate Oliver’s second birthday. The sun was shining and it was warm without being hot and sticky, and the foliage was brilliant in its full autumn glory.
Siobhan pulled into the campground, her nerves ragged, and parked at the end of a line of cars belonging to the many Kowalskis she’d be spending the afternoon with. Including Brian.
She’d had no contact with him that wasn’t about Oliver since the sleepover that had blown everything up. Other than giving Oliver to him on Fridays and taking him back on Sundays, the only time she’d seen Brian was in the judge’s office when she’d approved the amending of the adoption papers and the custodial agreement they’d written up. There hadn’t been celebratory ice cream after, despite their previous plan to do so. Oliver hadn’t even been with them—he’d stayed at daycare because Siobhan had to get back to work in time for the meeting that was going to determine whether or not she got to keep her job. Luckily when she explained the entire situation, they’d been compassionate, but she was treading on very thin ice. And then there had been another weekend sleepover. She’d met Brian in a parking lot and handed her son over. Then she’d met him there and taken him back two days later.
“Where’s the pool?” Oliver asked, pushing himself as high as he could in his car seat, trying to see.
“It’s covered up because it’s cold, but in the summer, it’ll be there again.”
“Daddy!” he yelled, and in the side mirror, Siobhan saw Brian walking toward the car.
“Here we go,” Robin muttered, unbuckling her seat belt. “Wait. That sounded sinister, didn’t it?”
“A little bit.”
“I just meant, gee, this is going to be super fun and not at all awkward.”
Siobhan laughed. “Surprisingly enough, awkwardness doesn’t last long around this family.”
The back door opened, and Brian leaned in to kiss Oliver’s forehead before going to work on the car seat buckles. “There’s my boy. Are you ready to have a fun party?”
“Happy birthday!” Oliver yelled.
When she saw the gift table, she stopped in her tracks, staring at the assortment of gift bags and wrapped boxes. “Are you serious, Brian?”
“It’s not as bad as it looks—nothing extravagant, I promise. But there’s a lot of us so there are a lot of gifts.”
“I’d make a joke about needing a bigger car, but I’m afraid I might need a bigger apartment.” Then she looked at him. “Oh, most of it will go to your house, I guess.”
He shrugged, and she noticed it wasn’t his easy shrug. His entire body looked tense. “Not necessarily. He lives with you and it wouldn’t be very nice to make him leave without his birthday presents.”
“Hi, I’m Robin.” Her friend stepped in before things could get more awkward. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
