Gage looked at the purple mess with horror.
Glitter.
Where had Bo gottenglitter?
“Baby boy,” Gage said, trying to sound positive. “That was really nice of you to do for Uncle Alex, but don’t you think it would have been better on a paper you could give him? I’m sure he’d love to have one of your paintings… but we can’t give him our carpet.”
Glitter. Purple glitter. Purple was Alex’s trademark, and it wouldn’t have surprised Gage in the least if Alex had slipped his son a pot of glitter the last time he’d been over. Since Bo had started on his prednisolone, people had been in and out of the house to visit him, and often, they brought gifts. Gage’s older brother, Everett, had been over several times with a different stuffed animal each visit, only to be showed up by Aaron’s twin brother, Caleb, who seemed to know what Everett was doing and brought bigger stuffed animals just a few days later in a bid to outdo him. Both Aaron’s parents and Gage’s parents stopped by regularly to see their grandson, and Mal had been in and out, more crestfallen and introverted than he’d been before, but excited to see Bo’s progress toward good health. Alex and Laurence had been by at least once a week since Bo’s diagnosis had been made and his recovery had begun.
Alex brought pizza every time.
But pizza wouldn’t excuse glitter. Gage knew that no matter how many times he vacuumed, he’d find glitter until he moved out. Alex had brought a plague upon their household, and Gage would find a way to repay him in kind.
“It’s my painting,” Bo declared proudly. He pointed at the glitter swirls. “For Uncle Alex.”
“Tell you what…” The glitter wasn’t going anywhere, and at least it wasn’t paint or glue. Of all the art supplies Bo could have dumped all over the carpet, Gage supposed that glitter wasn’t the worst. “Why don’t you and I sit down at the table and we can make a painting for Uncle Alex on a paper that we can give him for his wedding, okay?” Alex and Laurence’s big day was just a little more than a month away. “But, if we do that, then you have to help me.” Gage bit the inside of his lip, wondering how he could swing this. “I’m going to need a lot of scrap cardboard to cover the table with so we don’t make a mess. I’ve also got to try to save some of your pretty glitter from the carpet so we can give it to Uncle Alex. Can you go get me lots of scrap cardboard from the side room while I take care of the glitter?”
“Yes!” Bo said, stars in his eyes. He ran from the living room and waited patiently by the side door in the kitchen—there was a lock on it so Bo didn’t get out there and cause trouble. Now that he was full of energy again, he’d become quite the explorer, which delighted Gage as much as it concerned him. The house was babyproofed in anticipation of their future child, and there was little that Bo could get into, but that didn’t stop his little hands from getting into all kinds of things they shouldn’t have. And after a Sunday morning disaster where Bo had figured out how to open Gage and Aaron’s bedroom door without making a peep, door safety had become a valid concern.
Gage undid the lock for him and opened the door, and off Bo went to collect old cardboard.
While he did, Gage grabbed his phone from the couch, brought up the Single Dad Support Group chat, and snapped a picture of the mess to send to them.
TeenDad2: My life right now. Omg. @Gwynning, I think your husband-to-be gave my child ammunition to ruin my quiet morning the last time he was over
xVerity: Is that glitter?
TeenDad2: A whole pot of it, I think
LoveHarley: And you wanted ANOTHER kid? Hahaha
KnotMyProblem: At least the ‘2’ part in TD’s name makes sense now, right?
There’d been a change in KnotMyProblem over the last few months. Since the incident with Aaron, he’d returned to the chat, but he’d been more respectful toward Gage—which Gage appreciated, but which seemed to have made the other Single Dads suspicious. xVerity, the most astute of the group when it came to interpersonal dynamics, had messaged Gage privately to ask if everything was okay. As far as Gage could tell, things were fine. He trusted that if KnotMyProblem had an issue, he’d come to Gage about it.
He’d even congratulated Gage on his pregnancy, although behind his words, Gage read hurt and disappointment.
LoveHarley: God, I can’t wait to meet you guys next month! @Gwynning, I’ve never been so excited to go to a wedding before.
xVerity: It’s the perfect excuse for me to go scope out the city before I move there, so I’m pretty excited, too.
KnotMyProblem: Wait, wait, hold on, move there?
TeenDad2: xV, you’re MOVING HERE??
xVerity: The company’s asked me to relocate in order to fill a recently opened position at our sister location, so Nikki and I are officially packing up and heading to Aurora in the new year
TeenDad2: omg omg!
TeenDad2: this is great!
KnotMyProblem: xV, make sure you bring lots and lots of glitter for Gage’s kiddos.
TeenDad2: omg Knot can you not?
Still, Gage couldn’t help but grin. It would be good to have more friends in the city, especially friends like xVerity, who was raising his daughter on his own, and who understood what it was like to be a parent.
TeenDad2: Now all we need to do is make sure Knot and Harley never leave, and we’ll have the gang all in one place. Can you imagine the SDSG acting like an actual support group? With chairs and coffee and roll call and stuff?
