“Three tickets toThe Lego Batman Movie?” She raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation, but I get distracted by what she’s wearing—a kind of robe covering her body, doing a very poor job of it. Missing her curves hits me full force, and I look away immediately. It takes me a few seconds to answer.
“Yes.” I clear my throat. “It’s this afternoon.” I add, almost apologetically, for not having warned her. “I know you and Kael always watch a movie on your day off. I thought maybe this week could be a little different.”
“And that’s why you needed me to come outside?” she asks, as if confirming I’d done something as stupid as calling an ambulance for no reason.
“I didn’t want Kael to see me.”
“Why not?” She tilts her head back, and I have to make a colossal effort to keep my eyes on her face. Either she truly doesn’t get it yet—or she wants me to humiliate myself. Either way, I give her what she wants.
“I didn’t know if you’d say yes. And I didn’t want him to force you into it.”
“There are three tickets here.” Her expression shifts as she presses her lips together and arches one eyebrow. A clear challenge.
“Yes. There are.” I swallow. “I’d love to go with you, but I don’t want to intrude on your day off. I know I took time away from you and him last week. I don’t intend to do that again—unless you invite me to be part of this.”
After an hour rehearsing a calm, persuasive speech so I wouldn’t sound like I was begging, I get here and forget all of it.
“All right. Thank you.” Nina says, almost smiling with the cruelty of dismissing me without an answer. I didn’t actually ask a question, so I can’t blame her.
“You’re welcome,” I nod, giving up, and turn my back.
I don’t want to ruin her day off or pressure her into accepting my presence on the only day she has to rest. The invitationwas what it was. She understood—and apparently chose not to accept.
I’m already past my house and the one next door when Nina calls out.
“Nero—” Her voice drags, as if she already regrets it. If my name were any longer, I’m sure she’d have given up halfway through.
“Yes?” I answer without taking a single step, just turning my head to look at her over my shoulder.
“You can come with us.”
My smile spreads slowly.
I try to rein it in, not wanting to look smug or victorious, afraid she might get annoyed and punish me by taking the invitation back. I’ve recently realized Nina has a vindictive streak and takes revenge in small ways whenever she gets the chance.
“Thank you.”
“Not for that,” she replies.
“Not only for that—though that too.”
***
“Do you know how to tell stories, Daddy?” my son asks, perched on my shoulders like a little monkey, pressing two Lego pieces into my eyes.
“I think I do, son. But you can teach me if I get it wrong.” I squeeze his small thighs, locking his legs around my neck when he throws himself backward laughing. He balances easily and settles again before my heart remembers it needs to keep beating.
“I can’t read yet, Daddy. Can you?”
“I can.” He claps, and I hear the two little Batman Legos he refuses to let go of clack together.
“Then you know how to tell stories. Mom, can he tell my bedtime story today? I want the penguin one.”
“It’s still afternoon, Kael. Bedtime is at night.”
“Mom, it’s nothing. You sleep in the morning and in the afternoon.”
I stare at the floor in despair, trying not to laugh at the awkwardness, and I don’t help Nina—because the only person who wants her to say yes more than my son is me.
