“What did Dad say?” I asked.
“He went into shrink mode and wondered if Dylan was angry with you two.”
Yeah, that sounded like Nate.
“Are you gonna ground him?” Hallie couldn’t look more gleeful if she tried.
“Why would I do that?” I furrowed my brow. “He’s not even fifteen yet.” He was gonna change his mind plenty before I had any reason to worry. “I might groundyoufor tryna get your brother into trouble.”
Girl wasn’t intimidated for shit. Instead, she batted her lashes at me. “You wouldn’t do that to me, Daddy. Until you and Dad get together again, you’ll be sweeter than sugar.”
Good God. I didn’t know what was worse, her certainty that Nate and I would reunite, or that she was dead on the money. I had lost some of my authority in the separation, because I felt fucking guilty. And she knew. She was some goddamn smarty-pants.
“Daddy and I aren’t getting back together, sweetheart.”
She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t believe it at first either, but this is so not how Bridget’s parents act toward each other. They’re always fighting—and they met new people so fast. You and Dad are miserable without each other. I notice stuff, you know.”
“Hold on,” I said. “Bridget’s parents are splittin’ up?”
“They already did. Her dad moved out before the holidays.”
Huh. Did not know that. We tried to keep up with the basics, at least if it was a close friend of one of our kids. But this must’ve been going on for a while if they’d separated just a few months ago and were already dating other people.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I murmured. “How’s Bridget doing?”
She grew a little uncomfortable as I shifted the focus. “She’s okay, I guess. She gets sad sometimes and…” She trailed off and fidgeted with her ponytail. “I’m glad you and Daddy don’t say mean things about each other.”
Ah.
Maybe that was what Bridget’s folks were doing.
I sat down next to her and put a hand on her knee. “You know there’s a list of bad shit I’ll always say about him.”
Her mouth twitched with mirth. “That he sucks at Monopoly?”
“Suckssobad,” I agreed.
She giggled. “And, um… Oh! He’s not allowed to decorate cupcakes.”
“That’s two. One more.” I smiled. “If I say barbecue…”
Her eyes widened as she remembered. “Don’t ever let him near the grill when you have steaks on there! He makes them super dry.”
I chuckled. “There you go. Like, who the fuck likes a steak well done?”
She finally let out a laugh, and that was all I’d wanted to hear.
I felt like I wanted to count them these days. Each one meant the world to me.
I had no idea if I would ever recover from this dumbass separation, but I was over the moon happy to see Hallie and Dylan making progress.
Yeah, they had been extremely upset when we’d broken the news, but I fully believed we’d offered a softer landing for them—and I didn’t regret it for a second. It alleviated some of my guilt, and more than that, we were still a family. Two dads, four kids.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was an option for every couple going through a divorce, but it worked for us. The softer landing was for Nate and me too. We didn’t have to go a whole week without seeing the kids, and we still had to come up with family activities for Micah’s and Lily’s sakes.
It was torture and sweet relief all at once.
Been a while since we saw you, buddy. You wanna grab a beer after work tomorrow?
