“I got it.”
“No, Alex. I’ll have money in a few weeks, but until those paychecks come in, I can’t—”
“Consider it an early Christmas present.” He gave the man his card and pointed out which car was his. Another worker helped Alex hoist it onto the SUV and tie it down. He’d ask Kenneth or Rudy to help him with it once they got back to the condos.
After securing the tree, they went to Santa’s Workshop for hot cocoa. Calvin was giddy with excitement over having a real tree and couldn’t wait to get home and decorate it.
“I think you’re supposed to leave it in a garage or something for a day. To make sure all the bugs are out.”
“That’s fine,” Julia said. “It’ll be too late to decorate tonight anyway, honey. We’ll do it first thing tomorrow.”
“No,” Calvin said. “I want to do it tonight.”
“Calvin. I said we’ll do it tomorrow.”
“You’re mean,” Calvin screamed.
Julia reacted as though he’d slapped her. Calvin must not talk back much.
“Hey, bud,” Alex said. “That’s no way to talk to your mom. I think you better say sorry.”
Calvin looked like he might argue, but at Alex’s stern glare, he thought better of it and made the right choice.
“Sorry, Mom.” He was pouting, but it was an apology.
Alex braced himself for Julia’s wrath, assuming she was about to let him have it for getting involved in disciplining her child. At least, that’s what Amber had taught him to expect. Instead, to his surprise, Julia grabbed his hand under the table and mouthed, “Thank you.”
Shocked, but pleasantly so, he squeezed back.
“I think it’s time to go,” Julia said. “Someone’s getting tired and cranky.”
Alex stood.
“I wanna see Santa,” Calvin whined.
“Some other time,” Julia said.
Alex picked him up before he could throw another fit. “Come on, let’s get that tree home. You can help me unload it. I hope we don’t lose it on the freeway.”
Apparently, five-year-olds were easily distracted, which was what Alex had expected.
“You have to drive slow,” Cal said. “I’m big enough to help. I climbed the fence just like the wall on the roof.”
“Yes, that was great. Next time, make sure your mom knows where you are though, okay?”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
“Calvin, where are your gloves?” Julia asked.
Cal gave her a sheepish look and shrugged. “I lost ’em in the trees.”
“Of course you did.” She rolled her eyes.
On the drive home, Alex called Rudy, who met them in the parking garage to help unload the tree and find a place to put it overnight. Alex said good night to Calvin and Julia and went back to his apartment. It seemed eerily quiet after being around Calvin all evening.
He hadn’t made it to the bodega, so he opened a can of soup and watched a Knicks game before showering and heading to bed.
His brothers’ warnings about getting involved with a single mom ran through his mind. But what did “getting involved” really mean? If he and Julia weren’t dating or sleeping together, was it okay to hang out? Couldn’t they be friends?
