Page 32 of A Bossy Surprise

I take a deep breath. “He’s also your dad.”

“My dad?” Brady asks as he turns and gazes up at Adam, almost as if he’s seeing a superhero in real life.

Adam copies my stance and reaches his hand out to Brady. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Uhuh,” Brady says as he shakes Adam’s hand. “Do you like Batman?”

Adam and I exchange a look at Brady’s non sequitur.

“Um, yeah. I like Batman,” Adam says.

“Good, because Mommy doesn’t.”

Adam and I chuckle, then he says, “Yeah, I have so many old Batman comic books. I could show them to you sometime.”

Brady’s eyes light up. “Cool! I only have a few. Mom only buys me one every month. I sometimes ask for two, but she says no.”

Adam laughs. “Well, that’s not so unfair. That’s how I built my collection. One at a time.”

“Who are your favorite Batman villains?” Brady asks.

“Of course, I like the Joker. I also like the Riddler and Penguin, but my favorite Batman villain is Catwoman.”

“My favorite is Penguin,” Brady says, then goes off on a tirade about Batman.

I take his hand and start walking down the river as he and Adam discuss Batman then veer off into other comics.

After a while Brady get tired of us. I know because he runs off and grabs a handful of rocks and starts lobbing them into the river.

“Don’t get too close!” I yell.

“You weren’t lying,” Adam says. “He’s so full of energy.”

“This is nothing. If you want to see energy, give him a Snickers bar and point him in the direction of a fully equipped playground.”

We both laugh as we watch him.

“He seems like a good kid.”

“He is, and I’m glad that you two have gotten to meet.”

He turns to me with a raised eyebrows. “Are you really?”

I chuckle. “Yes, I am. I will admit that I was worried about what would happen here today, but Brady seems to be taking it in stride.”

At that moment, a helicopter flies overhead and Brady launches all the rocks in his hand into the river and points at the chopper while he runs back to us and yells, “Dad! Look! It’s a helicopter.”

I look over at Adam and he looks overcome.

“Do you like—?” Adam’s voice cracks. So he clears his throat and tries again. “Do you like helicopters?”

Brady nods frantically. “Yeah, I love helicopters. When I grow up, I want to be a helicopter driver.”

I roll my eyes with a smile and Adam chuckles.

“Well, I have my own helicopter. I can take you in it sometime if you’d like.”

“Really?” Brady asks as he stares at Adam with stars in his eyes. “Mommy, can I ride his helicopter?”