Everyone laughed again, though Theo was started to get annoyed with Lucas. As usual, Lucas could only talk about how very rich he and his family were.
“How about you, Charles?” Lucas continued. “Are you planning to get your kids into the cockpit soon?”
“Oh, I don’t think so.” Charles smiled. “My oldest, Lizzy, just turned fourteen, so she has a few more years to wait anyway. Also, I try to give them as normal a childhood as possible, so they grow up grounded.”
“That’s the way to go,” Theo jumped in. “It’s hard, because we want to give our kids everything we can, but that isn’t always good for them. Normalcy is important, too.”
“Exactly.” Charles nodded approvingly. “Sometimes, the best way to help your children is to make their lives normal and calm. They’ll have plenty of time to fly around in private jets and walk red carpets later in life. For now, they can focus on homework and hobbies and friends.”
“That’s my philosophy, too,” Theo said. “We have to create a scaffolding for them to make the right decisions, which means showing them how to work hard and think carefully.” He was blatantly stealing Nina’s words, but he hoped she wouldn’t mind.
“You seem knowledgeable about parenting,” Lucas cut in. “Which is especially impressive since I didn’t know you had a child. Where have you been hiding your son? Is this one of those situations in which you accidentally got some poor girl pregnant and didn’t know about it until now?”
Theo bristled, but he responded calmly. “No. Jack is actually my stepson. His mother and I have been dating for a while, but we only just moved in together. I haven’t been around for his whole life, but I love him with my whole heart.” He wanted to add that perhaps Lucas was the one who should be worrying about thetype ofsituationhe’d mentioned, but decided to take the higher road.
Instead, he glanced over at the bouncy slide, where Jack and a few other young boys were playing and laughing.
“Well, Sam can’t say enough good things about Jack,” Charles said approvingly. “Apparently, he knows everything about superheroes.”
“That sounds like him,” Theo smiled. “And Jack can’t stop talking about Sam, either. The two of them spent recess on Friday pretending that the top of the play structure was a rocket ship, according to Jack.”
Charles smiled. “That sounds like Sam.”
“We’ll have to get them together for a playdate soon,” Theo added. He was worried he was pushing his luck, but Charles nodded.
“Let’s see about that.”
“I’m sure they’ve been talking about my son, as well,” Lucas said abruptly. “Scout.” He nodded to a young boy who was punching the side of the bouncy slide with his tiny fists, his eyes narrowed into a glare.
“Actually, my daughter, Sue, has mentioned him,” Samuel said. “It seems that he’s very good at sports.”
Lucas puffed up. “He is.”
“So, Theo,” Charles said, turning to him again. “I’ve heard on the grapevine that you’ve tried to get in touch with me about some product of yours. Unfortunately, my schedule was quite packed, but perhaps?—”
“Theo!” Jack came running up to Theo, breathing heavily and grinning. “Can you come be a supervillain? Sam and Oscar and Yassar and I are superheroes!”
Annoyance washed through Theo. He was finally, finally, close to having a breakthrough with Charles, and Jack had chosen this exact moment to bother him? But as Theo looked down at Jack’s bright, happy face, the annoyance disappeared. Jack hadn’t known this was an important moment. He just wanted to play.
Theo glanced back up at Charles, who was smiling.
“I couldn’t keep you,” he said. “Play with your son. We’ll talk later.”
Theo nodded. He needed to show that he was a good parent to Jack — that was clearly important to Charles. And he didn’t want to let the eager little boy down.
“Come on, Jack,” Theo said. “I’m going to get you!”
“No, no!” Jack shook his head, grinning. “You’re going to take over the city, and we have to stop you.”
“Mwahahaha,” Theo said in his best supervillain laugh (a skill he’d never needed before). “I’m going to take over Boston!”
“Oh, no!” Sam cried. “Come on, SuperJack! We need to get back to Superhero Tower before him!”
“Run!” Jack added, and the four boys took off towards the bouncy slide. Theo followed after, more sedately. He had no idea how to play with kids this age, but he was going to do his best. It couldn’t be that hard.
Plus, a glance back at the other dads showed that Charles was watching him with a smile. On the other side of the yard, where she was sitting with a group of moms, Nina was, too.
“Come on!” Jack called out. He and his friends were climbing up the chunky rungs that led up to the top of the slide. Theo followed, taking off his shoes. The kids waited for him at the top, bouncing with excitement.
