Emily:You love it.
Me:I do.
Me:Do you have to work tomorrow night?
Emily:I have to work for the next three nights.
Me:Sounds like I need to make my way over to the coffee shop.
Emily:I wouldn’t hate that.
Me:Your next night off, do you want to come over and hang with Ben?
Emily:I know you said you’re sure, but are you really sure? And I know we sorta talked about this last night before I left, but you’ve now slept on it and had more time to think about it. I just want you to be positive that this is what you want.
Me:Emily, I just invited you to come over to hang with myson. If I wasn’t sure, I wouldn’t have asked.
Emily:I know. It’s just a huge step.
Me:I’m ready for it. I want you to be part of his life.
Emily:I wish I could kiss you right now.
Me:You can.
Emily:How?
Me:Denis and I will be outside the rehab center in ten minutes.
Emily:You make everything happen and you probably don’t even realize you’re doing it.
Me:See you soon.
Emily:Do you have flour at your house?
Me:Yes.
Emily:Sugar? Butter? Oil? Eggs? Vanilla? Baking powder? Milk? Powdered sugar? And heavy whipping cream?
Me:All of it but the heavy whipping cream.
Emily:You don’t bake, do you?
Me:My chef does.
Emily:I thought of a fun thing to do with Ben, and I wanted to make sure you have all the ingredients. You probably don’t have any piping bags. I’ll bring those. Or sprinkles.
Me:I have a seven-year-old with a sweet tooth. I have sprinkles.
Me:Do me a favor, don’t forget Fenway.
Emily:He’s already packed in my bag.
“I love him so much.” Ben hugged Fenway against his chest. My boy had a swipe of flour on his cheek, and I swore the dog had one too. “He’s so cute, Daddy. I want a Fenway. A real Fenway. That can bark and do tricks, and we can go to the park and play fetch with him.”
I was leaning against the counter in the far side of my kitchen, holding a tumbler of scotch while Emily and Ben were sitting at the island. It had been a full day for the three of us, starting with ice-skating, followed by dinner at home, and now we were on to dessert.
A dessert that Ben and Emily were making together.
