We walked back to the cars, and as Rupert rushed in and got his booster seat buckled, Raff called out for us to wait. He ran to his car and came back out with the most peculiar stuffed animal I’d ever seen, a pink flamingo. The eye… there was something weird about it. It was wonky, maybe broken, and someone had tried to mend it. I didn’t know, but it wasn’t normal. But as he handed it to Rupert, the eye didn’t matter, because Rupert hugged it close as if it were the best thing in the entire world.
“I wanted you to have this,” Raff said. “I have one just like it at home. I got it when I was born.”
“I got mine when I was seven,” Rupert said, squeezing it again.
“I had a great time eating ice cream,” Raff said.
“Me too,” Rupert replied. “We should do it next game.”
“No, we can’t do it next game, silly boy. That’s when you’re at your Poppy and Nana’s house. But have no fear. They have ice cream too.”
“They do?” He talked to his flamingo, not waiting for my response. The kid was exhausted. I shut the door and grabbed the driver’s side handle.
“Thorne, before you go,” Raff said, “is it okay if I hug you?”
“Yeah, it’s definitely okay.”
It had been an emotionally trying day for both of us, but also exciting. I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close. When I pulled back, I did something I never expected to. I kissed him. It was short, far too short, but Rupert was in the car, and it was time to get him home and into bed. Also, there was the fact that we didn’t discuss moving our relationship in this direction, and that was kind of huge.
“Was that okay?” I asked, meaning me kissing him, not the quality of the kiss. But that wasn’t how he took it.
“Ten out of ten.” He winked and headed off to his car.
As I climbed into mine, I thought,Ten out of ten. I’ll take it.
