“I just worry that you’re stretching yourself thin. With all of the work that you are doing, it could be too much.”
“I’m his father. I can pick him up from school if I want to, which I do.” His eye twitched. He slowed the vehicle to a stop at a red light. Today, they were lucky. It was a warm day for fall. The weatherman had called for a chilly day, but Mother Nature had decided otherwise.
“Yes, I know that. I mean, you don’t have to do everything. It’s perfectly normal for someone of your standing to?—”
“Standing,” he muttered. “Mom, no one gives a damn if I go pick up my child from school or not, except you.”
“Well, someone has to. Especially now that Sydney’s gone.” She gave a dramatic pause.
He knew she was going to find some way to bring his ex up.
“I really wish the two of you would have worked out. She was good for you, kept you grounded.”
He frowned at the remark. Sydney was not a person he would say was grounded. She was like his mother, born into money. She may say her passion was to help the less fortunate but she sure couldn’t relate to them.
“She was controlling,” he shot back.
“Polished,” Nancy stressed.
“She got on my nerves.”
“She made you look very good in photos.”
“That is not a quality one looks for in marriage, Mother,”he replied dryly. The light changed, and he pressed his foot on the gas. They were close to Tachina’s home.
“It certainly doesn’t hurt to have?—”
“Dad,” Kian called out. “Is Grammy talking about Miss Sydney again?”
“Mom, I’m going to hang up.” Vic sighed. He didn’t want to have this type of conversation where his son was apparently listening.
“Well, bring the boy over for dinner sometime. We haven’t seen him in a while,” his mother snipped.
Vic rolled his eyes again. She’d just seen Kian a week ago, but he didn’t remind her of that. It would lead to more of her demands of him.
“We’re here,” he lied. Even though they had about another mile until they arrived. “I’ll talk to you later.”
He hit the ‘end’ button before she could respond.
“Grammy likes Miss Sydney,” Kian said.
“Yeah, I know,” Vic muttered.
His mother never let him forget how much she thought of him and Sydney together. She had been ecstatic when he and Sydney had gone on their first date. By the second one, she had already started talking planning a wedding.
“Is Miss Sydney coming back?” Kian asked.
Vic winced at that last question. He couldn’t say what he really wanted to say to his four-year-old. So he kept it PG.
“Miss Sydney and I are just going to be friends.”
That seemed to pacify his son who started singing alongwith the latest song on the radio again. Vic blew out deep breath, happy that Kian didn’t ask any other questions regarding Sydney.
They soon approached Tachina’s street. His pulse spiked, which was ridiculous. It was just dropping Kian off at home and having an adult conversation about trying for another baby.
Totally normal Tuesday afternoon discussion between two people.
He parked and snagged Kian’s backpack then helped Kian out of the truck. They walked up to the door. Before Vic could ring the doorbell, Kian banged on the door and shouted.
