“Yeah.” I look down at them, looking up at me with innocent, expectant expressions. “Have you ever seen under the hood of the van?”
“The hood?” Jack’s face scrunches up. “Like my jacket?”
“The van hood.” I glance at Angie. Then I stick my hand out toward Jack. “I’ll show you.”
He takes my hand and steps out onto the porch with me.
Angie’s eyes meet mine.
She’s smiling. That’s all that matters.
“Show me too!” Levi says.
“I’ll show both of you,” I say.
I tell the boys to stay at the front of the van, then I reach inside the driver’s door and pop the hood. I don’t need them knowing all the secrets at this point. I can just see them trying to pop it on their own when I’m not around.
“No one looks at engines without a grown-up, okay?”
Both boys nod. I lift the hood, propping it open.
I lift Jack first. “See that? All that is what makes the car go.”
“How?” Jack asks.
“Well, it’s complicated. But one part,” I point with my free hand. “That right there, is the battery.”
His face is serious. He nods.
“Lemme see!” Levi says.
“Please,” Angie tells him.
“Pleeeease!” Levi echoes.
Angie reaches down and lifts him, and the four of us stand together, looking in at the engine and other components.
“So, Levi,” I say. “That’s the battery. And that gives the car power. Gas also gives the car power. And today, the battery died.”
“It’s dead?” Jack asks. His brows raise and his eyes go wide.
“That’s what we call it when it stops working and won’t work again.”
“Oh.”
“So, I have a new battery and we’re going to change it.”
“To fix it?” Levi asks.
“Yes. To fix it.”
My eyes meet Angie’s. She’s smiling at me with a smile I’ve never seen before. There’s this rightness to it—to us, to this.
I set Jack down and jog over to my pickup. Then I bring the battery back. Angie switches off holding the boys up so they can watch me take the old one out and put the new one in. Then I have Angie hop into the driver’s seat and turn the key. The engine starts right up.
“Good as new,” I tell the boys.
They both cheer and start hopping up and down, shouting. “We did it!” “We fixed Mommy’s van!”
