Page 14 of Falling for the Bear Dad

Might as well go straight to the source.

“Benji,” I called out the back door. The little guy was already outside in the backyard, getting his wiggles out.

He came over and hugged my leg.

“What do you do all day? We need to make a list of the fun things we can do.”

“I’m hungry.”

At least that was something. While Benji snacked on a red apple and a hunk of cheddar cheese, we made plans. He liked to go to the park and hadn’t been to a museum. Lots of active things. He wanted to go on a hike like he’d seen on a video, backpack and everything.

I made a second column on the page for questions for Greyson.

And I needed a phone.

“What are some rules your dad has?”

Benji put the apple down. “No calling 911.”

Must have been a reason that rule had come up. Poor Greyson.

Solid start. I wrote down another note about asking for rules. We really should’ve gone over some things this morning, but here I was and I still had eight hours to go.

“That’s a good rule. Do you watch TV?”

He shook his head. “Only with Uncle Davy and Titi.”

“Who is Titi?”

“Uncle Davy’s mate. Daddy calls her Sonia.”

I cocked my head. What kid called a wife a mate? “His wife?”

“Yeppers. Like Mama and Daddy.”

“I see.” The snack and list making didn’t last long, but I had a basis for a schedule going forward. The yeppers cracked me up.

“How about we walk to the park?”

Benji talked my head off about not only the swings and the slides but about sunscreen and having enough water and snacks. This tyke was a snacking fiend.

We played at the park. We stopped at the store on the way home where he claimed he liked steak and chicken but no fish. It took us an hour to get through every aisle where I found he had solid opinions about things like ketchup and cereal.

For the record, Greyson had mentioned cereal was a treat, not a breakfast.

Noted.

At home, his home, Greyson’s home, Benji ate lunch and then fell asleep halfway up the stairs, claiming he needed a nap. The boy knew what he wanted.

I carried him to his bed and took off his shoes. His cheeks were pink, and I made a note to put on more sunscreen.

Downstairs, I sat on the bottom stair and caught my breath. It was the first day, but I hadn’t sat down once. Or had lunch.

Or cleaned one damned thing. I assumed some light cleaning came with the job so, while I ate a sandwich, I picked up some things and did a quick vacuum.

Greyson was one hell of a dad. With the exception of a toy here or there, Benji picked up after himself. He had manners and always said please and thank you. He was even polite to the other children at the playground.

Vacuuming the downstairs hallway, I paused to look at the pictures on the wall. They were sobering. Greyson and his stunning wife. On vacation. Her pregnant with Benji. Their wedding. Other sweet moments. A collage of it was right here on the wall.