Page 73 of Out Of A Fix

“And I will try and explain to you about things I’m doing,” Darwin informed his father. “But sometimes, you need to realize, it’s probably going to go over your head.”

“Well, I appreciate that, but if you could try, that would be nice.”

“If that’s what you want,” Darwin said with a shrug.

“From now on, it’s us, together, as a family,” Luke said, putting his hand in the middle of the table, over the salad.

Griff was next, his hand over his father’s, then Tatum, then Darwin.

“I’m very proud of all of you,” I stated with a grin.

Tatum did a slow pan to me.

“What?”

“Your hand.”

“Love, you know I’m not gonna⁠—”

“Put your hand in,” Griff demanded, “before Dad gets tired. He’s not young, you know. He can’t hold his hand up like that for long.”

Luke’s turn to do the slow pan to Griff. “I’m forty-three. Do you know how old that is? I mean, seriously?”

But no one at the table looked convinced, and I made sure to press my lips together really tight so there would be absolutely no laughing.

“I will remember you offered no backup at all,” he warned me.

“What am I supposed to do? To them, I’m a fossil.”

“Hand in,” Tatum insisted.

“Love…”

“Now,” Luke badgered me. “Get your hand in there, Miller.”

So I did, and all their smiles were a concern.

“Fossil is actually accurate, considering you’re over half a century,” Darwin chimed in.

When I shook my head at him, everyone lost their minds.

Wednesday morning, the first school drop-off after we were all home for Veterans Day, had been fine. There had been a lot of frantic back and forth for forgotten items, which included Luke’s phone, his tablet, and lunch pail. A week later, it was seamless.

We always went in separate cars, as Luke’s brick-and-mortar Wildwood Landscaping office was closer to Darwin and Tatum’s school, and it was easier for me to take Griff. Luke had spoken to Darwin’s teacher, and it turned out she was excited to talk to him because she wanted to move Darwin into calculus. She knew he was ready, and her annoyance with him being a know-it-all told her so. He said that after she explained, she laughed so hard, she snorted.

“I liked her.”

“Because it sounds like she totally gets your kid.”

“Yes.” He had been so pleased.

Therapy was going well. Luke was taking the kids two days a week, and on those days, when they got home, they walked in to the aroma of home-cooking. Everyone was very enthusiastic about whatever I’d made. My culinary skills were nowhere near Griff’s already growing repertoire, but there was nothing left, no leftovers ever, so I counted that as a win.

When we were all leaving Friday morning, Luke grabbed hold of my bicep when I was on the way out the door. My eyes met his in question, and the smile I got was nice.

“I forgot,” he said, staring at me, “how much better it is not being the only one.”

I nodded. “Then it sounds like we gotta put up a dating profile for you pronto.”