Page 88 of Offensive Plays
I quickly blot my eyes so he doesn’t see the tears that have gathered there.
“Hey my sweet boy! You happy to be done with first grade?”
He sets his backpack down near the table. “Oh yeah, my teacher says that one day I could be an astronaut. I told him that’s cool, but I should probably finish second grade before I start thinking about jobs like that.”
I chuckle. There’s nothing like being around my nephew and his insanely smart brain to make me feel better.
I practically raised this little boy when Kesley needed help and had to work several jobs. I was lucky enough to not need the work, so I offered my time to care for him.
He comes over to me and gives me a big bear hug.
“What’s this for?” I say into his curly brown hair, squeezing him.
“You look sad. When I’m sad, I like hugs from people I love.”
Okay… great. There go the tears again.
If this is what it’s like to have a kid love you, then maybe being a mom wouldn’t be too bad after all.
“Hey snooks! Can you go upstairs and grab your hockey gear? Daddy’s going to be by in a little bit to pick you up for youth night,” Kesley says.
“Ok, mom.” Liam lets me go and looks at me, swiping his little thumb against my cheek.
A weird and unexpected sound bubbles out of me. I think I just tried to say, “Thank you.” And instead, a garbled mess of emotions escaped my lips.
“Love you, big man,” I whisper to him.
“Love you too, Aunt Libby.” He leans in and says. “And if it’s about a boy. Just tell me, okay. Me and dad can go beat him up.”
He pushes a fist into his open hand and I literally laugh out loud.
“Thank you. But, I think I’ll be ok.”
He nods and bounces out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
“Just like his Daddy that one,” David says. “Always ready for a fight.”
“It’s in his blood,” I admit. “O’Connors are fighters.”
Kesley slips into the chair next to me and grabs my hand, taking it into her lap. “You all are.”
I give her a half smile and she shakes my shoulders. “Libby, you’re going to be okay. I can’t think of a more deserving person to be a mom than you.”
“You’ll be the best of us,” Sherrie adds, taking a sip of her tea.
“You’re all way too kind,” I say, stirring some honey into mine.
“Have you given any thought as to what you’re gonna tell your boy toy?” Kesley asks.
I still, giving a quick look over to her dad who gets the picture and waves as he heads back out into the garage. “I gotta go… uh… fix an engine,” he says.
Sherrie gives him a knowing look.
“He kind of knows. I told him it was a possibility,” I say, referring to our moment in Vegas before I fled.
“Okay, so… what did he say?” She asks.
I take a deep breath before saying, “He seemed so calm about it. Eerily calm. Like it wouldn’t be an issue at all.”