Part 29
Steve
I
pull the SUV in front of a brick house on the other side of town. It’s a nice
looking house with a small, well-maintained lawn in the front. There are two
levels to the house with a garage attached to the side.
“Are
we here,” Aiden calls from the backseat.
I
look over at Joey with a smile. He’s asked if we were there yet three times on
the way here. Normally I would find it a little annoying, but Aiden’s
practically vibrating with excitement. That makes it hard to be angry.
Joey
just smiles back and turns around to look at Aiden.
“Yes,
baby. We’re here. Just give me a minute and I’ll get you out of your car seat.”
“I
can do it,” Aiden says fiercely.
I
park the car as I hear Aiden unclicking the latches of his car seat. Joey gets
out of his seat and opens the back door to help Aiden out. I walk around to
them and together we walk up to the front door.
We’re
not even halfway up the walk when the front door of the house opens. There is a
little boy Aiden’s age standing behind the screen door jumping up and down. He
is a cute child, with black hair that can’t seem to be tamed and a pair of
black glasses on his face. Aiden breaks free of Joey’s grip and runs for the
door. Aiden doesn’t even try to open the screen, just starts talking to his friend
through the door.
But
as Joey and I approach the door we can hear that not everyone is as happy as
the two small boys.
“Gordon!
What did I tell you about opening the door by yourself?”
The
two boys look up at the middle-aged woman. She is dressed in jeans and a
T-shirt, her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. She has delicate features
that I hear are very attractive on a woman. Not that I would know personally.
“Hi,”
Joey says, walking up to join Aiden on the stoop.
The
woman looks up at us and gives us a tired smile. “Hi. You must be Aiden’s
parents. Come on in.”
Joey
grips my hand a little tighter as I pull Aiden away from the screen so she can
open the door for us. And I know why. Joey had spoken to Gordy’s mom on the
phone last week to set this up. He was careful to make sure she knew Aiden had
two fathers, but she didn’t seem to have a problem with it. I had been a little
afraid that Aiden would lose his first friend because of that, but it didn’t
seem to be an issue.
Once
we are inside, Gordy grabs Aiden’s hand and together they go off. I’m not sure
where but I think I hear something about Gordy showing Aiden his bedroom.
“Sorry
about that,” Gordy’s mom says. “Gordy has been so excited for Aiden to come
visit.”
“It’s
okay. Aiden has been bouncing off the walls too,” I say. “I’m Steve by the way.
And you already talked to Joey.
“Of
course,” she says, shaking both of our hands. “I’m Amy. Come on in.”
We
walk through the living room to the kitchen. It is a very nice house with
matching furniture and brightly painted walls. But despite the décor, it’s easy
to see a child lives there with all of the toys around the house.
Amy
offers us a seat at the breakfast bar and something to drink. We accept and
settle in to chat with her.
“I’m
so glad you could bring Aiden up,” Amy says, setting two glasses of iced tea on
the counter. “Gordy has not stopped talking about Aiden since they met.”
I
chuckle. “Him too, huh? Because I don’t think Aiden has talked about anything
else in the last week.”
Amy
laughs for a minute before turning to us with all seriousness. “But you know,
as annoying as it has been at times, I have to admit I’m happy he found
someone. He never really connected to any of his peers before. He’s as happy as
I’ve ever seen him with another child.”
“Aiden
is the same way,” Joey says. “I was actually starting to get worried about
him.”
“Well,”
Amy says with a smile. “I’m glad they found each other.”
I
couldn’t have said it better myself. We stay and talk to Amy for a little
while, sipping on our drinks. Eventually, the conversation starts to die and we
all drift in the direction of Gordy’s room to check on the boys. The two are sitting
on the floor playing Transformers, completely oblivious to us watching them.
“If
you have plans, you can go,” Amy says. “Not that I’m kicking you out. You can
stay if you want.”
“No,”
I say. “Since Aiden is settled, we’ll go.”
The
three of us exchange information and Joey and I leave, ready to return in a few
hours.
“Well,
that went well,” I say once we’re in the SUV.
“Yeah.
I’m glad Aiden found a friend.”
“Me
too, babe. Me too.”
And
there’s Part 29! Check back next week for Part 30! Until then, have a great
week everyone!!!
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