“Well, I think you should always have that picture on your nightstand, Jaxon,” she said. “It’s important for a boy to always remember how much his daddy loved him.”
She gathered our plates and turned toward the sink. She didn’t think I caught it, but I saw the tears in her eyes as she turned away from us.
“So Jax, I’m pretty sure I have an extra football in the other room. Wanna go toss the ball around for a while?” I asked. We still had a few hours until Addison got home. The least I could do was try and run his energy out.
“Sure,” he said with a shrug. It worried me that he was still moping around. Hopefully a little fresh air would help with that. And it was still pretty mild out for November, so why not take advantage of it?
After grabbing an old ball out of the spare bedroom, we headed out the back door and down the patio steps into the grass.
I’m not sure how long we tossed the ball around, but it was a good while. Most of the conversation revolved around football, of course. Turns out, he was very opinionated about my teammates and their performance. He was pretty critical of certain plays that had gone bad and could nail down exactly where it went wrong. It was kind of amazing hearing his take on everything. If he kept it up, I could see him becoming a pretty good coach someday.
“Hey, Jason. Haven’t seen you in a while. How’s everything going?” Rick asked as he stepped through the back door and onto the patio.
“Hey, Rick!” I answered, hanging onto the football and turning toward him. “I thought for sure you’d be off doing some book tour or something.”
“Without your mother?” he scoffed. “Like I could leave her behind if I wanted to. You know how much she loves to travel.”
“That she does,” I agreed. “Hey Rick, I’d like you to meet my friend, Jaxon. Jaxon,” I said, looking at Jax but gesturing toward Rick, “this is my stepdad, Rick.”
Rick’s eyebrows raised. I had never referred to him as my stepdad before. I was an adult living my own life when they had gotten married, so he was always just my mom’s husband. But Jaxon was struggling with the relationships in his life. I hoped my own situation could help him sort some of it out.
Jaxon looked back and forth between Rick and me a few times like he was trying to wrap his brain around everything.
“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Jaxon,” Rick said politely with a nod. “Would you guys like to come up for some lemonade? Your mom just made a pitcher.”
“Sure,” Jaxon said, shrugging and heading toward the steps.
Rick went back inside to grab the lemonade and some glasses while Jax and I sat down at the patio table.
“He doesn’t get mad that you have a picture of your dad on the fridge?” Jaxon asked quietly, like it was a big secret we couldn’t let Rick in on.
“Why would he?” I asked, crossing my arms and resting them on the table in front of me.
“Well . . . cause it . . . cause he . . . cause it’s your dad and your dad is dead so he’s your dad now,” Jaxon finally said in a single breath like he had to get it all out before Rick came back outside.
I smiled at him. “Jax, my dad will always be my dad. It doesn’t matter that he died. He’s still my dad and no one can take that away. Not even Rick.”
I reached over and grabbed Jaxon’s hand, causing him to look up at me. “And Jax, no one will ever take the place of your dad either.”
“If you marry my mom, are you gonna make me take down my picture of my dad?” he asked quietly.
I think my heart broke again right then. I wanted to go back to the school and punch that meany buttholehead Vincent Parker myself for putting these thoughts in Jaxon’s head.
“I would never, ever make you take down your picture. I don’t ever want you to forget how special he was because he loved you so, so much. I never want you to forget him. No matter what happens with me and your mom.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
He launched himself at me and threw his arms around my neck, hugging me tight.
“Is anyone ready for some lemonade?” Rick asked as he came out the sliding glass door toward us.
“Yeah!” Jaxon exclaimed as Rick poured a glass for each of us.
He was back. My buddy had been so afraid of losing the only little part of his dad that he had left. I understood that feeling and was so grateful that I could help him get through it. I only hoped my own dad was watching and was proud of what he was seeing.
Away games never used to bother me. And I guess the out of town part still didn’t. But playing football wasn’t as fun when Jaxon and Addison weren’t in the stands. It was funny how last season, I wouldn’t even think twice about getting on a chartered plane to head out of town. But now I had a twinge of disappointment every time it happened because I missed them.