Dances with Monsters(188)

"Heath," Aida sobbed, trying to keep her voice down. "You didn't have to do –"

"I wanted to," he interrupted. "I had to. For you, for them. For him."

"It's too much," Aida said, shaking her head. "Too much."

"It's not enough," he replied. "And I didn't forget about you—there's a check in there for you too. You should be comfortable." He nodded at the envelope. "Go ahead. Open it."

Aida sniffled and opened the envelope. There was paperwork regarding the college and trust funds neatly folded, and she pulled out the check that belonged to her. Her eyes widened when she saw the amount and her mouth fell open.

"Ay, Dios mio!" she exclaimed. She looked at Heath and began talking at him in rapid Spanish. Drew knew just enough to understand that Aida was both thanking him and also scolding him at the same time, while tears coursed down her cheeks. She suddenly felt that maybe she needed to give them a moment alone. She caught Heath's eye and gestured to him that she wanted to take the kids outside. He immediately caught her drift.

"Hey, kids," he called. "Take Drew out back and show her that swing-set that your dad and I put together for you."

Junior and Lettie rose to their feet and Drew followed them outside, hoping it would be long enough for Heath and Aida to talk. She walked out into a sprawling backyard and eyed a shoddily constructed swing-set. She bit her lip to stifle a laugh.

"You guys want a push?" she asked, and both children nodded eagerly and moved to sit on the swings. As she began pushing them, Junior turned to look over her shoulder.

"Not too high," he cautioned, and Drew smiled at his very responsible manner. "Dad and Heath didn't have time to put the cement around the poles so if we go too high, it makes a whomping sound and tilts up."

"What was that sound?" Drew asked with a grin.

Junior smiled toothily. "Whooooooooooomp!" he shouted and Drew chuckled.

"Okay. Not too high." She pushed the kids lightly and they pumped their legs to gain more momentum. She watched carefully to make sure the swing set didn't topple over and then glanced over her shoulder at the house, wondering how things were going. She knew that today was a life-changing day for them both; it was a lot to process and handle.

She spent the better part of half an hour with the kids, playing with them and listening to their stories about school and their father. They were both very young, but old enough to recall him vividly and relay their favorite memories of him. Lettie remembered the way he would always make heart-shaped pancakes just for her every Sunday morning after church and how he would always play doctor when her stuffed animals got "sick" or hurt, never failing to make them all better. And Junior remembered the way they would play tag in the backyard and even when it seemed like he could never catch his fast-moving father, somehow, he always did. Several times, Drew found her eyes burning with moved, unshed tears and had to widen them slightly and blink rapidly to contain them, as her throat grew tight and burned. She already knew that Joaquin had been a great friend to Heath; now she knew he had also been an excellent father and husband, as well. Her heart ached for his children; she couldn't imagine what it would be like to grow up without a father. She had her own very special memories of her father and couldn't possibly fathom what it would be like to have only eight years to look back on, instead of almost twenty-eight and counting.

Finally, Heath opened the back door and all three turned from where they were sitting together on the grass. He smiled at Drew and walked out to them.

"Your mom says it's almost time to go to your grandma's," Heath said to the children, kneeling down next to them. "She said she wants you to go get your backpacks and get ready to leave." The children got up to hurry into the house and Heath held his hand out to Drew. "You ready?"

"How'd it go?" Drew asked, taking his hand as he helped her up to her feet.

"Good," Heath said. "Really good. She's a mess." He chuckled slightly. "I feel like I just completed a mission or something."

"You did," Drew replied, hugging his side.

They walked into the house as Aida was finishing getting her kids ready. She looked up at them apologetically.

"I am really sorry to rush off like this," she said. "If I had known you were coming, I would have made other plans so we could all go to dinner, and you could spend more time with them." She gestured to Junior and Lettie.

"Don't worry," Heath said. "That's why it was a surprise. We're going to come back out here again soon once my schedule slows down a little; we'll come see you then. Take the kids to Disneyland or something."