“Baby,” he says while he wraps his arms around my stomach, kissing my neck. “You okay?”
“No, Cooper, I am not okay. I am far from okay right now. I have my son asking if we are dating. I have my daughter telling you that I cry, which I have to say I have stopped doing. That much anyway. And, and”—I shake my head, hoping to clear the fog in my mind—“I have you telling them that we are dating and that you want to kiss me. Do you know what you just did?”
“Yeah, I told them I’m with their mom. I owed it to Matthew to be honest. Babe, they are going to see me around a lot. I’m going to be holding your hand and even kissing you. They have to know.”
“Cooper, I haven’t even dated since my divorce. Well, I’ve dated dated, but not dated.”
“Babe, I don’t even know what the fuck that means.”
“I’ve dated. I’ve had date dates, not sex dates, but I have been out on dates. The point is none of those dates made it home. None of those dates made it to Sunday pancakes, let alone knew the names of my kids.” I’m sure I’m having a heart attack. This is what it must feel like to go numb and hallucinate.
He turns me around so I’m looking up at him.
“I’m not sure I’m happy or not with this dating dating shit. I’m happy you didn’t let anyone else in. But you have to fucking know I’m in there or better yet I’m fucking coming in. Tonight we sit down and have the ex talk, because I have to know what I’m dealing with, because, baby, I will be dealing with this shit. Then we spend the week with the kids. Next Saturday you hand them off to your ex, and I’m taking you on a date. And by that, I mean pack a bag because it’s going to be a date date. A date where I’m going to fuck you till you can’t move. It’s going to be a sleepover date where I will be fucking you the next day. So, we get through this week, then on Saturday it’s us and our date date.”
“That sounds like a lot of...ummm...dating?”
“Yeah, it will be. Now what time is this swimming thing?”
“Usually around one-ish,” I say, putting my hands around his neck and lacing my fingers into his hair.
“Okay, I’m going to go clear the table. Then we are going to sit outside and just relax till we have to go.”
“Umm, okay.”
“Babe, I’m going to be needing that mouth right about now.”
Well, I’m not one to make him wait, so I lean up and give him my mouth.
Our relaxation time consisted of Cooper kicking the soccer ball with Matthew while I gave Allison a pedicure.
When we all loaded up into my Jeep, Cooper snagged my keys because, well, as he put it, “Babe, I’m driving.”
Walking into Meghan and Tom’s back yard with him was a weird thing. I am so used to doing things myself that it was weird to have him carry Allison instead of me.
What freaked me out more was Allison wanting him to carry her. Sure, he tempted her with a ‘you can ride on my shoulders,’ which to her was so much better than Mom’s arms.
In the end it worked out because Matthew wrapped his arms around my shoulders, calling me his short stuff. All in all I couldn’t ask for more. I was, however, a little surprised by the extra kids there today. Some I recognized from the rink, especially the new dad and son that Cooper had a problem with last time.
This should be fun.
It turned out to be more fun than I thought it would be. The kids were all jumping into the pool while the adults watched on from the side. Many in different conversations. It wasn’t till I went inside to get a bottle of water that I came face to face with Sam.
“Hey, Parker, I thought that was you. I’m just not used to seeing you in clothes. Ummm, I mean, not hockey clothes. I had no idea you and Tom were related.”
“Hey, Sam, I thought I saw Michael, but like you it’s hard to see people in clothes,” I say, going with the joke. “How are you guys settling in?”
“Really great. Michael loves his new school, and he can’t stop talking about you and the rink. I was wondering if maybe you would like to take the kids out for pizza one night. I think Michael and Allison are in the same class.”
I’m just about to respond when I hear a semi growl.
“Babe, you coming out or staying in? Oh, hey,” Cooper says, acknowledging Sam. “I didn’t know that you knew Tom. It’s a small world.” He continues being nice, but I know he is about to snap any second.
“Yes, we met at the rink a couple of weeks ago, and Michael loves getting together with the twins, but especially Allison. Actually, last week we couldn’t tear those two away from each other.”