“Miller you’re cheating!” I slapped his butt. “Put me down!”
“Go, Daddy go!” Jacob cheered.
Miller ran past the two trees and started dancing. “Touchdown!”
“That is not a touchdown!” I slapped his butt again, but I couldn’t stop laughing. “Put me down!”
“Safety!” Jacob yelled.
Miller laughed. “Did he just say safety? I can’t believe he knows that. I swear we’re raising a little genius baby.”
“I’m pretty sure he said salad,” I said. But it was kind of hard to tell because I was upside down and a little distracted.
“No, I swear he said safety. I’m telling you…boy genius!” Miller slowly put me down on my feet, but then pulled me into his chest.
“Genius or not, you’re a dirty cheater,” I said. I was smiling so hard it hurt.
Instead of responding, he kissed me. And then dipped me low as if it was all still part of his touchdown celebration dance.
“Ewie,” Jacob said.
I looked over at Jacob. And he was no longer wearing shorts. “Sweet boy, where are your shorts?”
He shrugged his little shoulders.
What was I going to do with him? Last time his shorts disappeared I found them floating in the lake a few days later. I didn’t think he’d had enough time to run over there but…I also rarely ever saw him taking off his clothes. They usually just disappeared. Maybe he was a little boy genius.
He ran over to us. Miller leaned down so Jacob could launch himself into his arms. I took advantage of Miller’s distraction to grab the ball and earn myself a touchdown too.
***
We’d put Jacob to bed and we’d been lying on the couch, my head in Miller’s lap. My stomach was still so full from our Thanksgiving dinner. I was pretty sure neither of us could move. I was definitely in a food coma.
Miller’s fingers ran through my hair.
I looked up at him. Today had been amazing. Perfect, really. But football? I was fine that they watched it together. But I didn’t want my son playing it. “Miller?”
He looked down at me.
“Maybe we can start playing soccer together or something instead of football?” I asked.
He continued running his fingers through my hair. “I thought it might be fun. A new Thanksgiving tradition for the three of us.”
“It was fun. I just…” I swallowed hard. “I don’t want Jacob to play football. Maybe you could teach him soccer? Or baseball?” I honestly couldn’t imagine ever sitting in the stands at a football game ever again. There were too many memories. And I didn’t want to think of any of them.
Miller pulled his eyebrows together.
“Just like…any other sport. I mean, why football?” Miller knew that Matt used to play. He’d been to games with me. He knew all of it.
Miller cleared his throat. “I used to watch football with my dad every Sunday.”
Oh.Miller never talked about his family. It was almost as if they didn’t exist. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He suddenly sounded so sad. He looked away from me, staring at something on the mantle. “And he’d play with me on Thanksgiving every year. At least, until I was a teenager. It’s one of my only good memories of him.”
Oh, Miller.I could feel tears welling in my eyes. I turned to see what he was looking at on the mantle. I was pretty sure he was staring at the picture of my mom and me dancing in our kitchen all those years ago. He’d adopted all my traditions. Every singleone. And we’d created so many new ones together. I swallowed hard. The least I could do was accept this one of his. This had nothing to do with Matt. This had nothing to do with my past. This was about Miller and him holding on to one good memory of his father. We didn’t even know if his dad was alive or dead. But this could keep those good memories alive for Miller and our son.
I sat up and straddled him on the couch. “Okay.”
