Damien seems unfazed by Lake’s childish candor and brushes his head. “You, me and your mom will be staying here for a while. How do you like the sound of that?”
Lake turns his gaze up at me, to judge if what Damien’s saying is the truth? I nod. “For how long? I have school to get back to after summer and I have friends who will miss me if I’m gone for too long.”
Damien chuckles. “A man who knows his schedule. I like that.” He ruffles Lake’s hair and straightens.
“Looks like you’ll be staying here for the summer. That is until I,” he leans and whispers, “Crush you in court.”
A chill runs down my spine. “I will not let you take my son,” I whisper back. And I wasn’t going to let him intimidate me. I have money now. Money that’s still tied to him and, knowing Damien, he can find a way to freeze it. However, I’m sure I can liquidate enough to mount some sort of resistance.“Wanna bet?”
“Bet what?” We both look down at Lake, who’s staring back at us. His brow furrowed, sensing the tension in the room. I scramble for an excuse, but Damien is quicker than me. “Your mother was telling me you don’t like pizza and I said I bet you did.”
Lake giggles. “I like pizza, but Mom says it’s unhealthy to eat it for breakfast, lunch and supper every day.”
“Did you have it for breakfast?”
Lake shakes his head.
“How about lunch?”
He shakes his head again.
“Great! Pizza for supper it is!”
Lake glances at me wearily.
“Don’t worry about mom. My house. My rules.”
Lake ignores him and continues to look at me for permission. I nod. He beams and jumps up and down.
Damien orders more than enough pizza for three people and a few minutes later, we are having a makeshift picnic in the living room. Damien and Lake do the bulk of the talking during supper while I struggle to finish a single slice. My heart hasn’t stopped beating ever since the two met each other for the first time. And now, as I look at them, I can’t miss the similarities. No wonder Damien knew Lake was his son the moment he saw him. Not only do they look similar, but they also have similar mannerisms. They both emphasize words with hand gestures. They both bend their heads at a slight angle when listening to someone speak. And speaking of pizza, they like the same toppings.
I sit quietly and let them talk to each other. For some reason, they seem to have endless topics to discuss and I have to reluctantly agree that Damien would make a good father. He has a natural way with kids. He’s attentive, indulgent of Lake’s silly tangents, playful and fun. Should I have done more to get in touch with him? All these years I was sure he wanted nothing to do with me and my child. And now? I don’t know what to think.
When we are done, I put Lake to sleep while Damien puts away the plates and empty pizza boxes. “He’s fun,” Lake says as I put him to sleep. “More fun than Brad.”
I shake my head as I button his pajama top. “Are you saying that because you like his place?”
“No! He’s…” Lake turns his head up as he tries to think of the right word. “He’s easy. I feel like I can talk to him.”
“And you didn’t like talking to Brad?” I lift him, place him onto the double bed, and cover his tiny body with the sheets.
“I liked talking to Brad, but Brad didn’t like talking to me.” His declarative statements never cease to amuse me. His childish honesty is refreshing and something I hope he gets to keep as long as possible. The truth is, Brad, unlike Damien, was never good with children, but tried his best to be friendly with Lake.
“Who’s Brad?” Damien’s voice booms from the door. I turn to see him leaning against the frame with his arms crossed and his biceps bulging out.
“Mom’s ex-boyfriend.”
“Lake!”
“Are you her new boyfriend?” He says to Damien.
Damien raises his brow in a way that I used to think was cute but is now irritating. Fuck, I still think it’s cute. “More than that actually.”
“Damien!” He shrugs and I turn back to Lake, “Do you want me to read you Timmy the Traveling Tea Train?”
Lake yawns. “Yes.” But by the time I’ve pulled the story on my phone, Lake’s already asleep.
“He has your jaw.”
