That got her attention. Maddie’s eyes lit up. “I’m a good girl!”
“I know you are,” Piper said. “But now, you need to prove it. Why don’t you start by coming upstairs with me so I can tuck you in to bed?”
“OK! Let’s go!”
I laughed.
“Come on, kiddo.” Piper turned to me as she rose and took Maddie’s hand. “Sorry to leave you alone when you’re visiting, but...”
I shook my head. “No need for apologies at all. Do what you need to do; I’ll be fine down here.”
“Thanks again. I won’t keep you waiting for long.”
“Come on, Mommy! I want to go to bed!” Maddie tugged Piper’s arm, eager to lead her mom upstairs and apparently to prove that she was indeed a good little girl.
“Alright, alright. Be patient, kiddo!” Piper flashed me one more knowing smile over her shoulder as she left the patio with Maddie and went inside.
I glanced down at my plate after they were gone, taking a couple final bites of the pasta before getting up, glass in hand, and walking across the patio. The evening was perfect, and as I sipped my wine and looked out over the big backyard, I found myself once more thinking of Maddie. I was eager to find out the truth. Knowing that the conversation could begin as soon as Piper returned brought the tension back once more.
The truly strange thing was that I found myself growing more and more excited by the possibility Maddie might be mine. Never in a million years would I have thought I’dbe eager to be a dad. At the same time, I had no idea how fatherhood would fit into my life. I’d spent so much time and worked so hard building the life I had, a life of solitude, that fitting not just one, but two people into it seemed impossible.
My thoughts went back and forth like that until I heard the door open behind me. I turned slowly to see Piper standing there, her glass of wine in her hand, a warm smile on her face.
“That was fast,” I said.
“I know, right? Amazing how quick you can get a little girl to bed when she’s motivated by seeing a dog.”
Piper stepped over to me, standing close as we looked out over the backyard. Moments of silence passed, the tension building between us once more. I began to wonder if this was it, if this was the time for me to ask the question that had been burning me up inside for days.
Piper spoke first. “This is crazy.”
“What is?”
Was she going to beat me to it?
She swept her hand toward the backyard.
“Look at all of this space! What the hell am I supposed to do with it?” She shook her head. “The backyard I had when I was a kid...you could've tucked it into the corner over there and not even noticed it. But you’d better believe that we used every inch. Never in a million years did I imagine that I'd grow up to have a backyard this big, this nice.”
“You’ll figure it out,” I told her. “It might be hard to imagine now, but space goes quicker than you think. I had the same thoughts when I moved into that place.” I nodded toward my house. “Part of the reason I picked it is because I was sure that’d be all the space I needed for the rest of my life. Before you know it, I had a home gym and a little theater and a listening room and a study and thenbam, all of the rooms were used.”
She smiled for a moment then pursed her lips, a clear indication that something was on her mind.
“What else did you get a house that big for?”
“Hmm?”
“You said that having all the space you’d need for the rest of your life isoneof the reasons you bought that big house. What were the others?”
Her voice carried a small, but noticeable, trace of tension. Her eyes were wide, as if she were extremely eager to hear my answer.
“That’s hard to say. Maybe just to have plenty of room for me and Mick, maybe...I don’t know.”
“What about a family?”
I nearly choked on my wine. “A family?”
“Yeah. A family. Did you ever think that maybe you’d have one?”
