Cole: Morning, Mom.
Me: Hey bud. How are you?
Cole: Just woke up so ask me later.
Me: You have class at 9, yeah?
Cole: Yeah. Today’s my busy day and I work tonight.
Me: I’m proud of you.
I tell him this every day. He knows it, but he needs to hear it.
Cole: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s what you always say.
Me: It’s true and you need to hear it. I also love you.
Cole: Love you too. Is dad around today? I need to talk to him about something.
Because Barrett’s nosy and was looking over my shoulder the entire time, he snatches the phone out of my hand, and I laugh as I watched his fingers move across my screen slowly. He might text our children often, and me, for that matter, but there are some things that are hard to learn.
Me/Barrett: Hey bud. Yeah, I’m around.
Cole: Figured you’d respond.
Me/Barrett: What? Your old man is predictable? **scoffs**
Cole: **snorts** just a little. Did you go out and greet mom by hugging. her and saying morning babe?
Me/Barrett: …
Cole: Ha! Told you. You’re as predictable as the sun coming up every day.
Me/Barrett: All right all right, I get it. I’m a boring old man.
Cole: I wasn’t gonna say it but…
Me/Barrett: Now that you’ve officially hurt your dad’s ego, what can I help you with?
Cole: I’ll call you later. Just wanted to make sure you were around so I could. I have a couple questions I need to ask.
Me/Barrett: Sure thing, bud. Call me any time. Love you and have a good day.
At that, he smirks, slaps my butt after handing me back my phone, and heads back inside.
Me: Everything ok?
Cole: You’re as predictable as dad. I figured that’d be coming.
Me: Well????
No way do I care enough to have some witty banter. I’m not a helicopter parent by any means, but my instincts have always been spot on, and if I feel something is wrong, I’m not going to stumble around it. I am just going to ask.
Cole: I’m fine. Everything’s fine. Life is good. I promise. Just needed to run a few things by Dad.
Me: If you’re sure.
Cole: I’m sure. I gotta go – Justin and I are heading to work out.
Me: Be careful. Love you.
Cole: Love you, Mom.
Chapter Two
Barrett
My wife is still gorgeous. Actually, that’s not correct. She’s more gorgeous than she was when we first started dating. How the hell is that even possible? Every day I look at her first thing in the morning, all grumbly and rumpled from her sleep, and think about what a lucky man I am. That soft lavender robe that she puts on every day, my hands have instinctually learned how to sneak underneath so I can feel the soft skin of her stomach. Every morning is the same, but it’s the perfect way to start my day. Her stomach might not be as tight as it was when we first met, her curves more pronounced, but she’s more beautiful today than she was twenty-two years ago.
Seeing Tess grow into the woman she’s become has been the most wonderful gift she could have ever given me. Well, that and our four kids. Seeing her in her mom-role, some men might think boring. Some husbands see their wife’s growing belly as getting fat. Never in a million years could I think that. It’s the sexiest, most beautiful thing to see the woman I love more than I ever thought loving another person could be possible, care and love on our children.
I brush aside her messy honey-blonde waves to place a kiss on my favorite place in the world. It's where I feel home, safe and so damn happy. That tiny crook of her neck, the delicate skin just below her left ear is the first place my lips ever touched her. It’s where I could smell the light scent of her perfume that I inhaled so deeply it became a part of me. It's the place where, when I had to say good bye to my father after he lost his battle with time, I cried into, and Tess held me and didn't flinch at my unmanly act. It's where, after she gave me the greatest gift of becoming a father, I kissed then whispered words of love and thanks into her ear that only she could hear because it was only meant for her.
Every single morning since we said “I do,” I have woken up and nuzzled into my happy place and kissed my beautiful wife. Some days, a baby was cuddling close as she was feeding him or her. Some days, it was done in a hospital waiting room while we worried over a loved one. Some days, it wasn't received with complete adoration, and some days, it wasn't done with as much affection as she always deserves, but it's one thing I will never stop doing.
Through the trials, tribulations, and arguments, we've never lost one thing. We've never fallen out of love. Never once have I wished for our lives to be different. Sure, it's more fun to always be happy. But that's not life. Life is ugly and messy, and marriages are hard. If it were easy all the time, no one would appreciate the wonderful times. It's in the messy that we appreciate the pristine. And the pristine that is Tess and Barrett Ryan is a beautiful thing.
After the argument with Tess, I was grateful for the welcomed distraction and that I was able to speak with Cole. Well, speaking in his way. Texting is his favorite form of communication, but he knows we want to hear his voice, too. He knows that if he needs to talk to me about something later today, he damn well better pick up the phone and put it to his ear rather than using his thumbs to communicate. I have a feeling it’s girl-related. Or job. Or school. Hell, I don’t know. The kid is open with us, but he’s also two hours away at school. I only know what he tells us.
“Morning, Dad.”
I spin around to see Grady, our eighteen-year-old, walking into the kitchen. This last year, he really grew up. Being the oldest around here for his little sisters, he takes the role of protector very seriously. That, and his desire to get an athletic scholarship playing football. He’s not allowing any distractions to enter his world, and when he’s not focusing on his schoolwork, he’s focusing on the physical aspect of his body. He’s bulked up and, even though I will never admit it to him, is definitely stronger than I. He’s always been a kid who loves the outdoors, though, so he doesn’t spend his time in the gym. Rather, he and I built his own workout center in the back yard. It looks like something the Navy SEALS would torture their new recruits with. It feels like it, too, since he tortures me with it as often as he can.
“Morning, bud. How’d you sleep?”
“Eh. When I finally finished with my homework, good. I got a good hour workout in this morning though, so that helped wake me up,” he says as he reaches into one of the dark-stained cupboards to grab a mug for a cup of coffee… something new.
“You know you don’t have to kill yourself back there every day,” I remind him, pointing to his makeshift torture chamber.
“Don’t start. You know it’s not just to get the scholarship. I love it,” he says as he adds some creamer to his coffee.
“Whatever. I know all this is just so you can get Bri Jameson to notice you,” I said, teasing him.
“Nice.” He barks out a laugh and shakes his head before taking a sip of his coffee.
He’s had a thing for Bri since he was ten years old. He was smitten when she intercepted the football right in front of him during recess. Since that day, they’ve been friends. Best friends, if you ask either of them, but I see the way they look at each other. What once was simply a deep friendship has grown into more. And the fact that neither of them date anyone else but continue to spend as much of their free time together as possible is a big flag in the I love you but am terrified to tell you book. He’ll figure it out, but he knows I see it. He also knows I’ll never stop giving him grief about it until he mans up and does something about it.