“Mom sucks. She’s on your team,” Maddie says, and I bite back the urge to laugh.
“Hey!” Chris rolls her eyes, standing from the sofa. “I don’t have a brilliant memory like my daughters, but I don’t suck.” She pulls out the empty chair at my left and takes a seat.
“Okay, that means Maddie and Isaac are a team,” Cora states and shoots me a sly wink.
“Your boyfriend better not lose this for me,” Maddie says matter-of-factly. I catch Cora’s snicker, but there’s no time to even pretend to be offended. Maddie pulls up a game app and we dive right into a trivia game.
I’m competitive by nature, and by no means do I want to appear an idiot in Cora’s presence, but there’s definitely added pressure. I want to impress Maddie, and something tells me getting these questions right will do just that. Cora and Maddie don’t miss a question. Their mom holds her own until rounds five and six when she can’t even come up with a guess. They all razz each other, the sisters giving their mom shit for her lost points, and I get a glimpse into the love this family shares. It’s what I grew up with and what I want for my son.
I miss one in round six, earning a glare from Maddie, and a squeeze on my knee under the table from Cora. Her smile tells me I’ve already won, but I apologize to Maddie and promise to do better in the next round.
When we get to the final round, Maddie and I are only up by one point. It’s down to me and if I miss this question, Cora and her mom can steal the answer to win the game.
“Don’t lose this,” Maddie warns, then taps the screen of her iPad so it reads the question aloud.
“What American artist revolutionized the modern landscape both by her feminism values and controversial artwork in the 1960s?”
Cora gasps, almost as if she can’t believe my luck—or her bad fortune—for this question coming up on my turn.
I almost jump out of my seat. Instead, a smug grin takes over my face as I call out the winning answer. “Gwendolyn Wright.”
Maddie taps the screen. The robotic voice programmed with the app announces “Gwendolyn Wright,” and seals our win.
“Okay, your boyfriend doesn’t suck,” Maddie says in an almost bored tone and snaps the cover shut on her device. “I’m hungry.” She pushes to her feet.
Cora and her mom share a knowing look, as if they both want to laugh but can’t.
“Are you staying for dinner?” Chris asks.
Cora shakes her head. “No, we have to get back. Maybe next time we can stay longer.”
“We’ll have to do this again. Sooner than later.”
“Mom.” Cora rolls her eyes. “Don’t.”
“I’m just saying. We miss your beautiful face around here. Don’t we, Maddie?”
Maddie is busy pulling items from the kitchen cupboards.
“Maddie, come say good-bye to your sister and her boyfriend.”
Maddie pauses a second to look up from her work. “Good-bye.”
Cora laughs and walks over to the kitchen, giving her sister a quick hug. “Love you, Sissy.”
Maddie repeats the phrase, but doesn’t pay us any attention, even as we say our good-byes to Chris.
“It was so lovely to meet you, Isaac.” Chris pulls me in for another long hug. “My daughter must really like you. We’ve never met a boyfriend before.”
Knowing I’m the first she’s introduced to her family fills me with further satisfaction. “It was great to meet you, Chris, and Maddie.”
Cora takes my hand and we walk out, returning our visitor badges before stepping outside. The bright sunlight is almost blinding and I squint against the sharpness. The warmth of the summer day prickles my skin after being inside the cool temperature-controlled air.
“Thank you,” Cora says so softly I almost don’t hear her. She squeezes my hand.
I turn, meeting her stare. Her gaze is open, more vulnerable than I’ve ever seen. I get it now. The ways in which she understands. That she accepts David completely for the beautiful human he is. For me and all my faults as I navigate fatherhood. How expansive her love is, and how she sweeps me off my feet with her strong, wise-beyond-her-years spirit. “No. Thank you. For today. For everything.”
Forty-One
Cora
We make the drive back to Los Angeles, stopping first at a drive-thru to pick up milkshakes and fries. I feel lighter, more at home in my own skin than I’ve ever been. I don’t often introduce people to my family. Not because I’m embarrassed, but from an instinct to protect my mom and sister from others’ judgment.
I learned early in life about disappointment. My dad left when things got too hard. Maddie’s therapies cost so much, and every spare second of my mom’s energy went to my sister’s care. Even my high school friends gave my family weird stares because of my sister’s repetitive behaviors or fixation on certain topics. That she flapped her hands whenever she saw me on stage during our theater productions.
It’s one of the reasons I’ve never introduced my sister to any boyfriend. But honestly, there weren’t that many. For the last decade I’ve been obsessed, chasing my dreams and earning enough money to change the lives of my sister and mom for the better. There hasn’t been much left for pursuing personal relationships. But if I’m being honest, that’s not entirely true. If I wanted a companion outside of the occasional hookup or friend, I would have opened myself to the experience. But that deep hurt as a young child watching my mom struggle financially and emotionally took its toll. It’s why I spent years in therapy as an adult trying to figure out why I never let anyone get too close.
I don’t want that anymore. Because this man sitting next to me, allowing me to set the pace and be totally myself—he’s worthy of my heart. His behavior today only cements that fact.
He laughed with—not at—Maddie today, and if there were any pieces of my heart he didn’t already own, I’d hand them over. Deep down I understood that Isaac wouldn’t disappoint me when I invited him today. A part of me knew this from our first late-night conversation the night I stopped into the coffee shop near my house.
“Do you have to get back?” I don’t want this day to end, but I also realize he’s probably anxious to get home to David.
Isaac pulls out his cell and types on the screen before answering. It pings a second later and he lifts his gaze to meet mine. “I’ve got a few more hours till curfew.”
“Good. I have an idea.” I signal, glance over my shoulder, and cut through two lanes of traffic for an impromptu detour.
Isaac’s hand flies out to brace the dash. “Cora, you don’t have to—” He grabs the oh shit handle as I take the exit.
I grin. “I haven’t even told you where we’re going.”
“And where’s that, Speed Racer?”
“It’s a surprise.” I press my lips together to keep from laughing. We loop around the off-ramp and I pop out of my seat, catching a little air at the next turn.
“Are we off-roading?” He glances behind us. Maybe to check for roadkill, but it was only a dip in the road. “Or do you like to take out curbs for shits and giggles?”