Page 57 of Heart of Gold

Emily looks at Olive and then at me. “Everything going okay?”

“Mom, what’s for dinner?”

“How about pizza?” Emily asks and turns to me. “Do you want pizza, Max?”

“I love pizza,” I say.

“I do too,” Olive whispers.

“Do you like olives on your pizza? Because of your name?” I ask.

Her nose crinkles, and she shakes her head back and forth.

“It’s the great irony of my child,” Emily says. She immediately realizes her mistake and corrects herself. “Our child.”

Olive squirms and avoids looking at me.

* * *

After forty minutes of small talk and awkward silences, the pizza comes, and we dig in.

“Real cheese,” Olive hums as she takes a bite. “We usually get fake cheese.”

Emily smiles because she asked me before she ordered if I ate dairy. When I said yes, I noticed Olive give a fist pump.

I hope her stomach will be okay. This looks like a lethal amount of dairy.

My daughter takes another bite of pizza, so overcome with real cheese, she closes her eyes. Then, she drops her slice dramatically. “Are you lactose-intolerant, Max?”

I shake my head. “Nope. I’m fortunate. Are you going to be okay, Emily?”

Emily takes a hesitant bite. “I took a whole sleeve of Lactaid. We’ll see.”

“Max, do you like ranch with your pizza?” Olive asks.

“I love ranch on my pizza.”

She hands me a tiny cup. “Mom always orders extra because I love it.” Olive swirls her pizza point in a glop of white on her plate and puts it in her mouth. I do the same, and she smiles.

My heart hurts that I missed out on nine years of pizza nights.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out. It’s my mom. I click my button to power my phone down. Nothing will interrupt this moment. Olive knows I’m her dad. We’re eating together as a family.

I shouldn’t look at Olive’s mother across the table, but I can’t help it.

She looks so beautiful eating the crust first.

“What, it’s my favorite part. I can’t get too full before I eat my favorite part.” Her mouth is full of bread.

“Mom is so weird. Who does that?” Olive asks.

“I mean, really. The weirdest.” We laugh together, and my heart grows five sizes.

Emily looks at both of us and shakes her head. “Are you two ganging up on me already?”

Olive and I nod at each other.

A half smile crosses Emily’s mouth as she looks down at her plate, picking up a stray piece of pepperoni.

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