Page 115 of Make It Without You

I focus back on the road. “How would you feel about Ms. Emily coming over tonight?”

“Is she your girlfriend again?” His question floors me.

“What do you know about girlfriends?”

“Well,” he begins and this should be interesting. “A kid in my class has a girlfriend but she got mad at him until he brought her a piece of chocolate and said they’re boyfriend-girlfriend again.”

I cover my laugh with a snort. “Well, that’s not exactly how it worked for us. But, yes, Emily is my girlfriend again. Are you okay with that?”

“She makes you happy. And you haven’t been happy in a while.”

Well, damn. They say kids are intuitive, but they never say how intuitive until you have a kid of your own.

“When did you get so smart?” I ask, not expecting a response.

“Since I turned seven,” he responds with a toothless smile.

Shaking my head and trying not to laugh, I take the turn into our neighborhood. An unfamiliar car is parked by the mailbox. It’s not unusual, but with Chelsea sniffing around my senses are on overload. I continue on and pull into the driveway, checking the rearview mirror every other second until I’m parked.

“How about pizza tonight?” I ask Dylan.

“Can we watch the new Marvel movie too?”

I think about which one he hasn’t seen and figure it’s safe enough for him to watch. “Sure. But when I say plug your ears, you plug your ears. Got it?”

“Got it, Daddy.”

“Okay. Get your stuff and let’s head inside.” I park and turn the truck off, then wait for Dylan to meet me around the front of the truck. Footsteps that aren’t Dylan’s sound behind me and I turn to face Chelsea.

“Daddy, who is that?” Dylan asks when he’s next to me.

“No one buddy.” I tell him and hand him my keys. “Go inside and start your homework. I’ll be there in a minute.”

I watch Dylan walk up to the door and head inside the house. I subtly move so I’m blocking the front door. “What are you doing here, Chelsea?”

“He’s beautiful,” she claims.

“Again, what are you doing here?”

Emily picks the perfect time to pull into my driveway. I should’ve texted her to come at a later time.

Chelsea looks at Emily’s approaching car and turns back to me. “It seems I’ve been replaced.”

“Replacing means something was there to begin with. I won’t ask my question again.”

“I talked to my lawyer and I’m dropping my petition to reinstate my parental rights. Your lawyer already knows so you should be getting an email from him soon. It was a mistake to come here and threaten the world you’ve created. And to try and win you back.” She turns her head and looks at Emily still sitting in her car. “It seems you have everything you need here.”

“Not that I really care, but why change your mind? Do you know the hell I’ve been through?” To see she’s just giving up after the strain it put on my relationship.

“And I'm sorry for that. You’ve given him a life. You’ve loved him the way a parent should. As much as I wish I was, I’m not capable of that,” she admits what I knew from the beginning.

I look towards Emily and see she’s waiting for a sign that I need her. I’ll always need her. But this right here is what I need to do alone.

“Goodbye, Chelsea. Hope you have a nice life,” I tell her. I mean that and hope she never comes back.

“Goodbye, Adam,” she says and I see the finality in her expression.

Chelsea turns and walks back down to the driveway entrance. And a sense of relief has me breathing like I’m free. Free from the fear of Dylan being taken away from me. Free to finally live my life with two of the people I love most in the world.

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