Page 92 of Cooper

“Sure.” I show him where the shed is, and he starts digging around.

This isn’t the life we would have if we stay together, but it’s close.

I can picture him puttering around a house that we own.

Teaching kids I’m not even sure I want how to ride a bike.

Spending the rest of our lives together.

Jesus, I’ve never felt like this about a guy before.

Now if I can just figure out if he feels the same way, things would be pretty fucking epic.

* * *

Mom,Greta, and I spend the afternoon at the hospital, leaving Cooper behind to work on the house. He fixes the loose handrail on the inside stairs and gets the front door to close properly by realigning the lock with the strike plate. Then he finds the handrail from the front steps and by the time we get back, he’s nailed it into place. It’s not super sturdy since the wood is old but it’s better than nothing, especially once winter comes.

My mother looks a bit flabbergasted at everything he’s accomplished in a few hours, and I reach out to hug him once she takes Greta inside.

“Thank you,” I whisper. “You didn’t have to do all that.”

“I’m happy to help. The only question is, will your father be grateful or pissed off because it somehow emasculates him that I did it and he didn’t?”

“You never know with my father, but deep down, he’ll appreciate it. They’ve never thanked me for the money I send, not a single time, but it’s just how they are.”

“Well, whatever it takes to win brownie points.”

We smile at each other.

We hear a car coming down the long drive, and I take a breath. “Well, that’ll be my father and Femke. He picks her up from the restaurant where she works on his way home from work. It’s too far for her to walk so she waits in town until he gets there. She’s been texting me all afternoon. She can’t wait to meet you.”

“At least someone is happy to see me,” he jokes.

“I’m happy to see you,” I say as my father’s ancient pickup truck pulls up to the house.

“Peppy!” Greta comes running out of the house toward her grandfather.

That’s new.

I’ve never seen my father be affectionate with anyone, especially small children.

Maybe being a grandfather has softened him up a little. I certainly don’t remember him ever huggingmeas a child.

“Papa.” I call to him quietly.

“Natalia.” He doesn’t act surprised. Even as he lifts Greta into the air and then nuzzles her tummy, he seems relatively unimpressed that I’m here.

Femke, on the other hand, gets out of the truck and practically flies across the yard to throw herself at me, hugging me tightly.

“I missed you so much!” she whispers.

“I missed you too,” I whisper back, burying my face in her hair.

We hug for a minute and then pull apart.

I have to introduce Cooper, and while Femke is excited, I’m sure my father is going to be grumpy.

“Papa, Femke, this is my boyfriend, Ryan Cooper.” I turn to him and switch to English. “Babe, this is Femke and my father, Gregor Farkas.”

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