Page 107 of The Enemy Face Off

20

Milo

Any fears I may have had that retirement would be boring—or that I'd start wearing velour tracksuits, take up golf, and be overcome by a sudden urge to move somewhere warmer and insist on having dinner at five—have not come to fruition.

Retired life isthe best.

Why didn't I do this sooner?

Oh, I know.

Because I didn't have kids or a girl I am crazy, head over heels for.

But now I have both in my life…and I'm the happiest guy on the planet.

Although I'm not happy at how fast the summer is flying by. Josie will be starting school in a few weeks, and I'm not ready to not see her every day. What if she hates it? What if she struggles to make friends? What if the other kids tease her about the lunches I make for her?

I blow out a breath and try to rein in my mini-freakout. We've taken the kids to the beach. And bywe, I mean Boden and I, not Beth and I, as I would have preferred, since unfortunately, one of us is not retired.

Since making it official last week, we've continued spending every spare moment we have together. For logistical reasons, Beth comes over to my place and we just hang out, play with the kids, make dinner, talk out in the backyard, and go for early morning walks.

I don't really care what we do, all that matters is that we're together, and that she's my girlfriend. Every time I think about it, I smile, and I think about it all the freaking time. I swear my cheek muscles are going to go on strike and demand a break.

I cherish every moment I get to spend with Beth, but I did comment yesterday that I hoped I wasn't taking uptoomuch of her time, and that if she had other things to do, I wouldn't mind.

Iwouldhave minded, but I wasn't going to tell her that.

She simply shrugged and made an adorable noise, before rolling out her joke about how she only stays for the free food. Plus, she's too invested in the magical unicorn-themed puzzle she's doing with Josie and Jonah to stop coming over.

I love that she gets on so well with the kids, and they've really taken to her, too. Jonah, obviously, because he loves anyone after spending five minutes with them, but Josie as well, even if it's in her somewhat more reserved way.

I'm not placing any expectations on Beth when it comes to the kids. I'm just going to relax and see what happens. Everything's gone smoothly up to this point, and I hope it'll stay that way.

"Daddy, look!"

I'm sitting in the shallow water keeping a close eye on Josie who's in front of me, cautiously playing in the waves.

I raise my hands in the air. "You're doing great, sweetie."

She really is.

At the start of the summer, she'd barely venture into the water. Gradually, over time, she would only go in with me, sticking right by my side. Now, she's jumping and splashing about in the gentle waves all by herself.

I do thelet's swap kidsgesture to Boden who comes over to keep an eye on Josie while Jonah shows me the sandcastle he's building.

I had a fleeting thought that when I retired, I might not need a nanny, but that isn't happening. I have no idea how single parents manage, but I have all the respect in the world for them. I would not be able to cope on my own.

"Wike my castle?" Jonah asks, tapping his palm against my leg.

"I do. Good job, buddy."

I kneel in the sand, and he looks over at me and smiles. "Daddy, you watching?"

I nod. "I'm watching."

He takes a deep, solemn breath—something he's copying from the close up shots of the divers we've been watching at the national diving championships on TV every night—then he spins on his small heels and marches away from his sandcastles, arms winding up and down, counting out his paces untileight,which is where he gets confused and winds up at five again.

He turns back around with the most serious expression on his little face. And then, with all his strength and might, he races toward the sandcastle, flicking up sand everywhere, and stomps all over it, putting his whole body into it.

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