Page 67 of Centering Kaos

“We’ll show her where it is,” Naomi assured me.

And then they were off. Feeling more nervous than a rookie with a pre-game puking problem, I turned and smiled at Dylan as he reached me. Over the five weeks that I’d known him, Dylan and I had come to an understanding. He didn’t act up around me, and I treated him like the little man he was so desperate to be.

“You ready to head inside and see the place?” I asked.

He nodded, his gaze taking in the restored old building.

I watched him as we entered. Wide-eyed excitement lit up his face and had him firing off questions about the pool tables and dart boards. Promising him we’d get in at least a few games before we left, I kept to the edge of the room and tried not to catch anyone’s eye. I needed to have a private chat with the kid before I’d be ready to introduce him. As I led him toward our destination, Carisa peeled off for the bar to get a drink.

Compared to the rest of the club, the dining hall was relatively quiet. Specks, our club treasurer, tried to wave me over, but I held up a finger, asking for a minute. His gaze snagged on Dylan, and he nodded. Leading the boy to the end of the table I sat, inviting him to do the same.

“You want anything?” I asked. “Water? Juice? Beer?”

He chuckled. “Sure, I’ll take a beer.”

Of course, he would. I stood and retrieved a root beer from the kitchen, setting it in front of him.

“This wasn’t what I meant,” he said, eyeing the can.

“Too bad. That’s as good as you’re gonna get.”

Despite our goofing around, my nerves felt like exposed wires, all raw and vulnerable. I could go for a real beer myself, but I needed to be stone cold sober for this conversation.

“This is a cool place,” Dylan said, looking around.

“I’m glad you like it. There’ll be some kids here soon. Wasp’s son, Trent, is about your age. Like his dad, he’s a bit of a smartass. You’ll like him.”

Dylan grinned and set down his root beer. “Where’s Mom?” he asked.

“Talking to Emily and Naomi again.”

“Ah.” He nodded. “You got stuck with babysitting duty again.”

I stared at him, surprised. Without even knowing it, the kid had given me the perfect opening. “It’s funny you should say that.”

“Why?” he asked sounding confused.

“Because we both know I’m way too cool to be a babysitter.”

Dylan laughed, and a little of the tension drained out of my shoulders.

“And…” I stared at him, wondering how to ask what I so desperately wanted to know.

Before I could even form the words, Tina came dashing into the room with a stack of papers in her hands. Emily and Naomi were hot on her heels. There were tears streaking down her face when she reached me. Waving the papers in the air, she said, “You… You want to adopt him?” Her voice cracked, and the hope and awe in her tone choked me up.

“What?” Dylan asked.

Tina must not have seen him sitting there, because her eyes widened, and her hand flew to her mouth.

“And, Dylan…” I started again, turning back to the boy and regaining his full attention. I was determined to finish my previous thought. Locking my eyes with his, I wanted him to see how very much I meant what I was about to say. “It’s only called babysitting when the kid isn’t yours. I want you to be my son. I want to adopt you. If you’ll let me.”

Eyebrows jumping almost to his hairline, he looked from me to his mom, and then back to me. “You… you want to adopt me?”

His bottom lip trembled. Tears welled in his eyes. It was all I could do to keep myself together. Swallowing back the ball of emotion that kept trying to lodge itself in my throat, I nodded. “Yes. With all of my heart, I want to be your dad.” I let that sink in a moment, as he gaped at me, processing. “Emily assures me we can make that happen. But it’s totally up to you.” I glanced up. “And your mother, of course.”

Tears continued to cascade down Tina’s face, but she didn’t move to wipe them away. “Whatever you want, baby,” she told him as he looked to her. “This is your choice and there’s no hurry. Take all the time you need to think about it.”

When he met my gaze again, his watery eyes were running over, too. “I don’t need to think about it.” Giving me a lopsided smile, he visibly pulled himself together like the mature little man he was and nodded. “Yeah. Yes! Let’s do this. I want you to be my dad.”

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