Page 81 of Gracie Harris Is Under Construction

Does he fish?“Yes.”

Does he like kids?“You won’t believe this, but he has ten godchildren! Yes, he likes kids. He can’t wait to see the two of you again.”

What’s your favorite thing about him?“We can talk about anything.”

Are there any house projects left that we can help with?“We’ll have to ask Josh.”

Oh yeah, what about your book?“I’ll be done in two days.”

Once they get past the surface-level stuff, they fire off a quick succession of deeper questions, some of which I’ve planned for.

Will we split time between here and home?“We won’t rush into anything, but the plan is to spend the school year at home, most holidays and summers here.”

Will he live with us?“Yes, we’re going to try that out when we’re all ready. He will probably bounce between home and here much more than us for his job. His work will be out here.”

Will you get married?“It’s very possible.”

Do you think you’ll have kids together?“I have no idea.”

Then Benji asks a question that I don’t expect from my ten-year-old boy: “Do you love him?”

“Yes,” I answer without hesitation. “Very much.”

“So, I’d like to go back to Benji’s original question,” Ava says. “Where’s your boyfriend?”

“I assumed that you’d want time together with just the three ofus, and I wasn’t sure what your reactions would be to the news,” I say through tears that are now flowing. I’m overwhelmed by their maturity and love for me. “You two are my priority.”

“You’re our priority,” Ava says back with a look of exasperation. “And it’s not like we didn’t already see him at the start of the summer. I don’t want to have to tell all of the camp stories twice.”

“Seriously, Mom, this makes us really happy,” Benji adds. His face tells me he’s not sure why it’s such a big deal. “You should invite him over for dinner.”

They both hop down from their stools and pull me into an even bigger hug than we had standing in the camp driveway. In addition to becoming a lightweight social butterfly, I’m now also apparently a crier. I can’t stop the waterworks.

I walk out to the front porch and grab my phone from my back pocket. I start to text and then realize that I want nothing more than to hear Josh’s voice and share how the day has gone down. He picks up on the second ring. He’s breathing heavily.

“Hey, I’m out on a run with James. I didn’t expect to hear from you today. Is everything okay?” he says. I hear James yell, “Hey, Gracie!” in the background.

“Yeah, it’s more than okay. Why don’t you call me when you’re done?”

“Gracie, you can’t tease me like this. What’s up?”

I clear my throat, take a deep breath, and try to keep my emotions in check.

“Ava and Benji want to know if you’d like to come over tonight for dinner.”

Josh is quiet for a few seconds and then finally chokes out, “Are you serious? Like, tonight?”

“Very serious. In fact, they were disappointed you weren’t here when we got home, but to be honest, I think I probably saved you from some serious grilling, and trust me—kid questions are way more unpredictable than journalists’.”

“Yes, yes, yes. I will be there.”

“The kids only want to order in, so it’ll just be pizza or burritos or something, but why don’t you come over around five or six?”

“I’ll be there. I love you so much.”

“I love you, too.”

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