Page 113 of Space Balls: Houston, We Have Liftoff
“Or what about the time he took us to Clear Lake Park and those geese started to chase him?” Brit asks, her smile growing. “I never saw him run so fast in my life.”
I laugh, the act enough to release the rest of pressure bottled inside.
“Or the time he surprised us all, coming home a week early.” Mom’s eyes get misty again, but I can tell it’s from happiness this time. She nods at me. “Just in time to welcome you back at the bus stop on your last day of kindergarten.”
“My friends were so in awe of him in his fatigues.” I recall the look of worship on their faces as they stared out the bus window at my dad, who was standing tall and proud in his camo and boots. “He looked like a giant.”
“He did, didn’t he?” Brit asks, mostly to herself. “He could hold his arm straight out, and I’d swing on it, my feet not touching the ground.”
The side door swings open, and Matt files through with the boys.
“Hey, Uncle Vance!” Jacob’s smile lights up the kitchen.
“Uncle Vance is here?” Jase’s head pops around the side of his dad, his hands laden with a foam finger and a Big Gulp.
“Hey guys.” I hug them a little tighter than normal.
Right before they can start giving us a play by play of the game, my phone vibrates.
Rose:Dr. Barrios, tomorrow at 3:30pm
She follows it with an address for an OBGYN office.
I stare at it, shocked as my nephews talk a mile a minute about the game and all the junk food their dad let them have.
“Thanks for that,” Brit says to her husband.
My phone vibrates again.
Rose:You’re welcome to come if you want.
I stand, this time the chair beneath me topples over. “I got to go.”
“Yeah ya do.” My sister’s mocking tone is firmly reinstated.
“Yes, it’s about time,” Mom adds. “Don’t forget to ask Rosie when my grandbaby is due.”
“Aunt Rose?” Jacob asks. He and his brother perk up at the mention of their Fortnite cohort.
“Wait.” Matt looks from his wife to his mother-in-law to me. “Rose is pregnant?”
“A cousin!” Jase’s foam finger shoots in the air.
Jacob looks at me, confused. “But you’re not married.”
“Idiot.” Jase nudges him. “Women don’t need to get married if they don’t want to, remember?” He straightens, tipping his chin up. “Marriage is an archaic form of ownership that was originally used to claim a woman as property.”
The adults all stare wide-eyed.
Brit turns to me, all seriousness. “Please, for the love of God, go marry that woman.”
Twenty-Five
#CoupleStatus
Vance
I am seriously tooold for this shit.
