Page 3 of Various Intentions
“Oh, God,” Vincent moaned, covering his face.
I finger-gunned Matteo. “You got it.”
When Taylor came back, I apologized and offered to have his guitar restrung as penance.
“Don’t be dumb. It’s fine.” Taylor nodded at Vincent. “It’s kind of worth my own cringe to see Vincent so embarrassed, when Iknowthe kinky bastard was fully on board with whatever happened.”
“Oh, and, Taylor?”
“Yeah?”
I pointed out of the window. “See that silver Honda?”
Taylor focused on the car that sparkled in the late evening sunshine. “Yeah?”
“That’s yourrealgraduation present.”
“Oh, that’s hilarious,” Taylor said, turning back as Matteo placed a Honda fob on a rainbow key ring onto the table in front of him.
He looked at it and scooped it up in his fingers. “What the fuck is this? Is this some kind of a joke? I’m going to kill you guys.”
“It’s not a joke,” Vincent said.
“The car’s yours,” I confirmed, sitting up straighter. “It’s a couple of years old, but there’s barely any mileage on it. Vincent had it detailed so it’s shiny and clean, inside and out, although it won’t stay that way with all the winter slush on the roads.”
Taylor stared at the fob in his hand. Then he looked at the car through the window. Then he looked at me with shining eyes and a tremulous lip.
“Really?” he whispered, as if he couldn’t quite believe it.
Matteo put an arm around him and kissed him on the cheek. “You deserve it. You’ve worked hard and you’ve helped out at the house, too. You’re almost as good a cook as me, now.”
Taylor stared at the Honda device for another few seconds. “Oh my God. What! A car?A car!” He slid out of the booth and started leafing through the coats for his jacket. “I want to see it!”
“I’ll take you,” Vincent said. “Nic, can you please order for me? You know what I like.” He took his jacket from the hook and passed Taylor his.
“I certainly do. What do you want to eat, Taylor?”
“I don’t care. Order me anything,” he said, shoving his arms in the sleeves of his blue puffer jacket and racing out of the restaurant with Vincent on his trail.
“That was a success,” Matteo said, smiling and pretending to look over the menu, although we ate here so often that I was sure he already knew what he was going to order. “It was a good idea, Nic.”
“Honestly, having only my car between the four of us was becoming a problem, even though you don’t drive. Now that Taylor has his own, we don’t have to worry about not having a means of transportation while he’s out galivanting.”
We watched Taylor circle the car while Vincent pointed out certain things, then he opened the driver’s door and slid inside. Vincent leaned on the door, laughing and grinning. He glanced into the restaurant and gave us a thumbs-up.
“He’s worked so hard, and now he’s graduated high school. He’s got a job lined up and a plan to attend college in the fall. He’s a good kid, Matteo.” I put my chin in my hand. “I never thought I wanted to be a dad, but it seems to come naturally with Taylor.”
Matteo grinned. “It’s nice that we can split the responsibility three ways.”
“It is. Absolutely. I’m starting to think poly relationships should be the standard, especially in this economy.”
When Vincent brought Taylor back inside, the kid slid onto my lap and gave me the tightest hug, regardless of the audience. “Thank you so much, Nic. I love it. It’s perfect.”
He was rosy and cold from being outside. I hugged him back, then nudged him off.
“I’m glad you like it. You deserve it. But we have to sit down and go over some rules when we get home.”
“Sure. Okay.”
