Page 99 of Three Not-So-Little Words
We watch the movie for a few minutes in silence. Mainly, I’m just trying to decode what’s going on since everything looks funky like this.
Drew walks over and looks at us and smiles. “You two having a good time?”
“Yes,” we answer in unison.
“Well, dinner is ready. Colton, why don’t you go wash your hands?”
He stands up like he hadn’t just been upside down and runs to the bathroom.
“Do I need to wash my hands?” I ask.
“Depends on what you’ve been doing with them,” he jokes.
“Nothing fun.”
He helps me up off the couch, and the blood rushing through my head makes me a little unsteady on my feet.
Drew puts his arms around me to keep me from falling. “You good?”
“Yeah. Just not quite as resilient as a six-year-old.”
“I learned that about myself a while ago.” He laughs.
We all go in and sit around the table where Drew has already dished out the food and has it waiting. We dig in, and just as I expected, it’s delicious. I’d expect nothing less from Drew. It seems like he’s good at everything.
We talk about our days, and Colton does the majority of the chatting. It’s fascinating to hear about the world through the lens of a child. He thinks the smallest things are cool. Maybe I should start living my life like that—celebrating every little thing.
Oh, who am I kidding? I kind of do live my life like that. Maybe not on the same scale, but I find any excuse I can totreat myselfbased on something good happening.
Am I really just an overgrown child?
Probably.
When we finish eating, Drew walks into the other room to help Colton get ready for bed. Not knowing what to do with myself, I start doing the dishes. I may be a shitty cook, but I can clean a sink full of dishes.
When I’m almost done, I feel Drew’s big hands wrap around me from behind.
“You know, you don’t have to do that.”
“Eh, you fed me. Figure I should make it up to you. It was either this or a blowjob,” I joke.
“Okay, if those are my choices, you’re not allowed to do dishes anymore.”
I let the water out of the sink and am drying my hands when Colton comes back in.
“Ronnie, do you want to see my room?” He asks.
I’m a little surprised but happy he’s asking. “Uh, sure. Lead the way.”
We walk down the hall and into his bedroom. There’s a racecar bed with superhero sheets. There are a couple of organizers that have drawers filled with toys and more totes stacked in the corner.
Drew follows us in and says, “It’s still a work in progress. But it’s coming together.”
I kneel so that I’m on Colton’s level. I’m not sure what the appropriate level of reaction I should have, but I think about how I would want someone to react.
I keep hearing Dylan’s voice in my head.
Just treat him like a person.
