Page 25 of Coming For Her Curves
Brock rolls his eyes. "Trust me, Mom, I know you love me. I've never doubted it."
Ryker comes in and sets a tray on the coffee table. The three of us sit on the floor.
Brock picks up a cookie and stuffs it in his mouth. He mumbles around it, "We haven't had a carpet picnic in a long time."
I laugh and pick one up too. "You're right. We haven't."
“What's a carpet picnic?" Ryker asks.
I point around us. "You're doing it now. Stick with us, Ryker. We can show you the fun things in life."
Ryker stares at me. “Promise?"
I reach across the table and hold his hand. “Promise."
When I look back to my son, he's eaten two more cookies.
"So did you get to see Ollie last night when you were there at your dad's?"
The apartment complex that Allen moved to is the same one that Ollie lives in.
“Yeah, we shot hoops."
“Oh, that's good."
Ryker looks between Brock and me. "By the way, I got four tickets to the Jasper Rangers basketball game next weekend. You want to bring Ollie with us?"
Brock circles his hand to indicate the three of us. "We're all going?"
I nod my head. “Yeah, we're all going."
“Woo hoo!" Brock hollers. He downs his glass of milk. “I gotta go call Ollie.”
I'm about to remind him to say thanks when he hollers as he runs up the stairs, “Thank you, Ryker."
We're both laughing at Brock's antics, and I shake my head at Ryker. “Thank you."
He smiles, still holding my hand. “What are you thanking me for now?"
I wave my hand toward the ceiling. “My son is smiling more. I'm smiling. You just make things better."
He kisses my hand, and I scoot to sit close to him. “But we need to talk."
He tenses, but I don't stop. “We want you here, but you don't have to keep spending money on us. We don't need tickets, or trips, or gifts. Just you being here is enough."
He takes a deep breath. “Fuck, I love you so much."
I smile. “I love you, too, but you’re not going to fix this with confessions of love. I really want you to keep your money. We just want to be with you."
He nods, still smiling. “I got it.”
He pulls me closer, and I laugh. "I'm starting to remember why I haven't had any carpet picnics in a while. I'm not sure I'll be able to get up."
He hugs me. “I'll help you."
I point to the tree. “We did good, didn't we?"
He points at me. “You've always had a knack for these things." He brushes hair off my face. “You make things beautiful, Izz."
