Page 14 of The Leaves In Autumn
“I want to laugh thinking of Van being responsible for someone’s life.He’s still my baby brother. The one who put laxatives in our brownies.”
“Layla will show him how. She’s great at parenting. And he isn’t going to do that to his own child.”
“I see him becoming the dad all the other kids want to hang with.”
“The cool parent. My sister will be the disciplinarian.”
“He has no idea how much his life is about to change.”
“It must be a daunting experience. Not that I have any clue what it entails.”
I reach for the ball hiding in the grass.
“That’s not yours. It’s further to the left and down a ways.”
“I don’t know how you do that. Finding my balls is your superpower.”
“Ballman? That’s my superpower? Can’t you come up with something better?”
“Give me some time to come up with something more to your liking.”
We walk on.
“You ever think about having kids?”
“On and off through my twenties and early thirties I did. But around the middle of the decade, it stopped even entering my mind. The choice happened organically for me.”
“Yeah, I respect that. It isn’t for everybody, even though we expect it to be.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“I don’t know. I’ve come to the conclusion half the things people do are because it’s always been done that way.”
“I think that too.”
Smiles are exchanged in agreement.
“So, what kind of future do you imagine for yourself?”
“I don’t think anyone has ever asked me that question. God knows my mother didn’t.”
“You can tell me to butt out.”
“No! I’m happy to answer. I don’t see my work being the be-all and end-all. House staging is something I can go in and out of. And I’ll be able to work for Layla’s party planning business whenever I want.”
“What is it you want to spend your time doing?”
“Travel. I want to experience more of the world. As you know.”
“Still on schedule for fall?”
“Sent my last payment in for the lease yesterday. Less than four months to go now. Thank God for Van and your parents. Their connections made everything easy peasy.”
“We’ll have to start speaking French whenever we talk on the phone. Think I can carry on a simple conversation.”
“When have we ever had a simple conversation?”
“True. But we can try it once at least.”
