Page 10 of On The Run

“It went ok,” I told her cryptically.

“What lecture?” Jana asked. She worked as an assistant to the President of the Board of Education for the local public schools, but she also taught a couple classes online in administration, so she was always interested in the academic side of things. She was the exact opposite of my sister who fixed up high-end and collector cars for a living.

“Oh, Linc had me talk to his 101 class about bridges. You know I’m not really much of a public speaker, but it was ok. The kids seem pretty smart.” And young, they seemed so damn young. And Aiden was a student there. Truth was, I wasn’t even sure what I said throughout the whole thing. I was too damn distracted.

“I did a couple guest lectures back in my day. I even did a whole semester of classes once. I always enjoyed it,” my mom told us. Both my parents were doctors. My mom was a pharmacist and on the verge of retiring. At 62, she planned on working two more years, though she’d only been part-time for the last year, since I got custody of Grayson. My dad had his PhD in biochemical engineering and was once a leader in his field. He retired a while ago and now just drove us all crazy with projects. At least now, most of them were for Grayson, and he left his kids and poor wife alone.

Just on cue, Dad called out from the other side of the porch where he was grilling. I offered to help but he shooed me away. The grill was his domain. “Food is just about ready. Can y’all wash up?”

“Gray!” I called to my son, who was wrestling with the puppy. “Come on and wash up, buddy. Grampa is almost done cooking!”

Gray lifted his little head up from under the dog, who was licking his face. “Ok, Daddy!” he called though he didn’t make much of an effort to get Nova off him.

I gave Laura a pointed look. “Can you get your dog?”

Laura sighed like I really put her out, but she whistled shrilly, nearly deafening me, and her dog came running up to the porch, panting excitedly. Laughing like a mad man, Gray climbed to his feet, and I tried not to flinch at the state of his clothes. One thing I learned over the last year: kids got messy. As Mom told me, that was why baths and washing machines existed.

I climbed to my feet and guided Gray inside to help him clean up. Once he was somewhat respectable, we went back outside. By the time we joined the rest of my family, Dad already had trays and trays of food spread out over the table. That was another thing Dad picked up in his retirement: cooking.

“Looks delicious, Papa D,” Jana said, licking her lips. Dad gave her a big smile and a soft, fatherly look. Jana’s relationship with her family was strained, to say the least, but my parents welcomed her with open arms. Sometimes, I was pretty sure they liked her better than their own kids.

“It’s always a pleasure to cook for my family. I just wish Emily and her family could be here as well,” Dad replied, his faint Jamaican accent a little tinged with emotion. Emily’s husband, Mike, was in the Navy and currently stationed in Hawaii. Unfortunately, she didn’t get back to Colorado all that often, but Mom and Dad Face Timed her and their granddaughters every Friday, and she nagged me about dating at least three times a week, so it felt like she was closer than she was.

“She’s going to video chat in an hour or so, dear, so we’ll get to see her and the kids,” Mom told us.

“Yay!” Gray said excitedly. He only met his cousins in person once, right after I got custody and Emily made the trip back to the mainland for it. He was still shell shocked and shy back then, but over the last year, he’d developed a good relationship with his older cousins through video calls. Hopefully, she could come for the holidays. It would be good for him to meet them in person again.

Dad waved to the platters of food. “Well, go on, the food’s not just for show. Eat!” We all chuckled at my dad’s sense of humor before I started preparing a plate for Gray.

I was very lucky he wasn’t a picky eater. I got the sense he may not have always had easy access to food when he was with his mom and still got overwhelmed sometimes. But I’d never seen something he wouldn’t eat.

Once we all had loaded plates with way too much food, we began to chat and eat. Before Gray, I missed way too many of these family dinners. It seemed like there was always something else I should be doing that took my focus—mostly work related. Once he came into my life, I shifted my priorities, making family the most important thing. It meant I’d most likely be working for the county the rest of my life, but I didn’t mind. I liked my job, I had amazing benefits and health insurance, and I still got home most nights in time to eat dinner with my son. It was a win-win.

Gray entertained us all by talking about the play his kindergarten class was putting on. It was all about recycling and littering. Gray got to play a recycling bin, and he could not be more excited. You’d think he was just cast in an Oscar-nominated movie. Much to everyone’s amusement, he animatedly acted out all his scenes.

Dad and Laura goaded him on, like they always did, pretending to be pieces of litter who refused to get recycled. At some point, Emily called and her and my nieces got involved. By the time the impromptu play was over, we were all in tears, we were laughing so hard.

As Dad picked Gray up over his shoulder and ran into the yard, pretending Gray was a soda bottle he was going to throw in a trash can instead of the recycling, Mom reached over and squeezed my hand.

Daniel Campbell was an opposing-looking man. He was huge, about three inches of height on me and even wider. He’d always looked more like a linebacker than a scientist, but he had the warmest heart. I didn’t know his family well, but from what Mom said, they were all very cold and distant. Dad couldn’t be further from that, Mom as well. Even when they were at the height of their careers, they made sure they had time for us and always listened, no matter what.

“I’m so glad that little boy is part of our lives, Max. He gives your dad joy again.”

I smiled warmly at the pair as Gray managed to wriggle out of the big man’s grasp and was now running like a banshee across the yard screaming, “No, not the landfill!”

“He gives me joy too.”

Mom kissed my cheek lightly. “I know, honey. He gave it to all of us. He’s our glue.”

I let that thought settle inside as Laura handed me a beer. I smiled in thanks and accepted it.

“So . . . ,” Laura drawled, and I knew she was about to start shit. “Who’s this Aiden Gray keeps talking about?”

I was so startled by the question that I didn’t answer right away. I also didn’t school my face, and I didn’t even want to know what she was thinking as she raised her eyebrow at me.

“Oh, he’s the barista. Gray made friends with him. You know how he is.”

“The barista?” my mom asked because she was nosy as hell when it came to her kids. “Oh, that sweet kid, the one with funny hair and this thing?” She gestured to the center part of her nose.

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