The Half of Us (Family 4)

That comment caught Jason off guard and he started coughing.

“Oh, for crying out loud.” Angela threw her hands up. “Why are you so horrified at the prospect of your boyfriend meeting the kids?”

Jason shrugged and fiddled with his glass, swishing the ice around. “You don’t think it’s weird for children to see their father with another man?”

“Weird for who?”

“Them,” Jason said as he raised his gaze.

“We’ve been divorced for five years, so that part isn’t weird. They know you’re gay, so that part isn’t weird. Abe isn’t a freak show who walks without moving his arms, so—”

“What?”

“What what?”

“What did you say about the arms?” Jason asked.

“This guy asked me out last week. He works in my building. Seems decent enough, pretty good-looking, but he doesn’t move his arms when he walks. One time he was running to the elevator and still, nothing on the arms. I politely declined.”

“You do realize you sound crazy, right?” Jason said. “Who notices what someone does with their arms?”

“Everyone notices. You just don’t realize it because you take it for granted that leg motion includes arm motion. I guarantee if you saw him, you’d agree with me. It’s freaky as hell. Anyway, not the point. Why do you think the kids meeting your boyfriend would be weird?”

“Christ, Ange.” Jason dragged his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know anymore. Maybe they should meet him. It’d make things easier given as much time as he spends at my place.”

“How often does he stay at your townhouse?”

“Uh.” Jason thought the question over and realized the last time Abe hadn’t slept over was when the kids spent the night at his place a week earlier. The same was true for the time before that and the time before that one. He stopped going through his mental calendar. “He’s with me a lot.”

“I don’t see any reason why that should change. If anything, I think it’ll be good for the kids to see a stable relationship.”

“Dear God.” Jason dropped his head onto the table.

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you hear yourself?” he muttered. “I’m now the role model for relationship stability. Me. Christ.”

Angela laughed. “Okay, sit up. The waiter’s coming. We don’t want him to think you passed out from hunger.”

“With as long as it’s taken them to get the food to us, that was a real possibility.”

She nodded and then smiled up at the waiter as he put their plates down. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” the waiter said. “Can I get you anything else?”

“Just refills on the drinks,” Angela answered, pointing to their empty glasses.

“Sure,” the waiter said. He reached for the glass just as Angela leaned forward to get her napkin, and his arm made contact with her chest. “Pardon me.” His cheeks turned red. “I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

After the guy scurried away, Jason leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, “I think he likes you.”

“He’s cute, but I don’t have time to date,” Angela said as she lifted the bun and removed half the lettuce from her sandwich.

Jason flinched, realizing he was at fault for part of that. “We’ll make a schedule and I’ll take the kids half the time.”

“Half?” Angela asked in surprise. “You’d really do that?”

Damn, he was an ass. Angela was right. Kids needed their fathers. “Yes, really. I’ll talk to Abe and see if he’s willing to stick around for it.”

“You think he’d break up with you because you want to spend more time with your kids?”

The idea hadn’t even crossed Jason’s mind. “No.” He shook his head. “That isn’t what I meant.” He picked up his fork and speared a piece of salmon. “Abe wouldn’t leave me. I just don’t know if he’ll want to stay at his apartment when the kids are over or if he’ll want to keep staying with me.”

“Okay,” Angela said quietly. They ate in silence for a few moments, and then she said, “Jason?”

He stuffed a bite of salad into his mouth. “Yeah?”

“In case you listen to the words that come out of your mouth as well as you listen to what comes out of mine, which is to say not well, I’ll point out that you just said the man you’ve been seeing would never leave you.”

His fork halfway to his mouth, Jason froze. That was exactly what he’d said, and he’d meant every word.

“Like it or not, you just confirmed your status as the stable-relationship role model,” Angela said.

“That’s disturbing.” He had no earthly idea how or when it happened, though he supposed the lack of drive to fuck other guys should have been a decent clue about the latter.

“I agree.” Angela took a bite of her sandwich. “I didn’t see it coming, but I guess it makes sense if I think about it. You always were big on family.”

“I was a horrible husband. What makes sense about me being a role model for healthy relationships?”