“Wow,” he said, an expression of surprise on his face. He held up the boxed Iron Man figurine. “It’s Iron Man!”
Drake knelt and helped Liam remove Iron Man from of the box, which was no easy feat, given all the plastic wrap and wires to prevent theft. Finally, he had it done. “Here you go.”
Liam examined it carefully, moving the arms and legs into various positions.
“Thank you,” Liam said finally. Drake nodded, smiling as he watched Liam fly Iron Man through the air.
We all sat on the two couches and watched Liam for a moment. Drake was focused on Liam, his expression intense as if he couldn’t believe it was real.
“That’s a nice train set,” Drake said and knelt back down beside Liam. “Can you show it to me?”
“Sure,” Liam said and put Iron Man down. Drake bent onto one knee and watched as Liam turned to the train. “I got it from my grandpa and grandma for Christmas. It’s a Thomas the Tank Engine set. I watch Thomas on TV.”
The next hour was taken up by Drake making small talk with Liam about his toys and how he felt about being in Manhattan. Meanwhile, Brenda and I talked about Sophie and how she was doing after the attack.
I overheard Drake and Liam talking and it made my eyes well up.
“My mom said you’re the man who gave me stem cells,” Liam said while he moved Thomas the Tank Engine along the track.
“I did,” Drake replied. “We were lucky that we were a match.”
Then, Liam picked up Iron Man and flew him around some more.
“Do you have any questions about me?” Drake asked, his voice soft. “Anything you want to ask? It must be strange to find out I’m your biological father.”
Liam continued to play for a moment, making the sound of a plane as Iron Man flew around.
“Are you going to marry my mom again?” he asked, his little face serious, brow furrowed.
I felt a knot in my gut as I watched Drake. He glanced at me and then Brenda before turning back to Liam.
“No,” Drake said softly. “We got divorced before you were born. I’m married to Kate now. Sophia is our daughter and your half-sister.”
“I have a half-sister?” Liam asked. He turned and looked at Sophia, his eyes wide.
“Yes,” Drake said. “She’s my daughter and you’re my son, so you two are half-brother and half-sister to each other.”
“Will she come to my birthday party?” Liam asked, his eyebrows raised. “We don’t know anyone here.
“Of course she’ll come if you want her to,” Drake replied.
“She’s kinda young to play with my toys, but sh
e could hold something.” Liam went to a box of toys at the side of the room and removed a stuffed Minion. “Here,” he said, bringing it over to where Sophie sat with me. “She could hold this.”
Sophie was busy sucking away on her pacifier but she stopped sucking and smiled when he came over.
“She likes me,” Liam said and turned to Drake.
“She does,” Drake said with a smile.
“Here you go, Sophia,” Liam said. “Here’s a Minion. He’s Herb Overkill. He has only one eye.”
On her part, Sophie reached out slowly and grabbed Herb Overkill, bringing him immediately up to her open mouth.
“She’s trying to eat it,” Liam said. He pointed at Sophie and turned to Drake. “Babies always try to eat everything.”
“No, no, sweetie,” I said and tried to take Herb away. “You shouldn’t get Liam’s toy all wet with drool.”