The Doctor's Secret Son

“I’m excited to see the penguins, Joss,” Trace said as he attempted to get Joss out of his car seat. To no avail. Joss stubbornly insisted upon Chrissie unbuckling him and holding his hand as he jumped from the car onto the hot pavement.

Once on the pavement, he ignored Trace’s outstretched hand and kept a death grip on Chrissie’s.

Trace’s look her way was full of pure disgust.

This was her fault, his eyes said. She’d done this.

Guilt filled her. She deserved his scorn.

Then again, who would have thought Joss would react so negatively? Because her son’s reaction to his father was beyond anything she could have imagined from her sweet little boy.

Joss intentionally tried to exclude Trace more often than not. Just as he was currently doing, ignoring Trace and tugging on her hand.

“Can I get in the water?”

Ahead of them there was a small artsy-looking fountain just below a warped rainbow-shaped bridge walkway where several children were splashing.

“Maybe after we see the penguins,” she told him with a gentle tone. “Your daddy is excited to see them. Do you think he’ll like the manta rays, too?”

Joss loved the aquarium and especially the exhibit where visitors could reach into the water and “pet” manta rays that passed by. She’d bought them an annual pass earlier in the year and, though they’d been several times, his fascination with the aquatic life had never waned.

Until today.

“I don’t want to see the manta rays.” Joss’s lower lip hung low. “I want to play in the water.”

Good grief. Trace probably thought Joss was a spoiled brat. Hopefully he’d take into account that the child had just had his entire world turned upside down with meeting his father.

Still, she didn’t want to encourage his behavior.

“After we go inside to show your daddy the penguins,” she repeated with what she hoped was the right combination of gentleness and sternness. “If you be good.”

Joss’s gaze, so similar to Trace’s, took on a steely stubbornness. “He can go by himself. We don’t want him here.”

Trace winced.

Chrissie let out a frustrated sigh. “Of course we want your daddy here. We want to show him the penguins and let him pet the manta rays.”

Joss gave her a look that said she could verbalize whatever she wanted, but he wasn’t buying it.

Trace didn’t look as if he was either.

Then again, as much as Trace was trying, maybe he was trying too hard, and scowling too much when he failed. Maybe that was why Joss wouldn’t relax.

Or maybe her smart little three-year-old was still picking up on his mother’s nervousness.

Trace bought his ticket, then they waited in line to enter the aquarium. Within a few minutes they were riding the long escalator up to the top.

“Do you think the otters will be playing today?” she asked Joss, hoping to distract him out of his sour mood.

The little boy’s eyes lit with interest, but then he seemed to recall that he wasn’t happy with his mother or life in general.

Frustrated with Joss’s behavior but afraid she’d just make things worse by scolding him, plus knowing it couldn’t be easy on him to have unexpectedly had Trace move in with them three days ago, Chrissie turned to Trace. She’d caused this tension. It was up to her to break the ice.

“These cute little otters live at the top of the aquarium. Sometimes when we visit, they are sleeping and sometimes they are playing.” She injected as much perkiness as she could muster. “We like when they are playing, don’t we, Joss?”

Joss didn’t answer.

Chrissie kept right on talking as if all were wonderful. Not that she felt wonderful. Not that Trace looked as if he was having a good time. Certainly, Joss seemed determined not to enjoy himself.