Headstrong Like Us (Like Us 6)

Two middle fingers.

I’m doing things right this morning. We walk further apart, and I climb the short stairs to the porch.

“Da-da, da-da!” Ripley calls out, watching us unpack. We made him a comfortable spot on the porch in a rainforest-themed activity chair. And he can finally hold and drink out of a sippy cup without assistance. He shows off his yellow cup like he’s a big boy.

I stop for a second, my lips rising. “Is that your cup, little man?”

Ripley laughs and kicks his soft legs. He hoists the cup, mimicking how we’ve been carrying shit into the house.

My eyes burn. Yeah, that gets to me. It’s one of the most adorable fucking things in the world, and I don’t just wonder about the future. I do the torturous, yearning thing and picture Ripley trying to imitate us, looking up to his two dads. Growing older.

We’ll take him to swim meets or possibly baseball practice. Karate, football, or soccer. Hell, maybe he’ll be into music or art.

His best friend will most likely be this “scaredy bear” dog, who Ripley makes grabby-hands at, and when he cries about the monsters under his bed, we’ll ease his fears and stay until he falls asleep.

It’s bittersweet longing.

After I drop the cases of water in the kitchen, I come back outside and squat down to our son. “Look how far you and I have come,” I smile and brush a caring finger across his soft cheek.

He smiles back, two new teeth peeking from his gums.

Maximoff is still at the car, unloading our stuff.

I whisper to Ripley, “Just between us, I’m okay with you taking his side for the rest of our lives. I would too if I were you. He’s just that good.”

Ripley giggles and sips his drink.

I kiss his head, then rise again. Maximoff still wants more kids one day, and I do too. After a huge discussion with Jane and Thatcher, we all decided that it’s more likely we’ll have babies around the same time. So Jane wouldn’t be able to be our surrogate, but she’d give us her eggs.

I’m grateful as hell, and I can imagine a time not too far away where our biological kids exist. It goes without saying, but for Maximoff, we’ll have to choose an egg donor, and we’ll still need to find a surrogate. But those details just fill me with want and desire for the future. Growing a family with the guy I love, there’s only happiness in that.

I trek casually back to the car.

We have the entire lake house to ourselves right now, but on our way here, we stopped at a grocery store. We packed our car to fucking capacity, and we weren’t shopping just for us.

At the end of the week, most of the families are spending the tail-end of summer here. So we’re helping stock the house before everyone arrives.

I lean on the trunk and watch him stack seven cases of Fizz Life in his arms. “You didn’t have to wait to carry shit just so I can see you,” I tease.

Maximoff blinks hard into a glare. “For a second there, I forgot why I married you.”

“You remember?” I chew my gum into a spreading smile.

“Yeah.” He adjusts the soda cases for a better grip. “My brain rebelled against me and decided it sort of likes your irritating jokes.”

“Sort of likes,” I say with a short laugh. “Where do you want to put that gold star for understating your love for me?”

“In the trash.”

I let out a long whistle.

Maximoff struggles to leave the car and go to the house. Wanting this to last one more second longer.

I know the feeling.

My smile softens. “I’m not disappearing, wolf scout.” I lift my left hand, knuckles facing him. “I’m pretty much bound to you.”

He eyes the black tungsten ring on my finger. His lips hike up in an overwhelmed, love-struck smile that skips my pulse.

His Adam’s apple bobs. “Had no idea.” He exhales a breath, still smiling, and I stand off the car. Closing the distance, I run my fingers across his cheek to the back of his head.

I kiss him lightly, teasingly. My smile against his mouth as he growls out, wanting more.

His arms are full, and he can’t lead that into something rougher and longer.

“See you in two minutes.”

“I might be gone for a decade, man,” Maximoff says as he heads to the house with the soda. “I could fall into a portal or walk into a fucking wardrobe and discover Narnia.”

I shake my head and chew gum. Such a dork. I return to the trunk. He unloaded our suitcases, and they rest against the tires.

Before I reach for a bag of groceries, my ears pick up crackling gravel. Sounds like tires slowly crawling on a road. Coming closer.

I stand straight and back up to see. My pulse speeds, and I train my eyes on the rustling trees and deserted gravel road.