“Last night?” Philip asked. I just raised my eyebrows in response. He laughed and nodded. “Well, all right then. Glad to see things are working out.”
“I like her,” I said honestly. “I really do, man.”
“Good.” Philip nodded again. “Don’t fuck it up.”
“I’ll do my best.” I laughed and went back to watching my kids run around the petting zoo.
Emily chased after them for a few minutes, but eventually got too tired. She walked over to join Philip and I, but stayed inside the fence in case the kids needed her.
The three of us talked and joked about the kid’s excitement until Tommy ran over to announce he was ready for lunch. Emily corralled Sarah, and we all made our way to the food trucks and snack stands. Emily took Sarah into the bathroom, and I took Tommy so they could wash their hands before lunch. When we were all back together, we found a table, and I went to grab everyone food.
We sat and ate, scarfing down the zoo food and snacks. Sarah kept insisting she needed more ice cream. I was feeling soft and happy, so I obliged her wishes and bought her two extra scoops. When were done, we walked through the zoo again.
It was small so it didn’t take us long to make it from one end to the other, but it was worth it. As I watched my kids, Emily, and Philip, I came up with more story ideas than I could remember. They flooded my brain rapidly and overwhelmed me. I desperately wished I had my notebook with me so I could jot them down, but I didn’t. Instead, I just fell silent and tried my best to remember each one.
“Are you okay?” Emily asked after I’d been quiet for too long.
“I’m great,” I said. “Why?”
“You just got quiet.” She shrugged.
“Tired, I guess,” I said. “Someone wouldn’t let me get much sleep last night.”
I grinned, and she smiled back, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She was still worried about me. I thought about telling her the truth, confessing my desire to become a writer finally, but I resisted the urge. Emily was sweet and kind, but I worried she wouldn’t understand my ambitions. What if she thought going from a lawyer to a writer was stupid? What if she ridiculed all my ideas? Worse, what if she asked to read my stuff?
No, I wasn’t ready to tell her the truth. Not yet. Still, my mind raced with ideas throughout the rest of the day. I dreamed about getting home and slipping away into my study for the evening, but I knew that wouldn’t happen. By the time the kids were ready to leave, it was already getting dark.
We were all walking slower as we left the zoo. When we climbed into the car, I wasn’t surprised to see Tommy and Sarah both fall asleep almost instantly. They each laid their head on Emily’s shoulders and drifted off easily. I smiled at the sight in my rearview mirror and drove us toward home.
Traffic stopped us a few times, and Philip decided to make conversation by telling Emily all my embarrassing stories.
“That didn’t happen,” I said firmly after he relayed one of the worst.
“It didn’t?” Emily asked with a laugh.
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“Oh, it happened,” Philip said. “He rubbed nacho cheese all over himself as a disguise and then ran screaming through the quad. I’ve never seen so many cops afraid to arrest someone in my life. It was like they didn’t want to touch him.”
Emily was laughing uncontrollably in the backseat. Tommy and Sarah stayed passed out, their exhaustion too much to fight, but I was surprised Philip’s guffaws and Emily’s giggles didn’t coax them awake.
“I wasn’t as bad as this guy,” I said, pointing to Philip. “He once streaked past the Dean’s window and then ran along sorority row in a nothing but a banana hammock.”
“I don’t think that’s worse than nacho cheese,” Emily said, still laughing.
“Ha,” Philip said. “I told you. Yours is way worse.”
“It is,” Emily agreed. “But also, a better story.”
“Hey,” Philip said. “I take offense to that.”
“Ha,” I said, mimicking his earlier insult. “I have better stories.”
“I think the best stories probably involved the shit we did together,” Philip said with a laugh. “Like that night in Nancy’s hot tub or the time we flew to Prague for one night just to meet up with that girl who never fucking showed.”
“What?” Emily asked. “You flew to Prague?!”
“There was this exchange student we were both into,” Philip said. “She never wanted to choose between us so instead, she promised to meet us in Prague on New Year’s Eve.”