Defend

“Yes, boss,” she replies with a little laugh. “Now, hurry up and get us home.”

I smile, drive a little faster, and then my smile transforms into a grin. She referred to my house as home. Jamie thinks of my house as home. That might be the best thing I’ve heard since I met this woman. Sure, it could’ve been a slip of the tongue, but I refuse to think that.

“Why are you grinning like a goof?” she asks me.

“Don’t distract me. I’m driving as fast as I can to get us home.”

I can feel her eyes on me, but she eventually says, “Okay.”

And somehow, I grin a bit wider. She agrees we’re going home. We drive mostly in silence, but once we’re a few minutes away, Jamie turns her head to look at me.

“You wouldn’t happen to want to go on a run when we get back, would you?”

“We ran this morning, hon.”

“Yeah,” she agrees, “and then we had a traumatic evening.”

“We’re not running,” I tell her, causing her to sigh. She knows if she goes for a run anyway, that means I’ll run with her. It’s dark now and I’ll feel better if I go with her.

“I guess I could try a bath. People say those are relaxing, right?”

“You can definitely do that.”

So when we get home, she heads upstairs to run a bath. It’s technically my weekend with Gregory and seeing him lounging on the couch when we walk in makes me feel a bit guilty that I haven’t spent much time with him so far.

“Did you get something to eat?” I ask him as I sit down in the recliner.

“Yeah. I cooked a pizza. How did dinner go?”

“Be grateful you have the parents you do, okay?”

Gregory sits up. “That bad, huh? Is that why she ran upstairs as soon as she walked in?”

“She’s just wanting to relax. Hey, is there something you want to do tomorrow? We haven’t really done anything this weekend.”

He grins. “Feeling guilty, Dad? I mean, you let me go to a party Friday so you could go on a date with Jamie, and today, you left me here alone all day.”

“Answer my damn question.”

Gregory lifts up a finger. “I even covered for you.”

I frown. “What are you talking about?”

“Mom called to check in on me.” That raises a red flag. She rarely calls him to check in while he’s with me. And the timing makes me suspicious. She decides to call after she’s found out I’m dating someone in their twenties? “And,” Gregory continues, “she wanted to know what we were doing today and casually asked if Jamie would be hanging out with us. I didn’t really answer that part. I just said we’d be hanging out at the house today. I figured if I told her you went to Charlotte with Jamie on your weekend, she’d have something to call and make a fuss about.”

“You shouldn’t lie to your mother,” I tell him, even though I’m grateful he did. I’m sure Shannon would’ve called and asked why I wasn’t spending time with my son on my weekend.

“I didn’t. I did hang out at the house today and so did you before you left.”

“Don’t cover for me, okay? I can handle your mother.”

Gregory holds his hands up. “Try to help a guy out and all I get is a lecture in return.”

I laugh. “I’m not trying to lecture you, but you really shouldn’t lie to your mother in a roundabout way. I don’t need you to cover for me. That’s all I was saying. No long lecture. A lecture is what I gave you this morning.”

He nods solemnly. “Good point.”

Standing, I say, “I’m going to check on Jamie. Start thinking of what you want to do tomorrow.”