Perfectly Adequate

“She’s moving.” He shakes his head. “We agreed we wouldn’t do this until Roman is older. It’s not a written agreement, but we both voiced it. I heard she was offered a job in New York. New York, Dorothy. That’s too far. That’s too many trips. He’s supposed to start preschool this fall. How can she do this? How can she uproot him like this? There’s no way it’s going to work with every other week. I …” He runs his hands through his messy—and yes—sexy hair.

I feel his anxiety, even if I don’t know what to say. Is he going to ask me to move to New York too, so we’re close to Roman? The idea evokes a nauseating anxiety because I know I’ll say yes. It will kill me to leave my parents, my emus, my comfort zone, but I’ll do it. I’ll do it for Roman. And Eli knows this … he knows my love for Roman is as great as my love for Violet. I don’t see Roman as anything less than my own child. My buddy … my little superhero.

My Romeo.

“So we go.” Yep. Here I go. Avoiding conflict at all cost. “We move to New York.”

“My patients, babe. This isn’t just about Julie, Roman, you, Violet … our families. It’s about my patients.”

I nod, easing out of the recliner and standing in front of him. I just … lean into him. It’s my way of offering a hug. Eli wraps his arms around me.

“Of course … of course you’d say this. I love you so fucking much, Dorothy Mayhem.”

The doorbell rings, and before Eli can answer it, Roman opens the door and runs inside.

“Shh …” Eli preemptively shushes him as he picks him up for a big hug. “Violet is sleeping. How are you, buddy?” He buries his face in Roman’s neck and kisses him over and over.

“Daddy!” He giggles.

Dr. Hathaway—yeah, she’ll always be Dr. Hathaway, Boss Bitch to me—walks in behind Roman and grins at the display of father-son affection.

“Go play quietly in your room while I talk to Mommy.”

“No. Listen, Daddy! We have a surprise.”

Eli holds his finger to his mouth to remind Roman to keep his voice down.

“We have a surprise,” Roman repeats on a whisper, cupping his hands at his mouth.

God … I love this kid.

Dr. Hathaway chuckles.

Eli gives her a hesitant smile, clearly not in the mood for surprises. Especially the ones that involve moving to New York. And I already know he’s pissed, that she’s gotten Roman excited about it.

“Come here, Daddy. Come here now.” Roman tugs on Eli’s hand, pulling him toward the door.

I glance at Dr. Hathaway.

She winks. “You look great, Dorothy. How’s that beautiful little girl of yours?”

I know we’re not supposed to let her butter us up, but I can’t help my motherly pride when she asks about Violet. My daughter is the most beautiful little girl ever. I realize every mom says it, but it’s actually true in my case.

“She’s perfect.”

“Grab the monitor and come with us.” Dr. Hathaway nods to the baby monitor.

I hesitate for a few seconds before grabbing my phone. Eli uses the monitor, but I have audio and video of the nursery on my phone.

I follow them outside just as Eli and Roman cross the street.

“Must have sold,” I murmur, noticing the house across from ours no longer has a For Sale sign in the yard.

“Daddy! This is Mommy’s new house! You like it?”

Eli just … stops, even with Roman tugging on his arm. After a few seconds he turns toward Dr. Hathaway.

She shrugs with a big smile. “It will make it easier for both of us to tuck him in at night. And for him to spend time with his sister. And for me to discuss cutting-edge medical research with Dorothy, when she’s not busy being a superhero.”

Yeah, he’s in shock. He hasn’t even blinked yet.

Me? I’m trying to play it cool, when really I want to ask how often she wants to get together to discuss this cutting-edge medical research. But I don’t take this from Eli. It’s his moment.

It’s his world coming full circle.

“Are you okay, Eli?” she asks on a slight chuckle.

Roman continues to pull on one of his hands while he nods slowly. Something along the lines of the happiest emoji ever takes over his expression as he reaches his other hand to take mine.

“Yeah.” He exhales a long breath. “Everything is definitely okay.”

The End