The Woman in the Back Room (Costa Family)

"I've never thrown up on a ride," Avi declared, chin raising, proud of himself.

"Well, have you ever been on that?" Alessa asked, pointing toward the Zenobio. It was a massively tall crane with a sling-shot shaped edge where four people would be strapped in. So not only did the crane shoot you up in the air, but the people sitting in the sling-shot whipped around in dizzying circles.

"I, ah, no," Avi said, gulping hard.

Ah, so not completely fearless.

"Exactly. So you have no idea if you'd toss your cookies on a ride until you've been on something like that monster," Alessa told him. "We can work our way up to that, though," she said, sensing his hesitance. "That is considered an 'extreme thrill' ride. We still haven't done all the 'high thrills' yet. Wanna do a couple more of those first? Then we can revisit the Zenobio. Or we can go get food and skip it this time."

"Okay," Avi said, nodding.

"How about the Luna 360?" Alessa suggested after walking around for a bit.

Following her lifted arm, I saw a ride that had people strapped in a circle while the ride started to swing side to side, gaining momentum, until it eventually got high enough that it flipped all the riders completely upside down before swinging back toward the ground again.

"That looks fun," Avi decided, voice eager.

"Does your dad want to join?" Alessa asked, knowing what she was doing because the hope that shot into Avi's eyes was impossible to say no to.

"I can if you want," I agreed.

"Really?" Avi asked. "You'll go on rides?"

"I used to go on all your rides with you when you were too small to go by yourself," I reminded him.

Then, as he got older, Brit had set up playdates for amusement park trips. Avi would have rather chewed off his own arm than have his old man go on rides with him and his friends.

"Okay, come on," Avi said, reaching for my hand, surprising me enough that I didn't immediately follow, not until Alessa gave my shoulder a helpful shove.

I didn't remember the last time my kid reached for my hand. I figured it was just one of those things you lost as your kid got older, got closer to that age where they wanted little or nothing to do with their parents.

I held on, waiting for him to drop his hand first as the three of us got in line.

A couple minutes later, it was our turn to climb on. Alessa and I each flanked the sides of Avi. And each of us double-checked his harness even after the attendant did.

"If you need to throw up," Alessa said, giving him a serious look. "You make sure you do so in the direction of your father. Deal?" she asked, offering him her fist, which he readily bumped.

"Here we go," Avi said, practically bouncing with excitement as the ride started to gently sway. "Oh, man," he said as the ride swung up higher and higher.

We were almost to the point of flipping when Avi's hand flew out, grabbing mine in a death grip.

When I looked over, though, I realized he'd grabbed Alessa's as well.

There was a warm sensation spreading across my chest at that sight.

Why, I had no idea.

But I didn't have time to analyze it, either, because with one more swing, we flipped over, making my stomach do the same as Avi let out a scream.

Eventually, we worked ourselves up to the Zenobio.

"You alright there, dude?" Alessa teased with twitching lips. "You look a little green," she added, sharing a knowing smile with me. "Maybe we should just take him home," she said, eyes asking me to play along. "He can't stomach greasy fair food, funnel cakes, and cotton candy right now."

"Yeah, it looks like he might need some plain broth and rice."

"No, I'm feeling better," Avi insisted. "I'm fine. Really. Let's get some funnel cakes."

"Kid, have I taught you nothing?" Alessa asked, rolling her eyes at him. "You put the layer of grease down first. Then you can put down the sugar. Otherwise, the sugar gives you a stomach ache. Get with the program, will ya?" she teased, getting a smile from Avi.

So we ate burgers and fries and funnel cakes. I tapped out after that, but Avi and Alessa hoovered down fried Oreos, churros, and slushes.

They each grabbed a bouquet of cotton candy for the ride home.

Avi passed out in the backseat before he could even taste it.

Alessa shot him a soft look over the seat before giving me a smile. "That's one way to get a kid to sleep at a decent hour," she said, shrugging. "I won't fuck up on the not informing you thing again," she assured me. "I kept meaning to text, and Avi kept distracting me. Then I lost the phone. I'll leave a note whenever we go out from now on. That way, there's no mix-ups or worry."