“No. But it tasted good.” She pushed her sandwich away. “What are your plans this weekend? Vivian’s not coming, is she?”
“She’ll be here next weekend. For London’s birthday. And I can’t imagine London not wanting Bodhi to be there, which means that Emily will probably make an appearance at the party as well.”
“And me,” Marge said, grinning. “I can’t wait to watch.”
“Nothing’s going to happen. She’s been on good behavior lately.”
“Hmmm… let’s see how long that lasts,” Marge said with a skeptical look. “By the way, are you going to Mom and Dad’s tomorrow? Liz and I are planning to swing by for a little while, especially since we weren’t there last weekend. Since I had the plague, I mean.”
“Thank God you haven’t given it to Liz,” I remarked.
“Yes, especially since she’s getting crushed at work. One of the other therapists in her practice group has been on maternity leave since late July.”
“Speaking of maternity, when do you and Liz meet with the fertility doctor? Didn’t you say sometime in November?”
She nodded. “On the twentieth. The Friday before Thanksgiving.”
“What happens if you’re both able to have kids? Would you both get pregnant?”
“I’d have the child. I always thought it would be fun to be pregnant.”
“Tell me if you’re still feeling that way around the eight-month mark. By the time London was born, Vivian was thoroughly sick of being pregnant.”
“That’s Vivian, and she was younger. I know this will be the only time for me, and I’d make sure to enjoy every minute of it.”
“Having a child is going to change your life. It’s changed mine, that’s for sure.”
She looked almost wistful. “I can’t wait.”
When I picked London up from school, the first thing she asked when she got in the car was whether we were going to have date night again.
“Since it’s Friday and Mommy’s not here?”
Why not? “That sounds like a terrific idea.”
“What should we do?” London asked, already buzzing with anticipation.
“Hmmm,” I said. “We could have dinner at home or go out. Or we could go to the real aquarium.”
“The aquarium! Can we really go there?”
“Of course. I’m pretty sure it’s open until eight o’clock.”
“Can we ask Bodhi if he wants to come?”
“You want to bring Bodhi on our date night?”
“Yes. And I can wear my butterfly wings. The ones I got at the zoo. And he can wear his wings, too.”
“To the aquarium?”
“For the fish,” she said.
I wasn’t sure I understood the correlation, but if it made her happy, that was fine with me.
“I can call, but Bodhi might be busy tonight. It’s kind of last minute.”
“We should try. And Miss Emily can come, too.”
I waited until we got home before calling Emily. When I asked about the aquarium, she told me to hold on and then called out to Bodhi.
“Do you want to go to the aquarium tonight? London is going!”
“Yes!” I heard Bodhi shout, before Emily came back on the line.
“I take it you heard him.”
“I did,” I said.
“What time are you thinking?”
“How about I pick you up in an hour?”
She hesitated. “How about I pick you up? DVDs for the kids, remember? I know it’s not that far, but we’ll be dealing with rush-hour traffic. Are you okay with doing the driving again?”
“Sure,” I agreed.
“Text me the address. And let me start getting the two of us ready. See you in a bit.”
“Oh,” I said, “London wants Bodhi to wear the wings he got at the zoo.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
She laughed. “It’s fine with me. And way better than having him run around with a light saber.”
As was becoming her habit, London took a while to get ready for date night. Ultimately she picked a white skirt with lace, a long-sleeved pink top, pink sneakers, and, of course, the butterfly wings.
I’d opted for a more casual outfit: dark pants, dark shirt, and comfortable shoes.
“That’s an eye-catching outfit,” I said. “You definitely look ready to see the fish.”
“I want to get some ideas for my aquarium,” she said.
For her birthday, I thought. At least she was making it easy for me, even if I’d end up cleaning the thing.
“Do you want to pick a movie? We’ll be riding with Miss Emily again.”
“I think we should watch Finding Nemo.”
“Sounds like a good choice to me.”
She found the case and brought it to me. As she was handing it over, I received another message from Taglieri. Calls still coming in like crazy. You’re the man!
What a great week this was turning out to be. What I didn’t know was that it was going to get a whole lot better.
Sea Life aquarium was located in Concord, about fifteen miles north of Charlotte, but the traffic meant it took nearly forty minutes to get there.
Not that any of us minded. I caught Emily up on my recent work triumphs, hinted at Marge and Liz’s plans to start a family, and talked about my parents. She shared the latest updates on her family and her paintings for the show. Again, by unspoken agreement, we didn’t mention Vivian, David, or our shared past.
At the aquarium, the kids raced from one exhibit to the next, just as they’d done at the zoo. Emily and I trailed behind, keeping an eye on them. As we followed, I couldn’t help noticing the glances that Emily drew from other men. Most of them were with their own families and were circumspect—I’m not sure Emily noticed at all—but I found myself attuned to the way people reacted to her in a way I hadn’t before.
We finished our tour of the aquarium, the biggest hits for the kids being the sharks, sea turtles, sea horses, and the octopus. Just as we were stepping out the door onto the promenade, I heard music drifting out of an open door marked as an employee entrance.
The song that was on came to an end, and a radio DJ came on the air, announcing the song coming up: JD Eicher’s “Two by Two.” I paused.
“Did you hear that, London? There’s a song called ‘Two by Two.’ Just like your favorite book.”
“Is it about animals?”
“I don’t know,” I said. The DJ was still talking and I turned to Emily. “She was supposed to have her recital tonight. She wanted to be the butterfly.”
“Right now, I am a butterfly,” London announced, letting her wings catch the evening breeze.
“Well, since it’s date night, would you like to dance with me?”
“Yes!”
A moment later, the song started, and I took London’s hands. By that time, the sun was low in the sky, twilight turning the world sepia colored. Aside from Emily and Bodhi, we had the promenade to ourselves.
I found the lyrics strangely affecting as I danced with my daughter. She swayed and bounced and held my hands, revealing flashes of the young woman she would become, and the innocent girl she still was.
It was, I realized, the first dance I’d ever shared with my daughter, and I didn’t know when or if it would happen again. I couldn’t imagine dancing with her in a few years—by then, the idea would probably embarrass her—so I lived in the moment and gave myself over to the dance, thankful for yet another wonder at the end of an already unforgettable week.
“That was the most touching thing I’ve ever seen,” Emily said to me as we walked to the car. “I took some photos with my phone. I’ll text them to you later.”
“It was pretty special,” I agreed, still drifting on the melody of the song. “I’m just glad Bodhi didn’t try to cut in.”
“That wouldn’t happen. I asked him to dance, but he said no. Then, he told me he found a snail and he wanted me to pick it up.”
“Little boys and little girls are certainly different, aren’t they?”
“You get sugar and spice and everything nice,” she said, referring to the nursery rhyme. “Meanwhile, I get the snail.”
“No puppy-dog tails, though.”
“That’s only because he couldn’t find one.”
I laughed. “I’ll bet the kids are starving.”
“I’m starving, too.”
“The real question is whether we let them pick where we eat, or whether we get to pick.”
“Just a warning that if we don’t find something quickly, Bodhi might start getting cranky. And once that happens, you don’t want to be anywhere in the vicinity.”