“Olivia, I thought you couldn’t have…Are you married?”
Words halted, his eyes immediately darted to my ring finger. What were the chances that he’d recognize this antique gold band on my ring finger to be the one he gave me? It was scratched up and worn through since I never took it off. Though our relationship broke, the ring stayed on my finger to keep other men from paying any attention to me…or so that was the reason I gave myself and to those around me. Painfully I had to acknowledge now that I wore this ring as a constant reminder of what I once had with Jamie.
“I’m hungry, Mommy.”
“Ok, sweetheart. We’ll go now.” I stepped around Jamie without answering his question. “Good seeing you,” I said walking away.
“Wait, can I join you?”
Before I could answer no, Ollie spoke for me again. “Sure, Mr.…What do I call him, Mommy?”
“My name is Jamie Oliver Hutchison. You can call me Jamie.”
“Hey, that’s my name!” My heart skipped several beats. Ollie knew that his last name was Hutchison but I had told my son many times he could never tell anyone this information. He usually told people his name was Oliver Maize.
“I told you we had the same Oliver name.” Jamie put out his hands ready to shake Ollie’s. Instead, Ollie gave him a high-five. “Where are we going for lunch?”
“We’re having pizza!” Ollie shouted into the air and ran off ahead of us.
“What happened? I mean, how did Oliver happen? Didn’t the doctor tell us you couldn’t have kids? Isn’t that why we had to break up? And when did you get married?” Jamie sounded anxious for an explanation. I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t me who ultimately broke off the relationship. It was him who didn’t want to see me anymore. He chose having kids and living a life with Melinda, his ex-girlfriend, over me.
More than anything I wanted to tell him the truth about Oliver but disrupting his idyllic life would be selfish.
“Ollie’s adopted.” The words just popped out of my mouth. Why had I said this? What a mistake.
“Huh? That doesn’t make sense. Why? How random. Ollie seems wonderful, but you never mentioned wanting to adopt. What happened?” He sounded frustrated now.
“I wasn’t looking for Ollie. He came looking for me. It’s a long story, Jamie. Maybe one day when we’re in a different place I’ll explain it to you.”
Dumbfounded. That’s how Jamie appeared.
“Liv, he looks just like you. And, where did the name Oliver come from?”
I chuckled at the inside joke. Only if you could see that your son is a mirror image of you. From the day he was born, I understood I would never forget your face.
“I guess we’ve lived together long enough to start looking alike,” I answered with a slight laugh. “As for his name…he came with the name.” I was on a roll with these lies.
Jamie looked to be buying every misinformation. We stopped talking as we sat in a booth with pizza in hand.
“Ollie, what’s your favorite food?”
“Pizza.”
“What about your favorite toy?”
“Firetwucks,” he answered with his mouth full.
“Are you in school yet?”
“I’m going to start kindergarten soon, Mommy says. Right, Mommy?”
“Yes, sweetheart,” I answered wiping down his mouth.
“Any favorite places you like to visit?”
“The zoo—that’s my favorite place in the whole wide world. I like sleeping in my mommy’s bed a lot too. That’s my favorite place but I can only do that on special days, Mommy says.”
Jamie and Ollie looked smitten with one another. Blood was thicker than water.
“I used to love the zoo when I was little. That was my favorite place, too. Maybe we can visit the zoo in Central Park? Would you want to do that with me, Ollie?”
Our son looked up at me with expectant eyes. He wanted to go but didn’t know if I’d let him. My silence kept Ollie quiet as well.
“Oliver, if you are almost five, when is your birthday?”
“Tomowow.”
“Tomorrow? Happy birthday. I’ll have to get you a present. What would you like?”
“To see my daddy. Mommy says I’ll see him one day. I hope it’s tomowow.”
Ollie’s request left us both speechless. I pulled our son from his chair and brought him onto my lap.
Hugging him, I reassured, “Ollie, your daddy is missing you too. You will see him soon. If you’re done, let’s say thank you to Mr. Hutchison and go home. It’s time for a nap.”
“Thank you, Mr. Hutchison.” He yawned and was ready for a long nap. I picked him up and carried him out the door.