What I’m not prepared for is when she stretches her neck, tosses her chin in the air as she marches into the bathroom. On her way, she informs, “Breakfast will be ready in thirty minutes.” When the door closes—not slams, might I add—I let out a heavy breath. This woman never fails to surprise me.
I head out to the bathroom in the hall to take a leak before going to JR’s room to check in on him. It’s been a morning of surprises and emotions running high for all of us. I tend to him, being sure to talk and make sure he’s okay. And he is. Jordan is his usual self, not mentioning anything about finding me in his mother’s room half dressed. We do our usual morning chant about daily success followed up by a two-step and make our way to the kitchen.
True to her word, the smell of breakfast is in the air as we travel down the hall. Zoey’s sitting at the bar, eating already. She has Jordan’s plate across from hers and mine next to his. She doesn’t regard me, but smiles at Jordan. I don’t want things to turn sour for us, especially since we’re naturally inclined to be lighthearted with each other, constantly teasing and joking around. I want to grab the bull by the horn and redirect its path. I grab the fork she has lying next to my plate and the stool and pull it as close to her as possible. I scoop up eggs from her plate with my fork. Zoey’s neck snaps in my direction and I avoid her eyes.
“So, JR, we usually take our annual vacation the week before I return to work,” I call over to Jordan as I chew my food. “You know the season starts soon, so where do you want to go?”
His eyes go big. “Can we go back to Mexico? That was fun!”
I dip my fork in the grits on Zoey’s plate, loving the proximity. “Nah. That’s too far. We don’t have that type of time. How about somewhere closer?”
I can see the cogs of his mind going.
“What about Disney?” The mention alone excites him.
I snatch a piece of crispy bacon from Zoey’s plate. “Well, you know your mom doesn’t like being around large groups of kids and we have to include her from now on. Plus, you can’t take too much time off of school. It will have to be something close and low key.”
Jordan shrugs. “Then I don’t know. Let’s just do something fun.” His enthusiasm has waned.
I toss Zoey a glance, lowering my chin playfully. “Mommy, do you have any ideas…suggestions?” I inch closer to her and lower my voice, just slightly. “Where do you wanna ride Daddy next?”
Zoey jolts and with wide eyes, observes Jordan, who is immersed in his plate. Then she looks at me with a face-splitting grin. And that’s when I know we’ll be fine.
“Ah, man! I forgot my calculator!” Jordan yelps and shoots out of the kitchen.
When he leaves, while forking into her plate, I mutter, “I’m sorry.”
“No, Stenton. I know I need to be more progressive about this marriage thing.” She shakes her head. “By all means, I do want to be with you forever. There isn’t another man I can imagine doing my forever with.” Her eyes lock with mine. “I just need time. It’s just that this is all happening so fast. It’s something I’ve spent years dreaming about, and now it’s finally here. I just need time to wrap my brain around the turnaround. I just need time to make sense of it all, you know?”
“I do.” I drop my shoulders. “And I know I haven’t helped, but Zo, about the baby…we really do need to discuss that. I want to grant you that; it just won’t be as easy as it sounds. So, we need to talk about it.”
More subdued and even tender, a far cry from her Ni?a persona, Zoey shakes her head with parted lips. One thing that hasn’t changed about our dynamic is how she can frustrate the hell out of me and quickly assuage with her submissive posture.
~~~~~~~~~~
September 2014
~Zoey~
I keep checking my watch and the doorway of the sanctuary.
Where are they?”
I text Stenton again, asking for their ETA. As soon as I let out an exasperated breath, I see Kim approaching me.
“We’re taking the kids to the back to line them up for the processional. I can grab JR when he comes in from there, okay?” Kim gives a brief nod, showing far more calm than I’m feeling right now.