Halley
Just like that, the meeting was over and everyone was filing out, leaving just me and Jake sitting in there. I sighed with relief and sank down into a chair next to him, finally done with all of it. “Uh oh,” Jake said, taking one look at my face. “Was it that bad? You didn't like them?”
“No, everyone's great,” I said, shaking my head. “I love them, especially Frank. God, every time I was starting to feel overwhelmed, it seemed like he was right there, offering me something to drink or moving me on to meet with someone else or something. He was so great, I can't even tell you.”
Jake smiled a little at that. “So what's the problem then?”
“It was all just so…overwhelming,” I said, throwing my hands up in the air. “Trying to remember who everyone was and who I had already met and who I hadn't met and… Well, it was just a lot.”
He winced at that. “Yeah, I probably should have just introduced you to a few people first, before I really threw you to the wolves, huh?”
“It's fine,” I said, “I'm just exhausted now. And there's no way I'm going to remember all of those people the next time I see them.”
Jake laughed a little at that. “Don't worry,” he said. “No one really expects you to remember them.” He stroked my cheek lightly. “I'm really proud of you, though,” he told me.
I blushed and ducked my head. “I mean, it's not like I really did anything special,” I told him. “I just—”
“Met a couple dozen biker dude and didn't run screaming from the room,” Jake surmised. “I'm proud of you.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“In fact, if you were interested, I'd like to show you exactly how much I appreciate what you just did.” Jake said.
I looked around, biting my lower lip. “Here?” I asked. It seemed like anyone could just walk in at any time.
Jake laughed, though, and shook his head. “No, not here. And I don't know what you think I was thinking. I just wanted to take you and Cole out to dinner. I know this great little diner that specializes in dino nuggets for the kids.”
I laughed as well. “That sounds really good, actually. I really don't feel like cooking tonight.”
“Then let's go see what the little rascal's up to, shall we?”
Cole was still in the other room just where we'd left him, but he was totally passed out asleep, and the cartoon that he'd been watching had ended already. I smiled a little, seeing him like that, and was surprised to see Jake smiling tenderly at him as well.
It was Jake who went over to the couch and sat down next to him, gently shaking the boy's shoulder. “Hey buddy,” he said as Cole sat up groggily, wiping at his eyes. “We were thinking about going to get some dinner. Are you hungry?”
Cole blinked at him for a moment and then nodded. “Yeah,” he mumbled. He held out his arms to Jake, and Jake, although he looked a bit surprised, obediently picked the kid up, carrying him easily over to me.
“He's going to be asleep again by the time we get out to my car,” I said, rolling my eyes fondly at the two of them.
“That's fine,” Jake said. “I don't mind being used as a pillow. Anyway, he doesn't seem like the type of kid to wake up grumpy, so it's all fine, right?”
“Yeah,” I said.
At the diner, we got a little booth in the back, and Jake spent the time before our food arrived showing Cole how you could scrunch up straw wrappers and then drop a little water on them to make the grow like snakes across the table, which was funny until Cole tried it himself and dumped water everywhere.
“Look what you did,” I sighed to Jake.
He just laughed and mopped water off his jeans, as though it didn't bother him that it looked like he had had an accident. And maybe it didn't matter. I was starting to realize that behind Jake's macho biker persona, he was actually just a really good, sweet, and caring guy. It was surprisingly, but I really liked realizing it about him.
Cole looked at me with his lower lip wobbling. “Can I still get dino chickens, Mama?” he asked, looking for all the world like he was about to cry.
“Oh honey,” I said, sliding around our booth and pulling him into a hug. “Of course you can still get dino nuggets. That was just a simple mistake. But what do you say to Jake, after you spilled water all over his pants?”
Cole looked at Jake for a long moment and then giggled a little. “You look silly now!” he said.
I couldn't help laughing at that. Definitely not what I'd meant for the kid to say, but I wasn't about to scold him when he'd already looked so upset a moment before. Jake seemed to be of the same mind as me, because he decided to take things even further.
“Oh yeah?” he asked Cole. “You think I look silly now?” He picked up a couple forks and stuck one in either side of his mouth as though he were some sort of strange walrus. “What do you think now?” he asked, his voice comically distorted by having the metal in his mouth.
That set Cole off practically shrieking with laughter, and I shook my head at the two of them. “If we manage not to be kicked out of here before our food arrives, it'll be a miracle,” I said.
“Mama, don't you want to look silly too?” Jake asked, handing me a couple spoons.
I shook my head but picked up the spoons, putting them in my mouth to mimic him, making Cole laugh even harder.
I had to admit, it was good to hear him laugh. I hadn't heard that all that much lately. I looked over at Jake, considering him. He wasn't really anything like I could ever have expected him to be, and I had to wonder if my parents could meet him, to see him with Cole and to see him with me, what they would think of him. I wondered if they still would have sent me off to Louisiana back when I'd found out that I was pregnant.
But I guess that wasn't something that I'd ever know. Better just to enjoy the moment.
I hugged Cole a little tighter, and something settled a little inside of me as Jake reached an arm around both of us, pulling us all together.
Like a family.