“All right, this is our last day in Disneyland. What do you guys want to do?” I ask the boys as they are playing a game on my phone together while we ride the tram up to the park entrance.

“We gotta ride Toy Story!” Jack says.

“Yeah, like ten times,” Braxley agrees.

“Okay, what else?”

“Soarin’!” they yell together, and I glance at Faye, wondering if we’re gonna be able to get her on it today.

“No way,” she says. “I’ll get sick; I can’t do simulators.”

“Please, Mommy,” Braxley begs her, and I stick out my bottom lip and say the same thing. “Yeah, please, Mommy.”

She rolls her eyes and swats me on the arm. “Did you guys see that? She hit me,” I exclaim, and the boys begin to tickle Faye.

“Stop!” she hollers, but they don’t give up.

“Say you’ll ride it and they’ll stop.” She laughs so loudly, the other people around us are staring, but we don’t care. We came here to have fun, and that is what we are doing.

“Okay! Okay! I’ll ride it.”

“Yes!” The boys high-five one another, and I wink at Faye as she rubs her side where they just tickled her. “You like my bodyguards?” I ask her, and she sticks her tongue out at me.

The tram comes to a stop, and we get off. Walking towards the park entrance, I nuzzle Faye’s neck, kissing her softly. “We’re in Disneyland, Mama,” Jack says, and I glance over to see him talking on my phone.

Motherfucker!

Char must’ve called him, and he answered it on his own. “Here, she wants to talk to you.” He passes me the phone, and I press mute. “Go ahead. I’ll catch up,” I tell them. Faye takes both of their hands, knowing if I’m asking them to go that something is wrong. And the second I bring the phone to my ear, I hear Char yelling, “Thane! Thane!”

“Yeah, what’s up? I’m here.”

“For Christ’s sake, are you really in Disneyland?”

“Yeah, why?”

“That’s why you’ve been ignoring my texts. You can’t take him out of the state without my consent! What are you thinking?”

“Don’t patronize me, Char. The judge gave me primary custody for a reason. He’s safe and having the time of his life.”

“That doesn’t matter. It’s part of the custody agreement. You should’ve told me.”

“It really didn’t even cross my mind.”

“But lying and saying he had a birthday party did?”

“I knew you would say no if you knew we were going with Faye and her son!”

“Damn straight I would. I don’t even know her, and you have her watching my son. I could call the cops right now and say you kidnapped him. They’d put out an Amber alert.”

“Holy fuck, Charlene! Calm down!” I rake my hand through my hair, pacing. “There’s no reason for you to even be thinking that. He’s safe with me, and we’ll be home tonight.”

“I want to see him as soon as you’re home.”

“No way, it’ll be late, plus he has school tomorrow. Why don’t you just go shopping or something? I just paid your Amex card so you should be good, it’ll make you feel better and forget about all this!”

“Goddammit, Thane! Why would you say that? Can’t you see I’m trying here?”

“Because it’s the truth. Don’t you get it? You chose shopping over Jack and me; you were a terrible fucking wife, so why wouldn’t you turn to that now?”

“Fuck you! I’m calling the cops!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, you’re right, I should’ve told you.” I tuck my tail between my legs, not wanting to, but knowing it’s for the best interests of my son.

“Yeah, you should’ve,” she screams.

“I know, I’m sorry again. I’ll have him call you as soon as we land.”

We hang up, and I look up to the sky, wondering how I got so unlucky when it came to Jack’s mother. If only Faye could be his mom, things would be so much easier. But I know if that were the case, he wouldn’t be Jack, he’d be someone different, and as much as I despise Char, I would never change a thing about Jack.

Sticking my phone into my pocket, I spot Faye and the boys waiting for me outside of the park entrance.

I walk up to them, and Faye says, “Jack can’t get in without your fingerprint.”

“Dang, sorry, I forgot.”

“Is Mama okay?”

“Yeah, buddy, she’s great. She was just making plans for this weekend with you.”

Once we’re in the park, the boys get in line for a ride, and Faye and I wait for them outside. “What happened?” she asks me.

“I…I didn’t exactly tell her we were coming here.”

“Why not?”

“Because I knew she’d freak out, just like she did.” Then I fill her in on our entire conversation, and she says to me. “I get it, Thane, but you have to keep her in the loop, especially with this kind of stuff. Even as much of a pain in the ass as she is.”

“But she would’ve said no!”

“Maybe she would’ve or maybe not? But if you don’t ask, how do you know? What if she took him out of state, how would you feel?”

“I’d fuckin’ kill her.”

“Exactly. I’m on your side here, babe, I really am, but…you have to keep her informed when it comes to him.”

I kick a stray rock and Faye pulls me into a hug. Wrapping my arms around her, I hold her close, thankful to be here with her and to have her on my side. Minus Jack, she’s really all I need. But she is right; I do need to keep Char in the loop on things even if I don’t want to, it’s the right thing to do.