❁ Asher ❁

Marriage and fatherhood were never goals of mine. I didn’t think I could let anyone close enough. I hadn’t connected with my parents or brother well. Even Garrett and I were more like friends out of convenience, which explained why he left once he spotted an escape route. I hadn’t minded the idea of spending my life alone. That is until Junie skated into my life.

Now we have two children who both think I’m a quality father. I’m particularly struck by this fact when we travel a block over to Junie’s favorite sandwich spot downtown. Jimena skates next to her mother but frequently smiles back at me. Eli keeps close to me, checking for my reactions to people and the questions they ask. My boy wants to be like his old man, and I often think to find him a better role model.

“You’re proof how being an outsider doesn’t make you a loser,” Junie says when I question Eli’s admiration of me.

“He isn’t me, and I don’t want him to think he should be.”

“He’s awkward and feels weird in a world full of normal people. So, yeah, he is you, isn’t he? And what’s wrong with him wanting to grow up to be a successful, smart, sexy bastard like his father?”

“My crippling fears nearly lost you.”

“But they didn’t. Now stop with the low self-esteem act, Ferrer. I’m not giving you a handjob to cheer you up if that’s what you’re hoping.”

I swear Junie throws the word “handjob” out whenever she hopes to distract me. Pathetically, I respond accordingly even knowing I’ve been conditioned to crave sex the minute she says the word.

Junie isn’t my only weakness. The kids know how to play me, even if they don’t realize it. I loathe when they’re sad and will give them anything to improve their moods.

I ask Egor to supervise the installation of a quiet room in the penthouse so the kids have a safe spot to vent. Soothing music playing overhead, they tear up paper, scream to their hearts’ content, and kick the padded walls. Jimena refuses to go in without Junie, but Eli is happy to have a place where he can let loose.

The more Junie takes over my life; Egor doesn’t know what to do with his increasing free time. He wants to buddy up with Mallory, but she isn’t interested in making a new best friend.

“Get a woman,” she grunts one night at dinner when he asks if she wants to spend his free night off together.

“Get a man,” he mutters back.

“Asexual people aren’t interested in romance,” she says while cutting Jimena’s steak. “You’re lonely. I am not.”

“I’m not lonely.”

“Yes, you are,” Junie says while cutting Eli’s steak. “Asher, tell Egor that he’s lonely.”

“You’re lonely,” I say, and he gives me a death stare. “There’s nothing wrong with finding company with people not in this particular room.”

“Maybe I’m asexual like Mallory.”

“Nope,” she says immediately.

“I’ve caught you checking out parts of the anatomy that aren’t asexual in nature,” Junie says, carefully wording her sentence. “You’re just scared to take the leap and have your heart broken, but if things go bad on your date, we’ll be here to feed you sugar and talk trash about her.”

Unable to help myself, I blurt out, “I’m not doing that.”

Junie snickers at me. “You’ll do whatever necessary to cheer up your friend.”

Nodding, Mallory winks at Egor. “Time to put yourself out there and see what happens.”

Egor grudgingly goes on several dates before finding a woman he marries within weeks of meeting. Junie can’t stand Patricia who can’t stand Mallory who thinks Patricia is cool.

“She’s like the best person ever,” Mallory says, and I can’t tell if she’s serious.

“Nope,” Junie insists. “You hate her.”

“She’s magical.”

These two women will always know how to irritate each other in a way where I can only step aside and allow them to play their games.

While I trust Junie can handle her melodrama, I want to fix every problem the kids have, and she’s often forced to play the bad guy.

“Your parents didn’t hand you everything in life,” she reminds me later when I give her grief about usurping my authority. “If they had, you wouldn’t have built what you have, so don’t steal the kids’ chances to create something in the future by coddling them today.”

“I don’t see it as coddling.”

“I know, but you’re wrong,” she says, fighting laughter. “You overprotect those you love. Like when you first fell for me and had me followed. It’s your way to want to keep people safe even from themselves. That’s okay. It’s who you are, and I love who you are. That’s why it’s my job to step in when you can’t help yourself. We’re a team, right?”

“Always.”

We’re the best kind of team. Junie takes charge of situations I’m unable to handle. Every month, we visit my parents’ house for dinner. If Alastair starts talking about money, Junie cuts him off every single time with some lie about how we’re saving money for a renovation or trip. Once she claimed we couldn’t afford to give him a hundred dollars because we’d spent all our money at the Farmer’s Market, but he could have a tomato if he wanted.

My parents love her as more than the bond reconnecting me with them. She’s positive without being preachy and laid-back without feeling lazy. Mostly, she corrals the kids and me enough to force us outside when we’re satisfied most days to remain in the tower.

One afternoon after visiting my parents, Junie gets the idea to stop at the Flamingo Exit Diner. The kids think we’re just eating out. I know what she’s up to, though.

Junie and I once lived mostly solitary lives, keeping few people close. That part hasn’t changed much, though our circle of family and friends has grown over the years.

Yet it all started in the back booth where I once sat alone, yet now eat the best chicken and waffles with the best woman and kids.