“Ginger ale, please.”
Once we were all settled with our respective meals dished out, the awkwardness of the silence was driving me up a wall. Typically, in situations like that, I would ramble until the cows came home, but I was afraid of scaring the kid before he had a chance to get to know us.
Finally, Jacob spoke. “This is very good.”
“Do you eat Chinese food a lot?” The simplicity of the question seemed dumb, but it was a start.
He shook his head. “Not really.”
“Well then, I’m glad we could do this tonight. Maybe we could make it our Friday night tradition.” I smiled over at him as he returned the gesture.
“I would like that.”
“Is everything all right with your room?” Cason barely swallowed his food before talking.
“It’s very nice, and bigger than my one at home.”
For some reason, Jacob talking about his home was jarring to me. Of course he had a home with his mother; I knew that, but the concept was just so foreign. Everything about this was. It hit me hard that we really knew nothing about him or his real life. I didn’t even know if he had a bedtime or if any twelve-year-olds had bedtimes. Suddenly, I felt utterly unequipped to be caring for Jacob properly. Why didn’t his mother feed him Chinese food? Did he have some allergy we needed to be aware of? Is Chinese food not all right for growing boys?
Get a grip, Stormi.
“What homework were you working on?” I felt like we were giving him the third degree, but how else were we supposed to get to know the kid?
“I have a history test on Monday. It’s going to be on ancient Greece and Rome. I was just reading over the chapters again.” Jacob beamed a little. It was apparent that he was proud of himself, and I was too.
“Do you like school?” I continued.
Cason smirked at me as he watched Jacob and me going back and forth a bit.
“I do. My teachers are nice this year.”
Once dinner was over, Jacob helped Cason do the dishes.
“So, kid…” I overheard Cason break the silence again from my eavesdropping perch on the couch where I was pretending to read. “What time do you usually hit the sack?”
“Around now,” Jacob replied as I checked my watch. It was ten, which felt late for a twelve-year-old, but what did I know?
I ambled into the kitchen. “How about I finish up in here and Cason shows you how to work the shower in your bathroom. Sometimes the hot water is a little tricky.”
“Good idea, babe.”
Cason led Jacob out of the room, and I put on some yellow gloves to scrub my General Tso’s from the porcelain.
Within a few minutes, my stud of a husband came waltzing back in. “I have to say, he is pretty all right.”
“It’s that Bennett blood,” I replied, baiting him as I threw my gloves under the sink.
“Hey now, that’s my line.” Cason fumbled with his phone until “Wild Horses” started to play. I couldn’t help the smile that came to my face as he grabbed my hands. “Dance with me, baby.”
“I thought you’d never ask.” I pressed my cheek into his chest as we shuffled in a small circle in our closet-sized kitchen.
“You’re perfect,” Cason whispered as the song came to an end.
“Only for you.”
* * *
“Okay,you seriously can never ever wait this long to tell me something this major again,” Cierra scolded over the phone as I sat on the balcony.