Beside her, his mother’s smile lit with undisguised mischief, and Gray had to glare daggers at her before looking back at Meredith. He kept his face as blank as possible.
“It’s a surprise.”
Meredith dipped her chin and raised a brow at him. “A surprise?” She’d just finished her summer session of classes three days before, and Gray had casually suggested a trip to New Orleans — to enjoy the city and lounge by his parents’ pool with Oscar.
He just hadn’t mentioned the part about the passport office.
“Mmm-hmm.” He offered her a hand to help her up.
She blinked. “That’s all the detail I’m getting?”
“Mmm-hmm,” he repeated.
Smiling widely now, she took his hand, and Gray tugged her up.
“Oscar, I’m taking your mom out for a little while, and you’re going to stay here with Dolly,” he told the toddler.
Gray’s mother beamed, still over the moon about the name Oscar had given her.
“If you want to, we’ll go for a swim,” Dahlia said.
“Wiff wings?” Oscar asked, hesitant. He wasn’t exactly afraid of the water, but he didn’t trust it yet, something Gray expected would change over the next two weeks.
Gray’s mother nodded easily. “Absolutely. You can wear your water wings, and I think Papa Lowell bought a few pool toys.”
That did it.
“Toys?” Oscar got to his feet, and before he could get any further, Meredith scooped him up and planted a kiss on his cheek.
“I’ll see you in a little while,” she told him. “Have fun.”
Gray bent down and pressed a kiss on the boy’s head, and Oscar hugged his knee. Gray loved when he did that. So much so that he heaved him up until they were eye to eye, the toddler giggling wildly, and Gray kissed him on the cheek. Grinning, Gray gave him a squeeze before setting him down again.
Oscar may have been another man’s son by flesh, but as far as Gray was concerned, that meant nothing. The two-year-old chattered constantly, but he never asked about his father because the asshole never spent any time with him. Even when Oscar went to visit his grandparents, Jamie McCormick rarely made a point to be there.
By contrast, Gray knew everything about Oscar. His favorite lunch was“zebra butter”and jelly, a sandwich Meredith made him almost every day on the panini press. It was the first thing Gray’d bought right after he’d been released from the hospital.
Once or twice a week — when Meredith and Oscar would spend the night — they’d all wake up the next morning and take the dogs for a walk. After the first time Gray had lashed the dogs’ leashes to the frame of his stroller — and the child had gone limp with laughter — this had become their routine. A favorite for everyone — even Vulcan and Juno.
Sometimes, when Oscar sat on his lap, he’d find the scar along Gray’s scalp with his tiny fingers. Gray’s hair had grown back, but the little guy hadn’t forgotten the scary mark, and he’d ask if Gray was all better.
“All better and then some,”Gray would say. And that was the truth.
“Bye, O-man. We’ll see you in a little while,” Gray said, scrubbing the boy’s wild golden curls before pulling Meredith toward the door.
In his Acura, she was quiet until he turned onto Philip Street and headed toward St. Charles.
“So, am I dressed okay for whatever we’re doing?” she asked, glancing down at her shorts and flip-flops.
Gray grinned. When winter had turned to spring, he’d fallen in love with the daily sight of her bare legs. He put a hand on her knee as he drove.
“You look amazing,” he muttered, pulling his eyes back to the road.
She tried fishing some more. “Is it going to be fun?”
Gray shook his head. “No. Definitely not,” he told her honestly.
He stole a peek at her just in time to see her frown in confusion. “You’re not joking.”