“Do you ever worry that we can’t give him everything he needs?”<\/p>\n
Mehadi glanced up the file she’d been reading, following Madeleine’s eyes to where Michael was lying on the floor, doing his science homework. “What do you mean?”<\/p>\n
“I mean…” Matt sighed. “I mean he’s a boy. I’m not, you’re not, and neither one of us ever was. Do you ever wonder if that hurts us as parents?”<\/p>\n
Mehadi set down the folder with a sigh and stood up, circling around the dining room table to where Matt was sitting and wrapping her arms around her. “I don’t see why. Single women raise boys all the time; if one woman can do it, then surely two of us can.”<\/p>\n
Matt covered one of Mehadi’s hands with her own. “I just…what do we do when he gets interested in girls?”<\/p>\n
Mehadi laughed. “I think that’s one area where we’re rather experts, don’t you? Being both girls ourselves and in love with one. Who better to teach him that a woman deserves to be treated with respect, not just as a means to an end?”<\/p>\n
Matt looked thoughtful. “You’ve got a point…”<\/p>\n
Mehadi kissed her thoughtfully on the temple. “What brought this on, all of a sudden?”<\/p>\n
Madeleine let out a deep sigh that seemed to come from her toes. “Believe it or not, those groceries I picked up on the way home. I was in the greeting cards aisle – “<\/p>\n
A snort. “Because it would be too simple to merely buy what we need without having to explore every single aisle.”<\/p>\n
Matt shot her a glare, both for the interruption and the comment. “Well, anyway, there I was, staring at a wall full of Father’s Day cards and it suddenly hits me…Michael won’t have a Father’s Day this year.”<\/p>\n
“Father’s Day?”<\/p>\n
“It’s an American holiday for celebrating your dad. Kinda like the Mother’s Day that we did last month,” she explained.<\/p>\n
“Ah.” Mehadi glanced over at Michael once again. “And you’re afraid that the holiday will remind Michael of what he lost.”<\/p>\n
Matt nodded with a rueful smile. “It did for me. The first few Father’s Days after my dad walked out on us? I hated them. I’d buy him a card every year and wind up ripping it into tiny little pieces when he never showed up to claim it. Michael \u2013 ” She pointed towards the boy. “Michael’s father *can’t* come back. And with us living out here, he can’t even visit his grave.”<\/p>\n
Mehadi pulled back suddenly, an idea striking her. “Certainly he can. Oh, it will be more expensive than if he were still living in Los Angeles, but why shouldn’t the three of us take a vacation?”<\/p>\n
For a moment, Matt’s eyes lit up with the same excitement, but then they grew wary. “I don’t know…”<\/p>\n
“Los Angeles is a big place, Madeleine. I’m sure we can spend a few days there without running into Janice.”<\/p>\n
Matt looked at her lover, surprised. “I thought I was the mind reader in this relationship.”<\/p>\n
Mehadi smirked. “I don’t have to read your mind. Sometimes you wear your thoughts in your eyes. But would that make you feel better? If we could give Michael a chance to spend this Father’s Day with his father?”<\/p>\n
She thought about it for a long moment, but finally nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, it would.”<\/p>\n
“Then I’ll go make the reservations.” Disentangling herself from her partner, Mehadi took a step back but was stopped by Matt’s hand grasping hers.<\/p>\n
“I’ll make the reservations,” she corrected with a twinkle in her eyes. “You’re the genius, you go help Michael with his homework. I have it on good authority that the chapter he’s reading right now is confusing the hell out of him.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“Do you ever worry that we can’t give him everything he needs?” Mehadi glanced up the file she’d been reading, following Madeleine’s eyes to where Michael was lying on the floor, doing his science homework. “What do you mean?” “I … Continue reading