Page 186 of The Path to Loving Him
“No, no, Uncle Ry Ry, it goes around your waist. Not your leg,” Mac says, tugging on the tutu skirt she wants me to wear.
“Yeah, I’m aware, but it won’t fit around my waist. I’m too big.”
Hands on her hips, she stares at me. “It looks weird.”
“I don’t know, I think I make it look good.”
She shakes her head and heads back into the house. “Where are you going?”
“Stay there,” she calls out.
Sure, not a problem. I love standing out in the backyard, wearing a tutu around my calf, a crown on my head, and an obscene amount of Cassidy’s lipstick on my lips.
Mind you, Mac’s wearing a Batman mask, a cape around her neck, and a foam sword sticking out of the top back of her shirt. There’s nothing wrong with the role reversal, I actually welcome it, but she could have at least stayed in the lines of my lips when applying the lipstick. I just look foolish with unlined lips.
I will admit, though, that this neighborhood was the right choice. It’s quiet, doesn’t have much traffic besides residents, and there isn’t one vacation rental on the street, leading to a peaceful space. I only wished we had more kids Mac’s age for her to play with.
And the house, well, let’s just say Mac was ecstatic a few days ago when she woke up and saw the living room decorated with horses, but surprisingly, that was not what made her the happiest. It was the pictures of Cassidy hung on the wall. She laid the new horse throw blanket down on the floor in front of the picture and played with the Chewys, and every once in a while, she stared up at the picture and smiled at her mom.
Fucking gutted me.
But also, I couldn’t have been happier because I knew Mac was happy.
The sound of a car slows down, and when I look toward the shared driveway, I see Gabby’s car pull up. My heart flutters as I see her get out of her car, still wearing her baseball cap that she wore at practice, a pair of spandex shorts, and an Almond Bay baseball shirt that I gave her—not one of mine because that would be obvious since it would be very big on her.
She pulls out her water bottle and her bag and then heads toward the stairs but pauses when she sees me standing in the grass under the oak tree. She tilts her head to the side, taking me all in, a smile tugging on the corner of her lips.
“Do not laugh,” I say to her.
“I’d never,” she replies, her cheeks twitching.
“You’re such a liar.”
The back door opens and closes, and Mac comes storming out with her entire bag of dress up.
“I brought all the skirts.” She dumps them on the grass, and when she sees Gabby, she says, “Hi, do you want to play with us?”
“Oh.” Gabby glances at me. “That’s okay. I don’t want to disturb you.”
“No, we want you to play,” Mac says as she walks up to Gabby and takes her hand. I see the panic in Gabby’s eyes when she looks at me. It’s been a week and a half since we’ve officially been together, and in that time, Gabby has kept her distance whenever Mac has been around. But it seems like Mac has other plans.
And you know what, I don’t mind. I’m so comfortable at this point that I almost want to see how Mac gets along with Gabby, so I nod, letting Gabby know that it’s okay for her to hang, which seems to ease the panic.
“What’s your name again?” Mac asks as she forces Gabby to take a seat on the blanket we have laid out.
“Gabby.”
“Oh right,” Mac says. “Do you like superheroes?”
“Love them.”
“Want to be Robin? I’m Batman.”
“I’d love to be Robin,” Gabby says.
“Great.” Mac digs through the clothes and hands Gabby a Spider-Man mask and a tie. “Here you go, you’re Robin. Put them on.”
Gabby cutely smiles and slips the pre-knotted tie over her head and the mask over her eyes. “And who is your uncle?”
