Page 91 of The Incredible Ordinary

I swallow hard.

That’s not it. It can’t be. I’m not… I’ve never…

My thoughts come to a screeching halt when the front door bangs shut and then Theo barrels into the kitchen with Dog on his heels, both bright-eyed and full of energy from their walk.

“Morning,” Theo says, cheerful and well-rested. He drops his backpack in the corner and head straight for the box of cereal I put out on the counter last night.

He hums while he pours himself a big bowl.

“Cutting it close,” I tell him.

“We saw a squirrel,” he says, like that explains everything. His mouth is already full of cereal, even though he’s still holding the milk carton. He swallows, and I bite back a smile when he wipes his mouth with his sleeve. There are these moments when I’m reminded that Theo is still a kid, and I love them. The pace at which he’s growing up scares me. The approaching reality of not being needed anymore? I can’t imagine how I’ll ever come to terms with it.

I hand him a napkin, and he smiles bashfully as he takes it and wipes his mouth, even though everything worth wiping has already ended up on the sleeve of his blazer.

“I have chess after school,” he says.

I grab his spoon and take a bite of his cereal. I’m still chewing when I nod and point the spoon at the wall. “I know; it’s on the calendar. I’ll bring your gear and meet you at practice so you can head straight there from school?”

He takes the spoon back, picks up his bowl, and starts to shovel the cereal straight into his mouth.

I sigh, but he ignores me. The rest of the cereal is gone in an impressive two point five seconds.

“I’m late,” he says. The spoon clatters on the table.

“You better put those feet to work, then.”

“You could drive me?” he asks hopefully.

“I could, but then how will you learn responsibility?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he says, but there’s a small smile in the corner of his lips. He gets up, grabs his backpack, and makes it halfway out the door before he turns back, jogs to me, gives me a quick hug, and runs out again.

“Bye,” I call after him.

“Bye!” he shouts back, followed by the slam of the door.

Then it’s just me and my thoughts again.

By the timeI leave for soccer practice, I’m already late. I accidentally conked out on the bed, woke up with a start, saw the time, and barely had time to throw on a hoodie before I was out the door. I have to turn back on the street corner when I remember I’m supposed to bring Theo’s gear. After that unexpected pit stop, I make a mad dash toward the stadium,where I’m greeted by Milán, who’s standing next to a harried-looking Theo.

“Dad!” he says when he sees me. “You’re late.”

“I know. I’m so sorry, kiddo.”

“That earlier lecture was so out of place,” he announces before he grabs the backpack and runs toward the locker rooms. I lean against the wall, put my hands on my knees, and try to catch my breath. When I finally look up, I find Milán looking at me with raised brows.

“I fell asleep,” I say.

He tilts his head to the side.

“It’s been a long day,” I mutter.

He reaches out, and I jerk violently when his hand comes a hairsbreadth away from my cheek. He sends me a weird look, picks something out of my hair, then holds it up to show me a feather.

I rub my face and flick the feather away. He grins and has the audacity to look… fine. Just entirely normal. The way people look when they don’t have a sudden urge to find out what someone else’s lips taste like.

“Wow,” he says. “You’re a mess. Is this you trying to make me feel better because usually I’mthe disaster?”