Chapter 2
Series 1 Chapter 2
Ryan came home twenty minutes later.
Lucy had fallen asleep on the couch again, curled beneath the blanket in her wrinkled birthday dress. I was still sitting beside the untouched cake when his key turned in the lock.
“Em?”
He entered carrying his laptop bag and a plastic bag from the gas station down the street.
His dress shirt was gone. He wore the same blue team shirt from the photographs, with a streak of white paint across one shoulder.
Ryan stopped when he saw the cake.
“Is she asleep?”
“It’s ten twenty.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “The project took longer than I expected.”
“What happened to your shirt?”
He glanced down. “Coffee. I had a spare in the car.”
I placed my phone on the table.
The photograph showed Ryan carrying Noah across the finish line while Claire ran beside them.
His face changed briefly.
“So you weren’t at work,” I said.
“The project did have a problem.”
“But you weren’t there.”
“Claire called as I was leaving. Noah’s partner didn’t show up for the family relay.”
“And that became your emergency?”
“He was standing there alone, Emma.”
“So was your daughter.”
Ryan lowered his voice. “Don’t turn one bad evening into something ugly.”
I pointed to the caption.
“Someone called you Noah’s dad.”
“It was another parent.”
“You liked the post.”
“It was a picture of a kid winning a race. I wasn’t analyzing the caption.”
The couch creaked behind us.
“Daddy?”
Lucy sat up, rubbing one eye.
Ryan’s expression softened. “Hey, birthday girl.”
He opened the plastic bag and pulled out a stuffed unicorn. The orange price sticker was still attached to its ear.
Lucy had stopped liking unicorns last year. For three months, she had asked for a small telescope from the science store.
Ryan had promised to choose one with her.
“I brought you a surprise,” he said.
Lucy accepted the unicorn.
“Thank you.”
Her voice was painfully polite.
“I’ll make today up to you,” Ryan said. “We’ll do something special this weekend.”
“The planetarium?”
He paused.
“Sure. If that’s what you want.”
“It was what I wanted for my birthday.”
“Right. Of course.”
Lucy ran one finger over the price sticker.
“Did Noah win?”
Ryan smiled without thinking. “First place. His shoe nearly came off on the last turn, but he kept running.”
“What shoes?”
“His blue Strikers. The ones we bought last month.”
The answer came immediately.
“He couldn’t eat the prize cookies,” Ryan continued. “Claire forgot to tell the teacher about his peanut allergy, so I stopped him.”
Lucy looked down at the unicorn.
“You remembered his allergy.”
“Of course.”
“You forgot I don’t like unicorns.”
Ryan looked at me.
I said nothing.
Lucy’s mouth trembled, but she pressed her lips together.
“Why did you go with him?”
“He needed someone for the race.”
“I needed you for my candles.”
“We can light them now.”
“It isn’t my birthday anymore.”
“It’s only twenty minutes past ten.”
“You promised.”
Ryan exhaled. “Noah doesn’t have a father. Sometimes I have to help him with things other children already have.”
“But I didn’t have my father tonight.”
“You have me every day.”
“No, I don’t.”
The words were barely audible.
Ryan’s patience began to thin.
“You’re tired. We’ll discuss this tomorrow.”
Lucy didn’t move.
“Do I have to share you with Noah?”
“This isn’t about sharing. It’s about being kind to someone who has less.”
“I had less than him tonight.”
“Lucy, you already have a dad. Noah doesn’t. You’re old enough to understand that sometimes he needs me more.”
Lucy stared at him.
Then she climbed onto a chair and picked up the cake.
“Sweetheart?” I followed her into the kitchen.
The largest slice was still marked with the napkin she had saved for Ryan.
Lucy opened the trash can and tipped the cake inside.
“He can have my cake too,” she said. “I don’t want to share anymore.”