He Gets That From Me by Jacqueline Friedland

Author:Jacqueline Friedland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: She Writes Press
Published: 2021-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

MAGGIE

AUGUST 2018

When we step out of the wide automatic doors at LaGuardia, I’m hit by a wave of humidity so soupy and intense that any nostalgia I might have been feeling for my hometown is instantly extinguished. The scent of car exhaust is strong as we enter a sea of curbside shouts and whistles. Mid-afternoon air sizzles above the concrete, flush with fumes and energy, as travelers attempt to push and stumble toward their final destinations. I already feel a longing for the dry heat and quiet terrain of Sedona.

I hear someone shout Nick’s name and turn to see his father, Roy, at the far end of the curb. He’s making his way through the clusters of travelers who are congesting the passenger pickup areas. Nick and I both raise our arms high and wave back, corralling Wyatt and our three suitcases, as we attempt to change course and make our way toward him.

“Come here, you!” Grandpa Roy wraps his beefy arms around Wyatt first, and instead of shrugging off the embrace, like he would with me, Wyatt squeezes tightly and looks as if he doesn’t want to let go. Roy doesn’t seem to notice the way Wyatt clutches at him, hanging on as though this man is his only life preserver in stormy seas. Roy moves on quickly, leaning over to kiss me on the cheek and then giving Nick a strong wallop on the back. Roy’s been growing heavier with age, but I think the extra weight looks good on him, softening what were once harsh angles on his face into a rounded countenance so much cheerier that it makes me think of Santa with a clean shave.

“I’m parked this way.” He motions with a thumb toward the crosswalk and then lifts the overstuffed tote bag off my arm to heave it over his own shoulder. There’s no rancor in his dark eyes, no trace of anger at me for creating this untenable situation with a surprise extra family member, for accidentally depriving him of the other biological grandson he could have had.

When we called to tell them about Kai and his newly discovered genetics, both Roy and my mother-in-law, Nancy, seemed to have more trouble with the science of what we were telling them than with the fact that my get-rich-quick plans from ten years earlier had resulted in the unintentional abandonment of one of their descendants. Nancy finally started typing searches into Google while we talked by phone, only to discover that the biological phenomenon of superfetation is, indeed, an actual thing. I kept waiting for them to berate me in some way, but they—true to their generous, easy-going style—only asked how they could help.

Nick and I have decided to stay in town for a full week, long enough to have time not only with Kai but also with Nick’s parents, Tess, and my widowed father. Wyatt didn’t meet my parents until he was five years old. He’s never seemed to favor one set of

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