Chasing Him - Kat T. Masen Page 0,1

constant fretting over my well-being.

I’m fucking fine.

Just like the song says, Always look on the bright side of life.

Well, the bright side is this ugly orange wall I stand against as I watch the room quickly fill up with parents. Dads every which way you turn. Several are happily playing with their children, some are dressed in suits like my brother, and others are dressed more casually—those are the stay-at-home daddies. You can spot them a mile away. They carry around a backpack like it’s loaded with explosives only to know it’s full of diapers, wipes, and other emergency items to keep the boo-boos away.

At least they aren’t wearing overalls. Ugh.

It’s no surprise police-officer dad is getting the most attention. When it comes to men in uniforms, the single mothers inside the room hover around them like leeches. Are we at daycare or a Tinder meet-up? It’s amusing to watch, especially when you see them strategically try to adjust their blouse to show more cleavage.

I start to lose circulation in my leg as Andy clings to me for dear life, hiding his face in fear, aware of the unusual activity around him.

“Why isn’t my grandbaby runnin’ round like the other kids?”

Taking a deep breath to calm my annoyance, I turn to face Mary Jean, Andy’s grandmother. She’s borderline getting on my nerves. As far as mothers-in-law go, I guess I should count myself lucky, although she hovers over Andy like he’s an abandoned baby bird. He has a mother, me.

“He’s a little shy now, Mary Jean. Give him a moment.”

“Don’t know why ya put him in here. Told ya to move close to home, and I can take good care of him,” she rattles on.

She waits for an answer, but I don’t give one.

Geographically, the distance is welcoming. We mainly see her on holidays when she flies to LA or the one time we flew down south. Though, the death of her son impacted her so greatly, her knock on my door happens more often than I’d have liked.

And I mean way too often.

Mr. Lugo, a young male teacher, enters the room. Mary Jean adjusts her blouse, yanking it down to reveal her very full bust. Quickly pulling out her compact, she checks her face and teeth. For a fifty-something-year-old woman, she definitely doesn’t show her age. Her bleach-blonde hair and bright blue eyes give her a youthful elegance. She is a firm believer in homeopathic remedies and weird-ass creams which take years off your life if you apply them every night.

Aging isn’t in her vocabulary, and neither is the word ‘privacy.’ Every time she stays with us, I find her rummaging in my closet. At first, I was polite and gave her some items, even though she is slightly bigger than me, but that isn’t an obstacle—it only means she flashed more skin than necessary. Then, she got on my nerves. My closet is my haven—nobody touches it. Charlie and Eric are the only exceptions.

“How do I look, darl?” She flattens her skirt waiting for my opinion.

“Like you’re twenty-one, Mary Jean.”

With a wide smile, she squeezes my arm and tails Mr. Lugo. God help me.

“Thank God, your mom is awesome. I really got lucky in the mother-in-law department.” Charlie is standing on my right, carrying baby Ava who has vomited all over Charlie’s chest.

I scrunch up my nose as the smell lingers my way. “Gross, cleavage puke?”

“Yep, the worse kind,” Charlie complains.

“Oh, well, that’s what you get for having knockout tatas,” I point out.

She holds Ava out to Lex, then discretely tries to shove tissues down her blouse in an attempt to clean herself up. Lex, who’s sulking as Amelia ran off, beams as Ava is resting in his arms. He rocks her gently as she stirs, and I smile watching my brother so at ease with his baby girl. Sometimes, I can’t believe how much life has changed for him, for them.

This day is just as important to my brother. You see, Lex is such an important part of Andy’s life. Aside from my dad, he is the only male figure in my son’s life, and I know, at times, it confuses Andy. From an early age, I’d talk about Elijah and show pictures to Andy. It’s important he knows who his father was, even if he never got the chance to know him.

Andy has several of Elijah’s features, and many comment on how much he reminds them of him. It’s the dirty-blond hair, the bright blue eyes,