It was like we all heard it at the same time: this high-pitched whistling sound, barely perceptible, and then an explosion of color in the sky, followed by a boom that seemed to shake the ground beneath our feet. Everyone clapped and cheered.
The fireworks were stunning. I’d seen fireworks before, of course, but never like this. Maybe it was because all the fireworks I’d ever been to had been in the city, so there was always plenty of competing light, or maybe this night was just spectacularly clear and dark, but the fireworks seemed brighter and more magnificent than should even be possible. The full spectrum of colors exploded across the sky, in huge bursts followed by loud booms, in short little spurts, in shapes, like flowers and even flags. Everyone oooh’d and aaah’d, and the kids clapped their hands. When the grand finale went off, I felt goosebumps down my arms. It really was one of the neatest things I’d ever seen, and when Cole looked over at me with a smile, I grinned back, happy that I was there with him.
It was late when we finally made our way back to the car. Cole hoisted Declan up onto his shoulders since he was too tired to walk, and we hadn’t even made our way out of the parking lot when Declan was sound asleep in his car seat.
As we drove, Cole reached over and put his hand on top of mine.
“I had a great time tonight,” I said. “Those fireworks were really something.”
“They do a good job,” he said. “And I had a nice time too. So did Declan.”
We were quiet for the rest of the trip home, though the silence was comfortable, like we could just enjoy being in each other’s company without the need to fill the empty space with talking. When we got back to the house, Cole carefully extricated Declan from his car seat and carried him inside to bed. He came down a minute later.
“He is zonked out,” he said. “I don’t think he woke up at all.”
“It was a busy night for him.”
Cole yawned and stretched. “I could go for a beer. You want one?”
“Sure,” I said.
He went over to the fridge and got out two bottles of beer, which we took out onto the deck. He lit a citronella candle, and we sat next to each other as we drank the cold beer and looked up at the sky, which was dark, speckled with stars.
“Some lady tonight thought that you were my husband,” I said. “I didn’t correct her.”
He smiled. “Does this mean you want to get married?”
“No.”
He put a hand to his chest and winced. “Oh, you’re breaking my heart.”
I laughed. “Oh, stop it.”
“I’ll at least take it as a good sign that you didn’t try to correct her.”
“Well, she just seemed so enamored with the idea of us as this little family that I didn’t want to shatter that illusion.”
“We do make a nice little group, don’t we?”
“Yes,” I said, happy that he said that.
“That was one of the reasons I was hesitant to date anyone—because I wasn’t sure how it would affect Declan. But he’s crazy about you. Almost as crazy about you as I am.”
“He’s a really great little kid.”
The thing was, I had never really envisioned myself being with someone who already had a kid. Having had my own stepparent growing up, I knew the challenges that could come up, though I sure as hell wouldn’t be trying to climb into bed with Declan when he was a teenager. Still, even though Bill and I had had a good relationship up until that point, there were difficulties.
Cole had a smile on his face. “I think I forgot to mention it to you, but the other day Declan was saying that he was thinking about asking if you’d be his mom.”
“He was? That’s so sweet.”
“It was sweet. A little sad, too. Well, he didn’t seem sad, so that’s good, but...we haven’t really talked about his mom. I know that it’s a topic that will come up eventually. He really is quite smitten with you, though.”
I thought back to my own childhood, the questions that I’d had about my father, questions that I just knew not to ask my mother. Why had he left? Did he love us? Did he ever think about us? Did he have a new family now? All things that Declan himself had probably wondered about his mom.
“He didn’t say anything to me about it yet,” I said.
“I’m certainly not trying to rush anything, but I guess that is something we should talk about,” Cole said.