The air was making strong strides towards representing fall. They had woken up to crisp mornings and saw their breath in the dark evenings. One evening, Larry was outside with the kids when James arrived. They hadn't been expecting him, but James was there as often as he could be so no one ever questioned an unannounced arrival. And Larry was a regular fixture at the house now that the spare bedroom was empty. It took less than a week for him to become the live-in uncle. Larry tossed the football to James as soon as he popped out of the car.
"Now tackle him!" He yelled and the kids went flying at their dad. James let them take him to the ground.
"Thanks, I had a great day at work." James said as the kids peeled off of him laughing.
Larry pulled him up and laughed.
"Guys, why don't you go tell Mom that Dad is home." They went flying inside. Larry looked at James. "She was debating cooking dinner or getting take out. I don't want her to forget you, if she orders food."
"Thanks." And then James had a light bulb flicker in his mind. "Why don't you two head out to dinner and I'll take the kids tonight?"
Larry gave him a quizzical look.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Larry said casually as the kids had cleared earshot. This was roughly the 3rd suggestion within 5 days and Larry was tired of piecing together his bullshit.
"What do you mean?" James was taken aback. Larry was rarely that blunt.
"Stop pushing Miss Aggie onto me."
James was preparing his defensive response and then just sighed before finally saying. "I just want her to be happy and I think that you could make her happy."
"I'm sorry. What?"
"You heard me."
"Yeah, I did. Have you lost your mind?"
"I know there was a thing." He raised his hands defensively. "I don't know the details. I just know that you two had an opportunity and you didn't take it. I don't want to stand in the way of that."
"James, are you a fucking moron?"
James was again shook by Larry's blunt approach and didn't speak.
"She is still in love with you. I've had that kind of love before... it's... I don't know, it's different. Don't push her onto me and pass it off because you've got a few complicated years ahead."
James still didn't speak.
"She's capable of finding more love. She accepts all kinds of love, but if I've read you right then that's not possible for you. And you might not find another person you can love at forty like me, even if I didn't pursue it. So don't fuck this up."
Larry waited, but then James didn't answer so Larry sighed and started to turn away.
"Why don't you accept it then?" He paused and Larry turned around. "If you haven't found it since. Why not pursue this with her?"
"Because an age gap is unkind in the end and those are your children. If I thought you were deadweight, then I could care less and I'd step in, but you're not."
They both took deep breaths and just looked at each other, sizing up the conversation.
"This is not usually how grown men fight over a woman." James finally commented.
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
Mrs. Avery
रोमांसLove is strange. It exists in many forms and is one of the key components that makes humans happy, but there isn't a lot of understanding surrounding it. At least not the kind of understanding with which the average person identifies. Agnes is one...
