Kiss Me if You Can

After a hearty meal, her mother called Josh and told him to show Chase around the house. She planned to make coffee and prepare a light snack in the meantime. Emma caught a glimpse of her mother as she helped her prepare the food. Unlike when she first saw Chase, her mother was humming a tune.

“The cookies should be cooled by now, so put them on a plate.”

Emma, ​​who had been putting freshly baked cookies neatly on a tray according to her mother’s instructions, pretended not to notice.

“He’s known for having a bad temper, but I don’t know why he’s so kind today.”

She muttered as if talking to herself, but of course her mother could hear her voice. As expected, her mother, who noticed her intention, pretended not to notice and answered.

“It depends on the person. Your father actually didn’t have a very good temper.”

“That can’t be true! Lies!”

When Emma jumped, her mother opened her eyes wide and became serious.

“Really, I found out a long time after I got married. You were so nice to me that I was fooled.”

Emma’s face twisted in shock.

“You saw that too, Mom? That guy beat the paparazzi to death. And you cursed at him along with me!”

Emma, ​​who was feeling wronged, brought up her past as evidence, and her mother looked surprised, then laughed and glared at her.

“There must have been a reason. The paparazzi have their problems too. How can you just take pictures of other people like that? There’s such a thing as privacy.”

“Mom!”

Emma shouted again in disbelief, but her mother quickly lost interest and changed the subject casually.

“If you’re ready, bring it out. Josh is about to come down. I forgot to tell you to show me the album, you know what I did?”

Emma could only let out a sigh of shock as she watched her mother mutter to herself while glancing up the stairs.

*

*

Josh opened the door to the room at the end of the hallway and went in.

“This is Pete’s room.”

Chase stepped carefully into the wide-open door. Pete, who had been on Josh’s shoulder and riding the horse until then, seemed to feel secure as he entered his room and began to wiggle his hips as usual.

“Sit down.”

Josh offered Chase a chair next to the bed and began to search through the children’s bookshelf. Soon, he pulled out an album.

“This is a picture of when he was born. This is the hospital.”

Josh explained, flipping through the pictures one by one. The first time he held Pete, the time they went to the park together, the first time Pete started crawling, all the records were there. Chase listened to Josh’s words one by one, staring intently at the photos that passed by as if they were engraving their retinas. He didn’t even breathe, as if he was afraid that he might miss a single word Josh said.

“Jason.”

Pete, who was sitting on Josh’s shoulder and looking at his own photos with him, suddenly pointed to one. It was a photo of Pete, younger than he is now, holding his beloved stuffed dog. Josh paused for a moment and then answered, “Yes.”

“It’s Jason.”

Pete was silent for a while. He didn’t even wiggle his hips. Chase’s heart grew heavy at the sight of the boy just staring at the photos. Josh said casually, as if he knew how Chase felt.

“It’s not your fault.”

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

He then flipped through the album. Pete hesitated but didn’t make a fuss. Josh continued.

“You can buy a new stuffed dog next time. I forgot, should I buy a stuffed tiger this time?”

Josh asked, pulling Pete’s small body close and kissing his cheek. Pete still kept his eyes fixed on the album as he answered.

“Dogs, dogs.”