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“You could never intrude, Benny. You’re family.”
“But you’re newlyweds,” I retorted.
“Oh, pfft,” my dad said, waving a hand at me. “Newlyweds, shmewlyweds.”
“I don’t have any other arrangements made yet,” I told him as if he hadn’t spoken, “but I’m going to figure something out soon. You and Jodie will enjoy some privacy, and I have to leave the nest eventually.”
Maybe Logan or Nate could take me in while I looked for a new job, a place of my own, some stability I could count on.
“Well, speaking of my little wife…” Dwight shifted gears with a glint in his eye. “She and her granddaughter are just out back, enjoying the nice weather while little miss’s mom’s at work. You up to a little introduction, or would you rather wait until you’ve slept off that jetlag?”
I’d rather wait until I had a chance to get my feet back underneath me, but it might be another year before I felt truly settled. So, I stifled a sigh, let it turn into a yawn, and told my dad, “Yeah, no, it’s fine. I can meet them now. Briefly.”
I followed him out to the back patio, where an attractive older woman was seated in an Adirondack chair, her graying hair tied back in a ponytail. The second my dad stepped outside, her whole face lit up, kind and somehow familiar, though I was sure we’d never met before. My new stepmother, Jodie, came to greet her husband with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Then she turned to me.
“And this must be Bennett!” she exclaimed. She came over to hug me, then, and when she pulled back from the contact, she looked at my dad again like he hung the moon. “Oh, he’s so handsome. You’re blessed with three beautiful sons, honey.”
I resisted the urge to point out that only one of Dwight’s sons was “beautiful” because of his DNA. Surely, this woman knew that already if she’d agreed to be tethered to my dad for life.
“Blessed is right,” Dwight echoed her. He turned toward the yard, and I followed his gaze to see a small blonde child sitting cross-legged on the grass.
“Ella!” Jodie called to her, and the little girl twisted around to see us. “Come say hi to Bennett!”
I watched the little girl gather her toys from the grass. Then she carefully dusted the stray blades of grass from her pants with a dutiful focus that made me crack a sleepy smile. I’d been the same type when I was a kid, diligent and meticulous even in play.
She bounded onto the porch like any other happy, carefree child, though. I guessed she was five or six, probably school-aged but barely. She was much more in line with the regular developmental milestones than a lot of the malnourished, sick children I’d worked with in Sierra Leone, and the thought sent a pang through my heart, tenderness for her and for the kids I’d tried to help.
Her grandmother opened her arms, and the little girl ran into them, tossing her toys aside and grabbing a seemingly quick hug that lingered as she moved to the side. She was still hanging onto my new stepmother like a little barnacle when we were introduced.
“Ella, hon, this is Dwight’s youngest son, Bennett.”
“The doctor,” the small voice piped up.
“Yes! Very good.” Jodie ruffled the head of blond-brown curls that still clung to her side. The girl seemed hesitant about meeting a stranger, or at least about meeting me. “Bennett, this is Ella, my granddaughter.”
“Hi, Ella,” I said, coming closer. “I’m your new, uh… step-uncle, I guess.”
Ella’s face crinkled in confusion. “That’s not real.”
“It can be,” I countered. Going back into doctor mode on instinct, I came to kneel in front of her, bringing our faces about level. “Families can look all kinds of different ways. Like your family was you, your mom, and your grandma?—”
“Grammy,” both of them corrected.
“Your Grammy, then. The three of you are a family, even if it’s not the same as a mom, a dad, and a kiddo.”
“I know,” she said, gaining confidence now. “Hector at school has two moms. And Adrian lives with his big brother.”
“You must be pretty smart,” I mused, part in an attempt to win her over, but just as much in genuine appreciation. I looked at the collection of toys she’d allowed to fall onto the deck, then. “Are these bugs?”
“Insects,” Ella corrected.
“Right. Apologies.”
“I’m gonna be an entomologist. That’s like a doctor, but about bugs.”
“Pretty cool. I like being a doctor,” I told her, and I realized I saw another glimpse of my childhood self when I truly noticed her green eyes, so similar to mine, for the first time.
“Are you good at it?” she asked, and both of the grownups on the porch started to react as if she were being rude to a fellow child and potential friend, but I stopped them from interfering. “I like to think I’m a good doctor,” I answered truthfully. “And I know we just met, Ella, but since you asked me that question, I have a feeling you’ll be a really good one, too.”
