The Popsicle Tree by Dorien Grey Page A

went off to the guest bedroom and I stayed in the living room, since I’d already had the tour.
    There followed half an hour or so of general awkward confusion, and we all settled at the kitchen table for coffee…and milk and a cookie for Joshua, who sat in his father’s lap, intently watching the fish tank. Jonathan had, as he had done with Kelly, carefully introduced Joshua to all of the fish, holding him with one arm while pointing out the individual fish with his free hand—at which point Joshua leaned forward to reach into the tank to pet them. He got as far in as his wrist before Jonathan took a step backward, effectively pulling him out of the water. Without missing a beat, Jonathan reached for a paper towel and wiped Joshua’s hand.
    “I really appreciate you letting Joshua stay with you,” Samuel said, looking from Jonathan to me. “I don’t know what we would have done otherwise.”
    “He’s really been looking forward to this,” Sheryl said, smiling at Joshua. “We’ve been telling him that now that he’s a big boy, he can spend some time alone with his Uncle Jonathan.” She turned her smile on me and added, “And Uncle Dick.”
    So much for “does she know?” I thought.
    “And we told him he’d be going to school and have lots of other boys and girls to play with.”
    “Which reminds me,” Jonathan said. “Later on I’ll ask Carlene and Kelly to come down so you and Joshua can meet them.”
    “Oh, about the day care,” Samuel said, “do they want us to pay up front or when we come to get him on our way back?”
    “I’m not sure,” Jonathan said, lying since I knew he had to put down a sizable deposit. “Don’t worry about it now.”
    Joshua, who had done quite well for himself in the milk department and had offered part of his cookie to Sheryl and Samuel several times, started squirming on Samuel’s lap.
    “I want down now,” he said, and Samuel put his hands under Joshua’s armpits and slid him to the floor, where he immediately ran over to the fish tank and tried to climb onto the counter to get to it.
    Oh, this is going to be fun.
    “Joshua!” Samuel said sternly, and without a word, Joshua cut off his mountain climbing expedition and raced off into the living room, where Jonathan had left the box of toys.
    *
    It was a very nice day. As I was sure would happen, the more I was around Samuel and Sheryl, the more I liked them. And Joshua, who reminded me very much of Jonathan in many ways, was winning me over bit by bit.
    We went out for a late brunch to a popular straight restaurant, and Joshua was surprisingly well behaved for the most part. When a game of “drop the napkin on the floor” was called in the third inning by his father, Joshua became distracted by a baby a table or two away, then by one of the waitresses passing by with a tray of something that caught his eye. And each time Samuel would speak to him quietly but firmly, and he’d go back to either eating or quietly playing with his food.
    After brunch we took a drive around the city—though Jonathan had proudly shown off his new car and was obviously delighted by Samuel’s approval, it was a little cramped for four adults and a four-year-old boy, so we took my…make that “our” other car. Joshua insisted on sitting in the front seat and sat happily in Jonathan’s lap. Jonathan was happy as a clam, pointing out various landmarks, where he went to school, where he worked, and where I worked.
    I’m sure Samuel and Sheryl were very tired of riding by the time we got back home.
    Jonathan called upstairs to ask Carlene and Kelly to come down, which they did. Kelly brought his dump truck, and he and Joshua were instant best friends despite a few noisy but short-lived squabbles over whose toy was whose, refereed by the moms.
    Jonathan asked Carlene if she and Kelly would like to join us for dinner, but she sensed that Jonathan needed time with Samuel and Sheryl, and declined gracefully, saying she had some