You’re too Sweet| Part 4
Seven months later, I give birth to a healthy little boy, whom I named after my grandfather, Marvin. His last name is my maiden name and no one argues with me.
Now twenty-nine, divorced, and a new mother, I move back home to start a new life. My parents watch Marvin while I work. My boy grows into a healthy young man, loving football and video games. Though I see Jace in every moment of Marvin’s life, Marvin never asks about his dad, so I don’t bring him up.
One fall day of his freshman year of high school, Marvin says, “Mom, this old guy was at football practice today, just watching. When a coach went over to confront him, he said he was looking for me, but I have never seen him in my life.”
I drop the wooden spoon I was using to stir the sauce. I’m making spaghetti after my fourth diet fails. The sauce splatters all over my white shirt. “Why is it always sauce?”
Marvin ignores my question, “Do you know who it is?”
I shake my head and shrug it off, but the next day Marvin comes home with the same story. And the next day and the next. Until Friday night, game night. I sit in the bleachers with my parents and Becky with her family. We watched Marvin score a touchdown, but the team still lost.
I walk down the stairs and wait by the locker room. When Marvin comes out, I hug…
