He nodded again.

“Now, I gotta finish gettin’ ready, honey. You good to go to your gram’s?” I asked.

“Yeah, Mom.”

“Right, let’s get to that part of our day.”

He grinned at me and got out of the doorway.

I took in another breath and headed to my bedroom.

* * * * *

Monday Night

Whether it was intentionally good timing or not, Trent phoned at the perfect moment, right before I was about to slide out of my car and hit work for the night shift.

He’d texted twice more since the first two.

I’d been blowing him off.

I needed to stop doing that so he’d leave me alone. He also needed to think on things and I needed to give him the things he needed to think about.

So I took the call with a “Hey, Trent.”

“Texted you a million times, Cheryl,” he exaggerated.

“I know. I’m sorry. Things were busy,” I semi-lied.

“Ethan told me he’s not comin’ to see me and Peg this weekend,” he shared irately.

I beat back a sigh.

“As you know, Trent, this gig is Ethan’s,” I replied. “He gets to decide when he wants to see you. He’s back at school now so it’s sleepover time, and the good stuff happens with his buds on weekends.”

“He needs to spend time with his father.”

Trent said the words, but they came right out of Peggy’s mouth.

“All right, I gotta get to work in a minute, but you should know, Ethan and I had a talk about you and Peg wantin’ to spend more time with him and he doesn’t like that idea. He digs you. Your wife. Your kids. But he’s feelin’ the need to take things with you slow and that’s his call. So if he needs space, you’re gonna give it to him.”

“He’s a kid, Cheryl. He doesn’t get to make those calls.”

More Peggy.

“He’s a kid, Trent, you’re right. But he isn’t five. He’s nearly eleven. He knows his own mind, what he wants, what feels good to him. He’s at a time where he’s gotta explore makin’ his own decisions and how that plays out. We gotta let him.”

“He’s too young to start that kind of thing. He needs guidance,” father of the century Trent Schott educated me.

I sought patience (not my strong suit) and returned, “I’m not sayin’ he doesn’t need guidance. I’m just sayin’ he needs some freedom and space.”

“He can have all the freedom and space he wants when he’s thirty. Now, bein’ a kid, he needs his old man helpin’ him learn to be a man.”

And more Peggy.

But it would be Peggy teaching him to be a man.

The thought turned my stomach and I clenched my teeth to beat back my response to that.

This, unfortunately, allowed Trent to carry on.

“You need to tell him he’s gotta come and stay with Peg and me. This weekend. We’ll pick him up from your place at five thirty on Friday.”