Free Holding On (Hooking Up) by Jessica L. Degarmo Page B

at the zoo short.
    I dropped her off and said, “If you need anything, you’ll call me, right?”
    “Of course I will, sweetheart. Quit worrying about me.”
    “Sorry. Can’t help it. Love you, Mom.”
    “Love you, Catie. Tell Ryan I said hello, ok?”
    “Ok. G’night.”
    I watched her shut her door and escorted my rambunctious stepson home. He was still wound up from our day and he chattered nonstop.
    “Why’s Grammy sick?” he asked me, bouncing in his seat.
    “She’s not sick. She just got hot.”
    “Oh. But she threw up the other day.”
    “She did?”
    “Uh-huh. When she came to dinner,” he said, chewing the gum we got for him from the gumball machine at the zoo. He had been most impressed by it because it was shaped like animals. He wanted the elephant because it was biggest, but had to settle for the bear and the bird because I ran out of quarters.
    “Maybe it’s my cooking,” I teased him, winking at him in the rear-view mirror.
    “Your cooking’s mostly good, Catie. But I don’t like the broccoli. It’s not really baby trees, you know. Maybe Grammy doesn’t like broccoli either.” Benjie eyed me soberly, and I had to stifle a laugh.
    “Maybe. Or sometimes people get indigestion,” I suggested.
    “What’s ‘gestion?”
    “It’s when people get upset bellies,” I explained.
    “Oh,” he said somberly. “Catie, I got ‘gestion.”
    “Yeah?” I smiled secretly. He had eaten one hot dog, two candied apples, a pretzel, a candy bar and a soda at the zoo. It was no wonder.
    “Uh-huh,” he confirmed angelically.
    “Well, let’s get you home.”
    He nodded. By the time I pulled into the parking lot, he was fast asleep, his grimy little face perfectly innocent, as well as slightly sticky. I loaded Benjie into my arms, piled the stuffed turtle on top of him and slung my purse onto my shoulder. I staggered a little under my load but boosted Benjie up better and headed toward the stairs. Ryan must have been waiting for us, because he came to my rescue at the bottom.
    “Here, I’ll take him,” he offered. I handed Benjie off to Ryan and we walked side-by-side up the stairs toward home.
    I collapsed on the sofa when we got inside. “Your son is an animal,” I told Ryan, groaning wearily.
    He carried Benjie to his room and emerged, kid-less, a minute later. “He fit right in at the zoo, then, huh?”
    “You have no idea. You’re lucky I’m faster than he is. He would have been past the railing and inside the tiger habitat if I had been five seconds slower. My feet are killing me, but it was worth it, because he had a blast. He’s so funny.”
    “That he is. Did you have a good time with your mom?” He asked, dropping to the floor in front of me and removing my shoes. He rubbed my feet slowly and I moaned in relief.
    “That feels awesome. Thanks. Yeah, we had a great time. But I don’t think she can handle the heat.”
    “What do you mean?” he asked, dropping a kiss on the arch of my right foot. He started rubbing my left foot and my eyes drifted closed.
    “Well, she acted like she was going to pass out, and she commented on how warm it was.”
    “She grew up in Florida. You’d think heat would be no problem,” he murmured.
    “Huh. I forgot about that. You’re right. Weird. Anyway, she seemed better when I dropped her off, but Benjie said she got sick the other day.”
    “Maybe she has a stomach bug or something.”
    “You’re probably right,” I conceded, sighing in ecstasy as his hands worked magic on my sore feet.
    “So, how are you feeling?”
    “Fine, why?”
    “Benjie woke up for a minute in there and said you had ‘gestion. I asked him what that was, and he said you got sick the other morning, too, just like Grammy.”
    “Oh, no, that was just some bad Chinese food I had at lunch the day before. The Kung Pao smelled off. Or maybe it’s a stomach bug that got both of us.”
    “I see. You’re all better now, though, right?”
    “Yeah, just a bit worn