Chocolate Eyes

EJ came back to life in the time it took them to get home. By the time Michelle pulled into the driveway, they’d already dropped Val at her empty house and said their goodbyes. Michelle’s first thought was of EJ, and how he was probably used to returning to an empty house by now. He’d had the time of his life in Florida, but now it was time to focus getting back into the swing of school and sports and everyday life.

Despite who EJ’s father was, both Michelle and Brian wanted to keep his life as normal as possible, and that meant not dwelling on the fact that Brian was gone for too long.

EJ and Michelle had dinner at home and then she put him to bed so that he wouldn’t be too tired to get up in the morning.

At eight a.m., Michelle pulled the little from his bed and put him in the bath, after that she drove him to school, walked him to class, and was back to pick him up and take him to soccer afterwards. He changed in the SUV and she helped him into his cleats.

He was back to himself by the time the team scored their first goal.

Michelle sat on the bleachers and watched her blonde headed step-son as he raced over to his friends and cheered with them, grinning and bumping into them. He wore a green soccer uniform, completely with matching socks, black shorts and cleats, and shin guards. The back of his shirt only had his first name, Evander, but Michelle knew that someday, if he kept playing, it would say Haner as he ran up and down the field. And Brian would be here too.

Michelle smiled as the little boy raced over to her, separating from his friends as they all divvied off to their own parents. “We made a goal!” he shouted, barreling into her.

Michelle grabbed the green water bottle from beside her and handed it over. “I saw!” she answered, “I also saw you pass him the ball. That was really great, EJ.”

Evander gulped down as much as he could and passed it back. The team was rounding up for their end of game meeting and Michelle shooed Evander over to it. He darted around a couple of parents who were gathering up their things and joined his friends in their circle. Michelle watched as he dropped onto the grass and sat grinning as his coach congratulated them on their one-zero win over the Hornets.

Michelle and EJ fell back into the assumed routine, adding back in the daily phone calls with Brian. They’d managed to create a countdown calendar that hung on the fridge, and every night before bed EJ crossed off another day.

By the time Saturday came around, it felt like a month since Evander’s actual birthday. Michelle got up early and starting setting up. Val was bringing the cake and food over later and EJ’s friends would arrive sometime around two. He’d invited his soccer team and a few people from school, so there was going to be a full house.

Val was there before EJ ever climbed out of bed and when he came downstairs his aunt berated him, pulling him into her arms before he had a chance to really notice her.

“There’s my little birthday boy,” she joked, dragging him onto the couch with her, “Aren’t you special. I don’t know too many little boys that get two birthday parties.”

EJ backed away from her, scrambling to the other side of the couch so she couldn’t reach him and he grinned. “I am special,” he echoed.

Val laughed and nodded enthusiastically. “You sure are, E. Who’s all coming today?”

EJ’s nose wrinkled as he recalled the names of all the people. “Lukas, Sam, Daniel, Britt, Carter, Justin, Jamie, -“

Val cut him off before he could ramble off the rest of his friends. “I think there’s someone else coming too, E,” she said, recalling the information that Michelle had told her, “and I know that you don’t know.”

“Grandma Holly and Grandpa James are coming,” Evander added, not catching on to what Val was trying to say to him, “My dad said that they’re happy I invited them.”

“I’m sure they are,” she agreed. “You hungry?”

EJ ate while the sisters finished setting up for the party. Since there were going to be so many people and it was hot enough to enjoy the pool, they decided to have it outside. The ocean was close, but Michelle hoped there was enough happening in their backyard to keep the kids away from the open water. Unless their parents wanted to walk them down there themselves.

EJ was in his swim shorts and a tank top when people started pulling into the driveway. He was playing on his playground in the front yard and he climbed to the top to get a look at who the cars belonged to. Michelle, who’d been keeping an eye on him from inside the house, headed out with Val.

“Hi, welcome,” she greeted, smiling politely at the arriving family. A woman stepped out of the of the car and opened the backdoor. A boy about EJ’s age darted out and crossed the driveway to the birthday boy. His mother called for him to be careful and then lifted another child out of the backseat. The boy couldn’t have been older than two, at most.

The parent came to greet Michelle. She grinned and shifted her son to her other arm so she could hold her hand out to Michelle. “You must be EJ’s mother,” she said, “I’m Karen Cartwright. I’ve seen you when you drop EJ at school. Thanks so much for inviting Justin to the party. He’s been talking about this for weeks.”

“Of course,” Michelle answered, “EJ talks about him all the time. He’s one of his favorite friends from class.” She turned slightly and motioned to her sister. “This is my sister Valery.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

Debbie, Val and Michelle’s mother arrived after that, and was introduced to EJ as his grandmother. The woman had only seen pictures of her step-grandson and seeing him in person was completely different. Throughout the day she was able to see the interactions between the little boy and her daughter and she was relieved that they’d grown together since EJ had come to live with Brian.

There was a mess of four and five year olds in the pool in the afternoon and the parents either waded in with them or lingered around the edges, making conversation with other parents. There was a pile of presents on one of the tables, but EJ was too enamored with his friends to pay them much attention.

James and Holly Kent arrived when EJ was still in the pool and it took them a minute to locate him on the shallow end. Holly panicked until she realized that the deep end of the pool had been roped off with a net that ran from bottom of the pool to the top.

Michelle saw the Kents when they came through the back door and she headed over to greet them. It was careful chaos in the yard, with kids jumping in and out of the pool and rushing back and forth for food and drinks.

“You made it,” Michelle greeted, putting on her best smile, “EJ’s in the pool right now, but I’m going to pull him out soon so he can get something to eat. If you’re hungry, there’s plenty of food in the kitchen.”

Holly pulled her eyes from her grandson. He was laughing, head thrown back, as he stood on the steps into the pool. He was within a group that was relentlessly splashing each other and he coughed out a laugh and jumped further into the water to avoid being the target.

He was tanner than he was when they saw him a week ago and his hair was bleached by the son. He’d spent the whole weekend on the water, but obviously hadn’t had enough.

“Where should we put his presents?” Holly questioned, nodding to the gifts her husband held. James handed them down to his wife and pointed out at the pool. Michelle turned and looked as EJ dunked under water. A couple of his friends followed.

“Who’s watching him?” he asked, frowning, “You’ve got your back turned to him, Michelle. Everyone knows that it only takes a minute for something to happen. It’s not safe to have all those kids in there shoving each other around.”

“James, there’s over twenty parents here,” Michelle answered, not bothering to be offended by his accusation, “And my sister is sitting right there watching him.”

Holly nodded quickly. “We know. We’re sorry, we’re just not used to seeing him rough-housing. We’re going to put his presents with the others and we’ll say hello when he comes out of the pool to get something to eat.”

The kids moved from the pool to the grass all about the same time. When one parent pulled their kid out of the water, the others followed. There weren’t enough tables in the backyard for everyone, so people ate picnic style, all seated in the grass on towels.

EJ climbed into the pool chair next to Val and Michelle set his plate on the chair in front of him. His beach towel was wrapped around his shoulders and his hair was all over the place.

“I’m having so much fun, Val,” he said, chowing down on his hot dog, “All my friends are having fun too. They really like my pool. After I eat, can I go swimming again?”

“Of course, birthday boy,” ‘Chelle answered, sitting down at the end of his chair with her own plate in her hands. She passed one over to Val and the pregnant woman thanked her before tuning back into her nephew.

“What were you guys playing in there?” she asked, motioning back to the water.

“Tag,” he said between bites. “If you get splashed above water, you’re it, but you can’t get tagged if you stay underwater so I was trying to hold my breath but I’m not very good at it.”

Michelle nodded and then shifted so that she was facing him more. His hair was starting to dry and the towel had slipped off his shoulders. “Before you go back in, we should get more sunscreen on you,” she commented, “Oh, and your grandparents want to see you.”

“Grandma Suzy and Papa?” he asked, looking up to his blue eyed step-mom.

“No, sweetheart, Holly and James.”

EJ looked up and around until his eyes landed on his mother’s parents. They were seated in lawn chairs near the back door and blended in nicely. EJ wondered if he’d ever seen them so quiet or among so many people. Even when they’d had friends over for Thanksgiving, they’d still been the forefront of the excitement.

Now they were here.

Michelle rounded Evander up when he was done eating and escorted him over to his maternal grandparents. She deposited him with them and then retreated back to her sister. Holly pulled the blonde into a hug and then he sat down between them, talking animatedly about something.

Val slightly hit her sister’s leg to get her attention. When Michelle looked over, Val asked, “Has he asked for Brian at all day?”

Michelle shook her head. “He’s been preoccupied.”

“That’s good,” Val answered, “He doesn’t need to be upset today. This party was good timing. It helped remind him that his life is here in California, even when his dad isn’t.”

“Yeah, plus he’s got all his friends around so he’s not so isolated with us. Brian wants him to have a life outside of this family, so it’s good for him to form connections with other people. We don’t think he had anything like that when he lived with him mom. Just his step-brother, Crispen.”

“When are they coming?” Val asked, “I’m glad I didn’t mention it to E this morning. I thought that Jake Taylor was going to bring his son by so that EJ could see them.”

Michelle shrugged and glanced at her step-son. “When Brian talked to him, he said that they’d be here. We gave them the address, so we’ll see.”

“Could you imagine EJ being taken away from you, Michelle?” Val questioned quietly, following her sister’s eyes over to the boy who’d come into their lives so quickly. Jake Taylor was EJ’s step-father and had the same kind of relationship with the boy as Michelle did. She couldn’t imagine that it would be easy to watch a stranger walk away your son and be absorbed into a new family. Michelle knew it wouldn’t be easy for Jake and Crispen to show up today, but she hoped the man would think of EJ too.

She didn’t know if reminding him about the life he lost was good for him, but she didn’t want Evander to replace all his old memories with new olds and forget about the people who really cared about him. He might’ve lost his mother, but there were still dozens of people in the world who wanted to celebrate another year of his life.

Jake showed up a couple hours later. The kids were starting to wind down, but still found themselves in the pool, making up games and laughing in screeches and jolts. The parents had made themselves comfortable in the time they’d been there and some of there were lingering together, making easy conversation.

When Jake came to the backyard, he came through the house and stepped into the yard cautiously. It was filled with people he’d never seen before and he carried his son out into the party.

EJ saw him before anyone else and he threw himself up the pool stairs, leaving his friends behind. “Jake!” he screamed, running across the stone inlay and into the grass.

Jake set Crispen down just in time to grab EJ as the boy jumped into his arms. The front of Jake’s shirt was soaked instantly, but he held onto the boy anyway. “Happy birthday, Evander,” he spoke, smoothing the boy’s hair down, “I’m so glad to see you.”

“I didn’t know you were coming to my party!” EJ shouted, leaning back in Jake’s arms to look at him and down at Crispen. “I really had no idea.”

Jake wandered to set EJ down so that he could talk to Crispen too, but it’d been too long since he’d picked him up that putting him down just wasn’t an option yet. He looked so different. It’d hadn’t even been a full nine months since he’d last seen Evander, and yet he was so much older. His hair was shorted and lighter and he smiled nonstop. His eyes were the same always, but with his skin a few shades darker from the summer sun, looked less like little pools of black and more of a deep, dark brown.

“I can’t believe you’re five, EJ,” Jake said, catching the eye of two women across the pool. He recognized one from his wife’s funeral and the other was obviously her sister.

“I know, I’m so much older now,” EJ answered, wriggling out of his arms, “It’s so cool that you’re at my house.” He turned to Crispen. His step-brother, once his best friend, had changed a lot in the last few months too. His dark hair was shaggier and curled at the ends, in towards his sheets. He was much taller than EJ now, an extra year separating them more than it had before.

The eight-year-old smiled at his once-little brother. “Happy birthday, Evander.”

“Thanks, Cris,” EJ answered, somewhat shyly. There was an awkward tension between them now. “Do you want to swim with me and my friends?”

Crispen looked past EJ at the large group of kids in the pool behind him. “They’re all your friends?” Cris asked, “Your house is really cool, EJ. I can’t believe you have a pool.”

“Yeah, my dad is a rockstar,” he answered in the way kids did, factually, without trying to show off.

Crispen didn’t know what to say to that. He could still remember when EJ begged to stay with them and for his dad to be EJ’s dad too. Now EJ was living in a house he’d never seen before at the edge of an ocean.

“Is your dad here?” Crispen questioned, glancing around for the man that he’d only seen a couple times.

“No,” EJ said with a shrug, “He’s in Chicago today, but last week we flew to Florida and went to Disney World for my real birthday.”

Michelle came up behind EJ and rested her hands on his shoulders. He turned and grinned back at her. “You didn’t tell me they were coming,” he said, sounding playfully scorned.

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” she covered, brushing his hair down and putting her hands back on his shoulders. “I’m glad you could make it,” she said to them both, “I know it was a bit of a drive, but it really means a lot to him that you’re here.”

“Happy to be here,” Jake said, sloughing off some of the formality that he usually had, “It looks like EJ has a lot of friends and family here. We’re glad to be a part of it.”

“Yeah, of course,” ‘Chelle answered before leaning down to E, “Your friends are wondering when you’re going to open your presents so we can all have some cake. Aunt Val brought you ice cream too.”

EJ was quick to find a seat at the table where the presents were stacked. It wasn’t an overwhelming amount, but there were enough that EJ still couldn’t count them all.

He flew through them, letting some of his friends help him tear through the wrapping. There were all sorts of presents and EJ was excited about each and every one of them. He didn’t need any more presents, but he was thrilled to have them. Holly and James sat in chairs near him and Jake sat next to them with Crispen in his lap. The four of them watched silently as EJ opened and thanked everyone.

When he was about halfway through, Michelle nervously handed another wrapped gift over to him. It was slender and giving and when he grabbed it, his fingers poked holes in the paper.

“This isn’t a toy,” Michelle said as she came around the table to stand next to him, “This is something me and your dad decided to do. He wanted me to show it to you today.”

EJ, confused, slowly tore off the paper. Underneath was a thick, official folder. He flipped it over and frowned at his step-mom. “What is it?”

Michelle sat down on the edge of his chair so EJ could see the contents of the folder. She flipped it open and showed him the first piece of paper. “This is a certificate of adoption,” she said, reading the lines off the top of the paper, “This says that me, Michelle Haner, has legally adopted you, Evander Joaquin Haner, and now I’m your parent too.”

“What about my dad?” EJ asked quickly, looking up from the paper to Michelle, “I thought he was my parent. I just want to be with my dad, Michelle.”

The group around them chuckled and Michelle nodded, calming him down. “This just means that you have another parent now,” she said, “You, me, and your dad are always going to be together and now we’re family too.”

No one mentioned that this was another precaution. This piece of paper gave Michelle legal rights to EJ. She had every right to keep him with her when Brian was on tour. She could raise him and make medical decisions for him, and if anything ever happened to Brian, EJ wouldn’t be taken from her. The way he was taken from Jake Taylor.

He was hers too now. Her name would appear on his reissued Birth Certificate.

James was up from his chair instantly. His eyes were straight on Michelle. “This is ridiculous,” he said, low and serious, “You people make me sick.” He turned and left and Holly followed him without a word. Michelle watched them leave and then her eyes landed on Jake, who stood up and grabbed his son.

That piece of paper made him feel like an idiot. That piece of paper was the one thing that could’ve kept Evander with him and here he was, watching Michelle give EJ one for his birthday. He’d been in EJ’s life twice as long as she had and the thought of adopting the boy hadn’t ever come up. His mistakes told the Haners exactly what not to do.

They’d learned from his heartbreak.

They’d made sure that they wouldn’t make the same stupid mistakes.

He left their house, remembering the day he learned that he couldn’t keep EJ because he’d never filed for that little piece of paper.