17
When Patrick was in his final year of middle school, Michael fell victim to a mid-life crisis and was laid off.
That night, he cooked an elaborate dinner. In the middle of the meal, he put down his chopsticks.
“I have an announcement to make.”
“Hold on.”
Patrick calmly clipped Buddy’s leash on, then started stuffing the cats into their carriers.
“You’re announcing the divorce, right? It’s okay, Mom. Buddy and I will go with you. And my cats are coming,
too.”
Michael exploded. “You little punk, are you trying to tear this family apart?”
He grabbed my sleeve, his voice laced with anxiety. “I got laid off.”
Patrick let out a disappointed sigh. He unclipped Buddy’s leash and let the cats out of their carriers.
“Is that all? I thought it was something serious.”
Michael looked at me. When we got married, he’d promised me his entire salary if I would just take care o
his son.
I pulled my hand away and calmly continued eating. “You’re in your forties. Your son has a better attitude
than you do.”
“So you don’t have a job. It’s not the end of the world. It’s not like I don’t have a job. You can be a house hus
band. I’ll be the breadwinner.”
Most of the money he’d earned over the years was sitting safely in a bank account, more than enough for ou family to live on.
Michael, it turned out, was a natural house husband. He handled everything for Patrick during his three year:
of high school.
The day of his college entrance exams, I made a point of walking him to the test center with Buddy. The ol
dog’s legs were a bit stiff, but he still loved to trot alongside Patrick.
Michael was more nervous than his son, sweating bullets as he stood next to me.
I teased him about it, and he actually got pouty with me.
Patrick did well on his exams and chose a university close to home.
On his first day of college, he saw Michael and me holding hands and snorted. “Don’t get too comfortable. I don’t have class this afternoon, so I’ll be back.”
Michael muttered under his breath, “Damn it. I should’ve made you apply to a school farther away.”
