"I can't do it, Ma. I'd be embarrassed out of there."
Abel Morin continued the argument about attending his ten-year high school reunion. His mother was being a mom and trying to force him out of his self-imposed hermitude.
"Abel," she sighed. "Go and see what your old friends are up to. You don't have to tell them anything you don't want to."
Abel lifted the small spoon to his infant daughter's mouth and pretended it was an airplane. She giggled appropriately and he stuck it in for a landing.
She liked the greenish-orangish goop and never failed to eat it.
"Mom, you don't get it. I can't show my face there. I was supposed to be the most likely to be rich. All I did was become the biggest failure."
"You're not a failure, honey. You just haven't succeeded yet."
He rolled his eyes and fed the last spoonful to his precious little Ava.
He'd been back living with his mother for three months after his wife found a richer man and left him and their newborn daughter.
Kramer Wellington of the original Boston Wellingtons did an amazing job of turning Abel's wife into his new trophy wife. Kramer didn't want Ava, so she gave up her daughter, but not before forcing Abel to give her half of his business which forced him to sell it prematurely. Abel thought he needed another year to fully develop his lifelong Artificial Intelligence project. That dream was dashed with the sale.
"Mom, I'm done. I don't have the capital to do what I need to do. All I can do now is put my dream on the shelf and put food on the table for my little girl."
"Honey, you can work on it in your spare time."
"It doesn't work that way, Ma. First, I don't have any spare time. Second, if I work on it now, my contract with my new job makes anything I develop theirs."
She rubbed his shoulder as she set the plate of chipped beef on the table.
"Thanks," he smiled. "I do love your chipped beef."
"Don't you think I know how to cheer my favorite son up by now?"
He chuckled, "I'm still your only son, Ma."
"Dada," Ava begged.
He smiled and smashed up some of the peas and fed her some of his dinner.
"Ava likes it too."
"Of course, she does," his mother answered. "She's your little girl."
He nodded, glad the DNA test proved that. If he got any joy out of the divorce process, it was the look of sheer rage on Kramer's face when the test result was presented to Abel's ex-wife.
"Just think about it," she continued. "If you need one, I'll buy you a new suit."
"My suit is just fine," he argued.
She frowned, "With all that weight you lost, no suit you own will fit you."
He knew she was right. It was part of the reason he didn't want to go. With the depression he fell into until he got his daughter back, he lost forty pounds he didn't have to lose. He was only just beginning to put some weight back on. He looked sickly in his old clothes.
"I'll think about it," he conceded only to end the discussion.
"Gillian says Missy will be home for the reunion."
He groaned.
Gillian was his mother's neighbor and best friend, and Abel dated Missy during their last year of high school until she dumped him on his birthday a month before Senior Prom. She made up an excuse about going to different colleges and not thinking a long-distance relationship would work out. The reality was, she was asked to the prom by one of the football players.
"Missy, huh? She still married to the MVP?"
"No. She divorced him last year. She got tired of his playing around off the field."
"She got what she deserved," he said as he cleaned his daughter's face and scooped up his last bite of dinner.
"No one deserves a bad marriage, Abel."
"No one deserves to get dumped for a jock on their birthday either."
He lifted Ava from her highchair prison and carried his plate to the sink.
"I'll do the dishes in a minute. Let me put her in her playpen."
"I'll do the dishes, honey. Go play with your daughter."
*****
The following Saturday, Abel sat on the freshly cut grass and watched his 12-month-old try to walk everywhere. She'd giggle every time she fell, and falling never deterred her.
"Mom said you had a daughter," Missy said as she walked up behind him.
"Yep. Her first birthday was last week."
He didn't turn around and Missy frowned.
"How are you, Abel?" She asked as she sat on the grass beside him.
"Fine," he answered without looking over.
"Still angry with me after all these years?" She asked.
"Nah. Just don't care either way. You made your choice, and it worked out for you."
She snorted, "Yeah. It worked out so well I'm divorced."
"Careful what you wish for, I suppose," he sighed.
She didn't say she wished she'd never broken up with him.
Ava stumbled over and held her arms out to Missy.
"May I?" She asked.
"Sure. It looks like she likes you."
She picked up the little girl, made silly faces, and rubbed their noses together. Ava giggled non-stop.
"Who's an adorable little lady, hm? Yes, you," she cooed.
Abel handed her the sippy cup of juice and Ava drank like she was coming out of the Sahara.
"Where's her mom?" Missy asked.
Able couldn't believe the gossip hadn't reached her yet.
"Last I heard she's in Paris."
"Last you heard?"
"She left me just before Ava was born."
"Sorry, I didn't know."
Ava wiggled and Missy sniffed.
"Whew! Someone needs a change."
Before he could reach for the bag in between them, Missy had a diaper out and was unfastening Ava's onesie.
"I'll do it," he argued.
"It's fine. I don't get to change them anymore."
"Your kids are too old?" He asked, then regretted engaging her in conversation.
"No, no kids for me. My godson is five, though. I used to change his diapers all the time."
"She needs..."
"Cream. I see it. Don't worry."
"Sorry. I'm not used to the help."
"So, what are you up to these days? Did you come back for the reunion?"
"No, I moved back home after the divorce was final."
He thought she'd think lesser of him for that admission, but she didn't.
"I bet your mom loves having her."
He laughed, "Yeah. She always wanted a girl."
"I know. I remember how she doted over me whenever she came over. She used to help me and Mom shop for dresses."
He didn't respond as he supervised her decent diapering skills.
She continued, "Last I heard you had a tech company. Some kind of research thing."
"Not anymore. I just started working at the steel mill doing IT."
She nodded and buttoned Ava up, who wasted no time in trying to walk around again.
Missy folded, taped the used diaper, and handed it to Abel.
"Has she ever played with a dog?" She asked.
"No, we don't have one."
"Hang on. Snoopy loves kids."
She hopped up and jogged next door before he knew what was happening. A moment later, she came out carrying a small beagle.
"Ah!" Ava shrieked in delight when she saw the white and brown dog in Missy's arms.
"Missy, I don't think..."
"Watch!" She said as she let Snoopy lick Ava's reaching hands. "See. They love each other already."
She set Snoopy down and watched as he ran around the small yard. Ava crawled after him and giggled every time the dog ran around her.
"Does he bite?" Abel asked, still concerned.
Missy laughed. "He's a little lover boy. Don't worry."
Snoopy saw a butterfly and started barking as he tried to chase it. Ava giggled incessantly at the dog's antics.
"Snoopy, come," Missy ordered.
Snoopy yapped once more and trotted over and sat before Missy's folded legs. Ava followed and Missy guided her hand along his back to pet him.
"Jimmy hated Snoopy. It was one of the selling points for me to keep him."
"Jimmy always was an asshole," he shrugged.
Jimmy Jackson was the jock who stole her away from him. He was a star quarterback and had so far won two Super Bowls with New York in a stellar pro career.
She sighed, "Not to me. Not at first anyway."
"Welp, I guess we should be heading in."
"Let her play with Snoopy, Abel. They're having so much fun. I won't mention him or what happened again."
Before he could argue, he heard his mother, "Hello, Melissa. Don't you look lovely this morning."
"Hi, Miss Morin. Your granddaughter is adorable."
"She is that. I see you two are catching up. I just wanted to say hi."
"We were just going to come in, Ma."
"Nonsense, Abel. I just made some lemonade. Let me bring you two a glass."
She spun and was gone before he could argue. He knew trying to decline would be futile. He went back to watching Ava try to pet Snoopy, who had rolled to his belly.
"Are you going to the pre-reunion party or just the reunion tonight?" Missy asked.
"Neither."
"What?" She shrieked. "You have to go."
"I don't have to do anything."
"Here you go," his mom said as she set down a tray with drinks.
"He's being a party pooper, Missy. I tried to get him to go, but he's stubborn."
"Why not, Abel? You're already in town, and I know I can't wait to see everyone."
"There's no one I want to see."
"Oh! Come on. I'm sure the old gang would love to catch up."
"I doubt my old friends will be there. They don't have many fond memories of high school either."
She frowned, "I can't believe that. You guys were so close."
"We were the lesser. No one cared about us. The jocks sure as hell didn't when they bullied us. Hell, only one of us had a girlfriend, and as you know, that didn't work out so well."
"I am sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."
He grunted, "And yet you did. You got what you wanted though. Prom Court, rich husband, new nose, swimsuit edition model."
"You saw that?" She groaned. She was chosen to be part of the wives and girlfriends of pro athletes spread after Jimmy got drafted.
"Oh, sure. Jimmy made sure to send me a case of that issue."
"He what?"
"Come on, Ava. It's time for your nap," he said.
She started crying the moment he picked her up.
"I'll see you around, Melissa."
She stared at his back while Snoopy barked for Ava to come back. After the door closed, she stood, and a tear fell down her cheek.
*****
"How'd it go?" Gillian asked Missy as she slumped through the back door.
