THEO
After dinner, Cory asked if we could watch a movie together. It was late and well past his bedtime, but Ava gave me a knowing look. Who was I to turn down an opportunity to spend time with them both?
Cory picked the movie. He knew how to boot up Netflix faster than I knew how to blink. He plopped himself down on the couch between me and Ava, a massive bowl of buttered popcorn on his lap. He picked some animated movie with dragons and kids his age learning to tame them. It was entertaining, and the story was decent. I’d learned after a while to enjoy children’s movies. That was just something that came with parenthood.
There was something wonderfully domestic about all this. Normal and perfect and good. I was at ease. Totally calm. Everything was right with the world.
As the boy on
