He had spent years becoming dependable.
Andre returned and received Dad again automatically.
Marcus told Dr. Alvarez.
She smiled.
“Human.”
“I want a better diagnosis.”
“No.”
He laughed.
“Do not make the boys manage your jealousy.”
“I won’t.”
“Good.”
Marcus later told Andre directly:
“I want you sober.”
“I want you in their lives.”
“But if you disappear again, I will not help them invent excuses.”
Andre nodded.
“That’s fair.”
“And I’m not competing.”
“I know.”
“You sure?”
Andre looked at him.
“My sons talk about you constantly.”
“That hurts.”
Marcus felt guilty.
Andre continued:
“It also makes me grateful.”
The two men never became friends.
They became functional.
Sometimes that is more valuable.
Three years after the canceled Hawaii trip, the five of them finally boarded an airplane together.
Not Maui.
San Diego.
Jordan was fifteen.
Eli thirteen.
Maya twelve.
The destination mattered less than the ritual.
Marcus had printed five travel envelopes again.
The night before departure, he placed them on the kitchen counter.
Then stopped.
The old scene rushed back unexpectedly.
Camille saw.
“You okay?”
He nodded.
Then shook his head.
“No.”
She looked at the envelopes.
Understanding.
“Want me to do it?”
Marcus hesitated.
Then:
“Yes.”
The next morning all three children stood in the kitchen.
Camille held the envelopes.
She gave Jordan his.
Eli his.
Then she stopped in front of Maya.
Maya looked at her.
Camille handed her the third.
“Maya Reed.”
Maya took it.
“Thanks.”
No speech.
Camille’s eyes filled anyway.
Maya noticed.
“Please don’t cry at seven in the morning.”
“Sorry.”
“You’re embarrassing.”
“Occupational hazard.”
Marcus received his.
Camille kept hers.
Five.
At the airport, Eli counted twice.
“Everybody got one?”
Jordan groaned.
“Dude.”
“What?”
“Just checking.”
Maya smiled.
“Five.”
Marcus heard.
He did not turn the moment into ceremony.
They boarded.
The vacation was good.
Not perfect.
Jordan lost sunglasses.
Eli got sunburned because he insisted he did not need more sunscreen.
Maya became seasick on a whale-watching boat and threw up directly beside Marcus’s shoes.
Camille laughed until Maya threatened her.
They fought about restaurants.
Marcus got angry when everyone took too long leaving hotel.
Camille told him vacations reveal why some species eat their young.
Normal.
At sunset on the fourth evening, the five sat near the beach.
Jordan was texting.
Eli digging his feet into sand.
Maya reading.
Camille leaning against Marcus.
He looked at them.
For years he had believed a successful blended family should eventually stop feeling blended.
He no longer believed that.
Jordan had a father.
A stepfather.
A mother.
Maya had a dead mother who still mattered.
A stepmother who had hurt her and later earned trust differently.
Eli loved everyone recklessly.