Asher

“With the grand opening set for next month, all that’s really left is to nail down the decor,” Ryan, my assistant, said as he paced around the room. “The designer set over plenty of ideas so you’ll just need to approve one and then she’ll get started on that right away.” I sighed as I rubbed my eyelids, tired of looking at the screens after all day of projections and meetings.

“Is there literally anything else I have to look at today that can’t be pushed off until tomorrow,” I asked as I leaned back into the chair. The house was an absolute mess. Thankfully you couldn’t tell from the office we were in but boxes were scattered around randomly and pizza boxes from the past few days were beginning to pile up. I could be spending this time doing so much more than sitting here talking about this.

Ryan gave me a small smile before closing the tablet he had been carrying around.

“We can be done for the day. That was the last thing on my list so you won’t even be behind for tomorrow.” I sighed and stood up, Ryan following on instinct. “Is there anything else I can help with?” I laughed.

“Not unless you want to pick a box and start shoving shit places,” I said jokingly as I looked over the living room that was nothing but a couch covered in boxes and a tv stand. “Why did you let me buy so many things?”

“Because you said the move before was going to be your last and you sounded very convincing last time,” he teased but dropped down to a crouch and began looking through the boxes.

“Well, no more. The next time I try to buy anything other than clothes or something for Zane, tell me no.”

“Most of this is for Zane though,” he said with a frown. “Want me to just put this box in his room and let him do it?”

“Yeah, that would be great. Then order something that’s not pizza. Get yourself something too as a thank you for helping.”

“I’m still being paid for my generosity right,” he asked with a joking smile. “Because if not I can buy my own food and start setting up my own apartment.”

“Yes, you are still on the clock as of now.”

“Hell yeah," he said as he heaved up the box and started down to Zane’s room. “Zane we’re getting dinner and having a party. What are you in the mood for?”

“Pizza! Can we get pizza? Please Dad, please?” I barely had time to blink before my son was running down the halls, almost tripping Ryan, and jumping into my arms. His hair was black and all over the place.

“We’ve had pizza three times already this week,” I said with a frown. I could only watch as he held my face in his hands, forcing me to stare him in the eyes, bright and blue just like his mother’s. 

“Dad, look at me.”

“I am looking at you.” 

“In the eyes,” he said as he pulled our faces closer, foreheads touching. 

“I don’t think I can get any closer to your eyes,” I said, trying to hold back my laugh in this oh-so-serious moment.

“I want literally nothing else but pizza.”

“I can’t possibly get you to eat anything else?”

“No.”

“Not even chicken nuggets and Mac and cheese?”

“Not even nugs and cheese.”

“You have to eat a salad with your pizza,” I told him and even though I could only see his eyes, I could tell he was frowning.

“I think Ryan likes salad more than I do. I could give him mine.”

“Oh I do like salad,” Ryan said as he began looking through the next box. “So nice and crisp and refreshing. I’ll take all the salad for myself so I only I get to be big and strong.” Zane pulled away from my face to glare at Ryan.

“I want to be big and strong too,” he whined as he wiggled out of my hands and ran to Ryan.

“Too bad. You said I can have yours so too late,” he said as he stuck his tongue out at my son.

“Dad! Ryan is going to steal all my muscles!”

“You’ll just have to eat it fast so he can’t get it all,” I said, kneeling down to look at a box that had been placed under the TV. It was mostly full of junk that I don’t even know why I packed rather than throw away. “Can you try to go through some of these boxes and take the ones that are yours to your room while the pizza is on the way?”

“I bet I can put away more boxes than you,” Zane said as he glared at Ryan with the cutest look I have ever seen. Ryan gave him a smirk before picking up a random box and sprinting down the hallway. “That’s cheating,” Zane called after him before finding his own box and chasing after him. 

I could only smile as I watched him go. That boy had been the sun and moon to my life since the second I saw the two pink lines and there was not a day that went by that I was not thankful for him.

I sighed when I heard the sound of something dropping and a loud whisper of ‘don’t tell dad’ before leaning down to take a look in some of the boxes left.

One look in the box and they were separated into piles for what rooms they would go in but I stopped short when a familiar face in a picture frame stared at me. I took the picture out carefully, holding it like it was the last bottle of water in a desert.

Kelly stared back at me. Her smile had been wide, blonde hair tussled by the wind from our honeymoon in Hawaii, piercing blue eyes staring at me with so much light in them. I had loved her more than anything; almost anything, Zane would always come first but they were more of a tie. 

I held the picture for only a few more minutes before placing it on the TV stand and placing the rest of the box containing her things in the attic pile. I kept plenty of pictures of her out so Zane would never forget what Mama looked like but things like her wedding ring and clothes I couldn’t bring myself to donate were too hard to look at every day so they were out of sight and out of mind until I needed the comfort of them. 

We worked loudly as we put everything in its place. Zane and Ryan yelled back and forth about what was considered cheating while I ofter yelled back the tie-breaking decision, all of the going in Zane’s favor much to Ryan’s protest.

Ryan had been my lifeline ever since Kelly passed. He became my assistant only a few months before since I knew having a second kid soon would mean needing someone to help keep my head straight but after Kelly, he had been the one to pull out of the dark. He started staying later than he needed to, helping with dishes piling up, cooking dinner, helping out anywhere he could. Zane had taken to him the second I introduced them and now, 4 years later when I told him I was moving he hadn’t hesitated to offer to come with us.

A knock at the door pulled me away from the box I was looking through.

“Three times in three days,” was the delivery man’s greeting as he smiled at me. “Either this is the best pizza you’ve ever had in your life or the move isn’t going well.”

“Can’t it be both,” I asked as I took the boxes from him and slid a 50 into his hand.

“It’s already been paid for,” he said with a wave of his hand, trying to push the bill back at me.

“I know. This is the tip. We normally tip on the app but I found this in a box so you might as well take it.” He smiled widely at me and I loved knowing I was able to do something like that for him.

“Dinner’s here,” I called out, laying the boxes on the coffee table. Zane’s loud footsteps bounced around the house before he plopped himself on the couch. “Salad first then as much pizza as you can eat alright?”

“Looks like you’ve made a pretty big dent in the boxes,” Ryan said as he sat beside Zane, who was guarding his salad for dear life with a glare.

“And yet there’s still so much to do.” A sigh escaped me as I sat down and began flipping through random shows.

We ate in silence for a while, Zane staring at the TV like it was the best thing in the world, while Ryan and I were too tired to hold any pleasant conversation. Of course, that was broken when Zane began speaking.

“When do I get to start gymnastics again?”

“You still want to do that,” I asked as I looked down at him, a small frown on my face. It had been five months since he started and this was usually when the boredom set in. Before it had been baseball, then soccer, and ballet for a few weeks; I was sure basketball was going to be next, or maybe even cheerleading when gymnastics was brought up casually.

“Gymnastics is so fun. You get to jump high and do cool flips no one else can do. And run fast. You get to run so fast Dad, and then you jump and flip and everyone claps! Gymnastics is the best.” That’s what he had said about soccer too and we see how that turned out.

“Well, I’ll start looking then. Maybe we can get you into a class next week-,” Ryan cuts off my sentence.

“There are 5 different gyms in this area. Two have bad reviews about the coaches so really there are three. This one seems to be the best, Rune’s Gym, only about three miles away. You have to apply for it though which is kind of weird, the last place didn’t do that.” I held my hand out for the tablet he was looking at. 

The pictures alone looked nice; clean mats, smiling kids, and lots of trophies for some reason.

I won’t lie, I knew jack shit about gymnastics other than the half-broken sentences Zane spewed when he was on a tangent but the place looked decent and the reviews were glowing. The price was high but for Zane, anything was worth it.

“Send in an application, use my card if there’s a fee. We might get you in a little sooner than expected if we slip a few dollars to the owner and bypass the waitlist,” I told Zane as he climbed into my lap and looked over the pictures for himself. He was all bright smiles and fast-talks but it warmed my heart to hear it so even though I didn’t understand a single word coming out of his mouth, I followed along the best I could. 

“The application is done,” Ryan said only a few seconds later, having pulled his personal phone out to complete the order while Zane still flipped through pictures. “Email confirmation is here and says we should hear back from him no later than tomorrow night to see if we have an interview.”

“An interview for a gym,” I asked, not being able to keep the scoff from my mouth. “That’s a little excessive isn’t it?”

“I’ll take his word for shit until I meet him but the reviews claim he’s the best coach in the state.” Zane’s eyes go wide as he turns to glare at Ryan.

“You said a bad word,” he whispered, huddling farther into my stomach. “Dad, Ryan said a bad word.”

“Swear jar,” I said, not even looking up from the tablet.

“Oh come on,” Ryan groaned. “The swear jar isn’t even set up yet.” I only point at the innocent-looking jar sitting on the cluttered kitchen table. “The smallest bill I have is a 50.”

“Seems like a pretty expensive word you used,” I said with a smirk I couldn’t keep away. “Maybe next time you will think before you speak.” Ryan groaned and made a show of sliding off the couch and pulling out his wallet.

“Just you wait,” he said as he shoved the bill into the nearly full jar. “You’re going to slip up one of these days and I’m going to get you back for it.”

“Doubt it.” Ryan stuck out his tongue and Zane laughed. 

Before going to bed that night I checked my email one last time and saw a confirmation email from the gym stating that we had an interview for 9 am tomorrow. It would be an early start considering the late night but I would make sure we were there for it.

Anything to keep that wide smile on Zane’s face.