Chapter Thirty-One

Lily

 

After dinner, Scott, Lily, and Bodhi went into the lounge room with large bowls of ice cream.

“How’s school, honey?” Lily asked.

“Good.” Bodhi shrugged. “Molly was sitting beside me, but Ms Parker moved her because she kept talking. She’s now sitting with Kayleigh, and Aidan is next to me.”

“Ah, okay,” Lily said. “Do you like sitting next to Aidan?”

“Yeah, but Ms Parker moved Molly because she was talking, and Aidan talks just as much, but I like what he says better anyway.”

“Daddy and I are really pleased you like school,” she said, and glanced at Scott, wondering what the best way to start the conversation might be. “We really like Ms Parker and Mr Stenlake.”

“It was fun having them over,” Bodhi said, grinning. “Mr Stenlake really isn’t good at board games. I thought a teacher would be.”

“I’ll tell him you said that.”

“No, don’t!” Bodhi giggled. “I might get in trouble for being rude or hurt his feelings!”

Lily grinned. Bodhi was such a thoughtful child.

“Bodhi, would you like to go away with Mr Stenlake and Ms Parker? We were thinking of going camping next weekend,” Lily asked, glancing at Scott for feedback.

“Camping? Yeah, I’d love to go camping. Yay.”

“And a ten-year-old boy called Tyson might come,” Scott said. “That will be fun. He’s Mr Stenlake’s nephew.”

“Cool.” Bodhi scraped his ice cream bowl. This wasn’t getting them anywhere in terms of Bodhi’s understanding, so Lily took a deep breath, and just decided to launch into it.

“Baby, you know how Mummy Megan and I were in love?”

Bodhi nodded.

“I haven’t dated anyone since Mummy Megan. And Daddy hasn’t dated anyone either. But we both really like Mr Stenlake and Ms Parker, and we are going to go on some dates with them. Daddy and Mr Stenlake will go on dates, and me and Ms Parker,” she clarified to be sure Bodhi understood.

“Really? Wow.”

“You can call Mr Stenlake Nathan when we are outside school,” Scott said. “But Ms Parker’s name is Parker, so you can just call her Parker at home.”

Bodhi nodded. “What do I call her when we’re camping?”

Lily smiled. “Dad means call her Parker outside of school, so at camping you can call her Parker. But sometimes you might still call her Ms Parker. She’s still your teacher.”

“Is she my stepmum?” he asked, frowning in confusion.

Lily shook her head. “No, she’s not your stepmum. Maybe one day, but we’ll let you know if that happens. And same with Nathan. He’s not your stepdad, but maybe someday.”

“Okay,” Bodhi said. He smiled and then blushed a little. “I sometimes wish I still had two mums. I would like to have a stepmum one day.”

Lily was relieved.

“And what about two dads?” Scott asked.

Bodhi shrugged. “Yeah, I think so. I’ve only ever had one dad, so I haven’t really thought about it, but I used to have two mums.”

Lily wiped a tear out of her eye. “Honey, Mummy Megan will always be your mum. You’ve still got two mums,” she smiled. “Maybe one day you could have a third mum.”

He nodded. “I love you, Mum,” he said, and hugged her. “And Dad, I love you.” He reached over and gave Scott a hug. Lily and Scott caught each other’s eyes, and both gave a smile that was a mixture of happiness, relief, and sadness.

“It’s almost bedtime,” Scott said. “But I reckon we stay up a little later tonight and watch a half hour TV show?”

Lily nodded in relief. It was a great idea so that Bodhi wasn’t going to sleep immediately after the serious conversation. Scott always seemed to suggest activities like this at just the right time. The rest of the evening went well—Scott put some silly sitcom on, and everyone laughed along.

Lily wasn’t exactly concentrating but laughed along with them. It wasn’t that she was faking, it was that their laughter was infectious, and she was thrilled to see Bodhi so carefree, despite making the biggest announcement of his life to date. She knew that this could absolutely change his life—if the two promising relationships continued down the path they were going, they could become a family of five, not a family of three. What would that mean for Bodhi? She hoped it would all be positive—more people to love him surely couldn’t be a bad thing—but she also knew change could be overwhelming for a child. Bodhi had experienced a lot of change in his life already. Lily couldn’t help but worry, but also knew they had to take it day by day.

Bodhi was a good kid. They’d work it out.

 

*****

 

Bodhi couldn’t have been more excited about the weekend camping trip. “Maybe we’ve deprived him,” Lily said to Scott, smiling, as they packed for the weekend away.

Scott shrugged. “Neither of us are really the camping types, are we?”

“We did do that camping trip with him once.”

Scott had an amused smile as he said, “Lil, we stayed in a two-bedroom cabin. With a kitchenette.”

Lily laughed and said, “It felt like camping.”

“Well, I’m afraid Nathan and Parker seem like the real-deal camping types to me. I suspect there’s a tent involved.”

Lily pretended to fan herself in response. “Oh, God, help me,” she said, and then added, more seriously, “I did ask, and Parker said they got us an en-suite site.”

The amused look was back. “An en-suite site? What’s that?”

“Apparently tents don’t have bathrooms,” Lily said, putting on a look of mock horror. “But they got us one with a loo and shower just for us. We don’t have to go to the shower block with all the campers.”

“Oh, that’s a relief, isn’t it?”

Lily nodded. “Absolutely. I’m not ready for a toilet block just yet.”

 

*****

 

Lily feigned shock and horror when they pulled up to the campsite, but the truth was she was looking forward to their weekend away. While she and Scott had never thought to take Bodhi camping—and never actually had experiences camping themselves—she was looking forward to experiencing it and letting Bodhi experience something new. Apparently, something new meant the car was jam-packed. With Tyson joining them, they’d taken two cars—Parker’s and Nathan’s. Apparently, their four-wheel drives were much better equipped to the camping lifestyle than Scott and Lily’s sedans. Tyson and Bodhi had joined Parker and Lily in Parker’s car, and Scott and Nathan carried most of the camping equipment.

Bodhi was a fairly shy kid, but Tyson was one of those kids that didn’t leave room for shyness. He got familiar with Bodhi immediately, and they talked the entire two-hour car trip to the coast. Lily loved hearing them. It was sweet to see Bodhi having fun with a kid he’d just met, and someone who might become a ‘cousin’ to him. Their constant chatter also gave Lily and Parker an opportunity to chat. Parker had known Tyson since he was a baby. He was a big part of Nathan’s life since birth, and so, by default, also a big part of Parker’s life. They’d camped with Tyson as a trio, and they’d camped with Nathan’s sister, her husband, and Tyson a number of times. Parker was just as delighted to see Bodhi and Tyson connecting.

“What do we do?” Lily asked, and Parker had explained that most of the fun of camping really was not planning anything at all. “Sitting in a camp chair, chatting. Getting so bored you play games, or watch birds, or go for a paddle in the water. It’s really about unstructured days. Reading a book, going on a walk, and just relaxing.”

“So that’s the objective? To relax?” Lily had asked, and Parker had laughed in response. Again, she’d tried to explain there was no real objective, but that relaxation was important. “It might not be the objective, but by the end of a weekend of camping, you should feel relaxed. Just enjoy yourself. Do what you feel like doing, but don’t feel like you have to plan anything.”

Lily sighed. As a single mum, albeit one who co-parented with her housemate, or perhaps because of that, her entire life revolved around plans. Who was picking Bodhi up, who was cooking dinner, what groceries needed to be bought for the week ahead, how to juggle a busy work week with school and sporting events? Even weekends tended to be planned, from parties and play dates to sports. Lily even planned relaxation time for her weekends. She could barely remember life before she became a parent, but she was quite certain she hadn’t planned every minute of her life before Bodhi came along. Whatever did she do with her time? She couldn’t remember. Not for the first time, Lily wondered who she even was anymore. She felt like her whole life revolved around plans. Maybe—just maybe—being with Parker would have a really positive outcome on her.

“Do you usually plan your weekends?” Lily asked out of the blue.

Parker seemed surprised but thought for a moment. “Well it’s hard to say. If I have something on, of course I plan it.”

“Do you make a plan to relax?”

Parker chuckled in response and said, “I don’t think so. Don’t you just relax? I mean, I plan to relax this weekend, but that’s nothing more than knowing we’re going camping. Why?”

Lily smiled. “I was just thinking that the concept of relaxing all weekend is unusual to me. To have no plans. I plan everything. I even plan structured time to relax. Like after soccer on Sunday, we’ll meal plan, grocery shop in the afternoon, and then relax prior to cooking dinner, then packing the school lunch.”

“I assume you have to plan when you’re a mum, though. You’re not just organising yourself. But Bodhi is eight. Soon enough he’ll be eighteen,” Parker said.

“Oh, God!” Lily couldn’t imagine a time when Bodhi was an adult. She wasn’t sure she wanted to.

“No, but I mean, of course your life revolves around him, but you also have to know what makes Lily tick. What Lily likes.”

Lily nodded. “Yes. I think this year has been my year of that. Just dating you is so different from how I lived my life before. I’ve devoted myself to Scott and Bodhi.” She lowered her voice and, noticing Bodhi was laughing with Tyson, added, “And Megan.”

Parker didn’t respond, and Lily worried she’d upset her, but she was just being pensive. Suddenly she spoke up, “Maybe I can help you discover Lily a little bit. Help you find out what makes you really happy.”

Lily smiled in response. “I’d love that. I haven’t been unhappy, but with you, I think I can be even happier.”

Parker reached over and grabbed Lily’s hand. Lily wondered if Bodhi noticed and, if he did, whether he cared, but the chatter continued, the world didn’t implode, and Lily’s heart melted in happiness.