“Matt, wake up. I heard a noise.” My eyes came open, and I rubbed at my ribs where Hope had nudged me to get my attention. I suspected she had been sharpening her elbows for just such an occasion.
I looked at the clock—2:00 a.m. The rustling noise moved down the hallway toward the stairs to the living room.
“It’s just Peng. You know he likes to run at night. He’ll be fine. Maybe it’s time for us just to trust him and let go.” As I said it, I knew those might be the two most difficult things a parent could ever do: trust and let go.
“I’d feel a lot more comfortable if you went with him. Please?”
It sounded like a mere request, but I knew that if I declined, I would be subject to more sharp elbows and likely a cold shoulder as well. I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and tried to forget about my eleven o’clock class in the morning and all the preparation I still needed to put into it.
“Thank you,” Hope said, rubbing my back as I got up. “I know we need to let him live his life, but I’m not quite ready to let go. You’re a great father.”
I wasn’t sure about that, but at least I was an obedient husband.
Peng was downstairs in the living area, dressed in shorts and a tank top, looking like he was waiting for me.
“She make you come down again?”
I nodded and yawned. “You know your mother.”
Peng nodded back. “You don’t have to come, you know. You could just sleep here on the couch. I won’t tell her.”
I shook my head and pulled on my running shoes. “She would know,” I said. “Mothers always know.”
Peng almost smiled. “I really like to run alone . . .”
“I know you do, Peng,” I said, cutting him off. “And I trust you. I really do. But I think we need to respect—”
“Let me finish.” It was Peng’s turn to cut me off. “What I was saying is that I really like running alone—with you. Especially at night. It’s my favorite part of the week.”
This time I was speechless. Even with all the progress we’d made with Peng, it was rare for him to share any type of genuine emotion.
“You said you used to run at night in the mountains,” he said. “I was thinking I’d like to try that before it gets too cold.”
“I don’t know,” I replied, thinking that my window for preparing my class was quickly closing to nothing. “You remember the last time we were in the mountains?”
“I do.” This time Peng did smile. “Every minute of it.”
I thought about what Peng was asking and realized this might be one of those times I could look back on either with fondness or with regret. My adopted son wanted to spend time with me—the same son we’d worried we wouldn’t ever have a connection with. I could call in a sub for my class if I had to. Ron was always a good fill-in. And he didn’t need to prepare. He could just tell stories.
I wondered where I should take Peng, and I realized I knew the perfect place. “Okay,” I said. “I think it’s time for sunrise at Moose Lake.”
“What’s that?”
“Something a terrorist friend introduced me to. But telling you about it won’t do it justice. You really need to have the experience.”
“I’m ready,” Peng said, heading for the door.
“Not quite. We’re going to need some warmer clothes. And we’ll need to pull the headlamps out of the camping gear. We’re going to be running along the edge of a cliff, and your mother would never forgive me if you fell off.”
Peng ran excitedly to gather the clothes and equipment, but as we once again began heading toward the door, I thought of one more thing. “Wait here a second. I need to get my watch.”
Peng raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything.
“Your mother made me promise to wear it if I traveled anywhere outside of the ordinary,” I said when I got back. I pushed the buttons that activated the tracking beacon.
Peng watched with interest. “Won’t that wake somebody up and put them on alert?”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “It’s just Demetrius and Chico. They’ve tracked me to Moose Lake before. It’s one of their favorite things to do. Trust me.”
“I don’t think you want to make Chico mad. I saw him turn that guy upside down at the airfield.”
“Chico’s a big teddy bear,” I said. “Besides, I miss those guys. This will give us an excuse to see them again.”
“What if they’re in the middle of something really important?”
“There’s nothing more important than family and friends,” I said. “Nothing else in this world.”
Peng seemed satisfied. We picked up our gear, and he began unlocking the doors.
“Let me help you with those,” I said. “Why do we have so many locks anyway?”
“Because you wanted to try to stop me from sneaking out,” Peng said.
“Look how successful that was. Now you’ve got me sneaking out with you. Maybe we should get rid of some of these.”
Peng started to laugh, and then he stopped and frowned.
“What?” I asked.
“I was just thinking. It won’t be too many years before Jin will be a teenager.”
We looked at each other in horror. “Let’s keep the locks,” we said together.
Hope appeared at the top of the stairs. “Where are you two going with all that gear?”
“Taking Peng for a run in the mountains.”
Hope bit her lip. “Are you sure that’s safe? I won’t forgive you if you die out there.”
“It’s not about dying,” I said. “It’s about living.” I smiled at her, and she relaxed and smiled back.
“Why do I feel like I’m missing out on something great?”
“Next time you can come too.”
I opened the last lock, waved good-bye to my wife, and then Peng and I stepped out into the night. Together.
The End