FIVE

Ginger, Domenicia, and Brendan were sitting at the kitchen table, working on their kindergarten homework (writing the letters of the alphabet) when Mark arrived home from work. He hadn't known Domenicia and Brendan were coming, but he was so used to having their house used as a gathering place for Ginger and Lou's friends, especially since they'd moved to a pretty and much bigger split level house they'd found two blocks from where they'd been renting previously just a few months ago, that he barely even blinked when he saw the crowd. Jinyoung was watching them from the kitchen island, where he was making dinner.

Ginger paused her enthusiastic writing when she saw her father. “Daddy,” she said, kicking her knee sock covered legs. “Lou's upset.”

“Lou?” Mark repeated. His son was usually a fairly easy going person, so he couldn't imagine what would upset him enough for Ginger to pick up on it.

“Yeah, he was aaaaangry,” Domenicia said, sounding impressed.

“Angry?”

“At Kit!” Brendan clarified.

“Kit?” Mark repeated, even more flummoxed now. Those two were always picking on each other, but Mark couldn't remember them having a longer fight than when they used to argue over who was playing with which Hot Wheels car.

“Are you just going to repeat everything they say?” Jinyoung asked, pulling off the oven mitts he'd been wearing. “The Homecoming dance is coming up and some girl asked Kit to take her to the dance and be her boyfriend and all that.”

“Well, isn't it about time?” Mark asked. “Kit's sixteen, and by high school girl standards, he's pretty handsome, isn't he?”

Jinyoung stared at Mark, looking a little confounded. Mark wasn't sure why, so he continued talking. “Is Lou jealous because Kit is getting a girlfriend first? I'm sure plenty of girls would love to date Lou.”

“Oh my god, you cannot be this dumb,” Jinyoung said, lifting his eyes heavenwards. “Are you serious?”

“Papa, that's mean!” Ginger said. “Daddy isn't dumb. He's just silly.”

“Why are you calling me dumb?” Mark asked, a little offended.

“I just can't comprehend how you've managed to miss the fact that those two are into each other,” Jinyoung said. “It's painfully obvious.”

“They what?!?”

“Oh my god, you're serious. I mean, you were there when BamBam told us Kit was walking half-an-hour to school every day even though he has his license and has been dreaming of driving since he was two. Did you miss the part where BamBam said he was saving money to buy a race car on Ebay to reconstruct together with Lou?”

“Well, he wants to be a racer, doesn't he?”

“Which he decided on because our charming son has a celebrity crush on a NASCAR driver and wants to work in a pit crew. Kit wants to be an impressive guy to Lou, and also help him live his dream. Which, speaking of, have you seriously also not noticed that Lou never got out of his not-interested-in-girls phase from when he was little?”

“Guys take awhile to mature and be interested in love,” Mark said defensively.

“Yeah, but by time they reach high school, most of their hormones have started kicking in. Maybe that wasn't the case for you, but most guys would have at least expressed an interest in girls in general if not one particular girl by high school. But Lou has still persisted in not caring in the slightest.”

“I have a girl I like,” Brendan announced at the table. Ginger and Domenicia turned to him, wide-eyed.

“Who is it?” Domenicia wanted to know.

“Not telling!” Mark felt a little guilty for actually knowing who it was Brendan liked—it was obviously Domenicia herself (five year olds weren't really capable of subtlety)—but hadn't been able to recognize his own son's feelings for the past few years.

“So if Kit likes Lou so much, what's with this business of getting a girlfriend?” Mark asked.

“I don't think Kit said yes to whoever it was, based on what the kids said,” Jinyoung said. “But he made a point of telling Lou he'd been asked in the first place. Probably to make him jealous—Kit can be a bit of brat like that, still. But it worked. Lou is not happy.”

“Did you talk to him about it?”

“He locked himself in his room,” Jinyoung said. “With Domenicia and Brendan here, I can't just leave the kids for a long chat right now. You could take over dinner and kidsitting and I could try to talk to him, but I thought you might like to do it.”

“Me,” Mark echoed. He was still a little amazed that he'd managed to actually have a love life after Allison at all and didn't really know if he was capable of articulating helpful advice to his son. Allison had been the one to advise him when it came to Jinyoung, but she had a wisdom about love that Mark didn't have. All he'd done was fall in love with someone and stood by his side through everything that came after that.

But now that Mark thought of it, maybe everything he'd done with and for Jinyoung wasn't so simple and straightforward as that. He'd stood by him, but it hadn't been a passive or uncomplicated act, it had been in spite of his own anxiety over his ability to love, in spite of the judgments that could fall on them, in spite of the difficulties they or Lou could have faced, in spite of their early struggles to be open with each other about their own insecurities. He knew more about loving someone and everything beautiful and difficult that went into that than he gave himself credit for. Maybe he could, in his own little way, help Lou.

“I guess I could try,” Mark said.

“I'm sure he and Kit will sort it out,” Jinyoung said. “But it will probably help to hear that you'll always have his back.”

Mark went to Lou's room and tried the door knob. It wouldn't budge, so Mark rapped his knuckles against the door. “Lou, could I talk to you for a second?” he asked.

“I don't feel like talking,” Lou said from the other side.

“I know. You're my son, aren't you? I never liked talking much either, but don't you think if it's something this important to you, it's okay to swallow your pride and talk about it? Just a little?”

Lou didn't answer for awhile. Mark waited, and at long last, he heard the lock click. He pulled open Lou's door.

His room hadn't actually changed all that much from his childhood. All the posters were cars, the calendars were cars, the bookshelves were covered in Motor Trend magazines, car repair guides, NASCAR things, model cars, and half of his RC vehicle collection proudly displayed and dusted. It was almost a perfect mirror to his room at Allison's, where the other half of his collection was kept. Lou had always been such a single-minded person that Mark had to wonder why it had never occurred to him that Lou would naturally be interested in the person he'd devoted most of the moments in his life to right from the moment they'd first met. He felt ashamed of not realizing. But he supposed teenage Lou was a lot like he himself had been when he was young, and he hadn't really fully understood himself back then either.

Mark took a seat next to Lou on the bed. “Jinyoung told me what happened.”

“Yeah,” Lou said flatly. “It really . Kit shouldn't be messing around with girls right now. We have so many plans to get him into local competitions in the future, and I was planning on working part time at the mechanic shop in town when I turn sixteen so I can get better with repairs and stuff. We were coming up with schedules and budgets and even looking into people who could help us, and now he's just going to turn his attention to something else like this wasn't a big deal?” He kicked the ground a little. “Because it was. To me. I really wanted to do this with him. It's my dream. I know I can study mechanics by myself, but...it doesn't mean as much if it's not with him.”

“Lou,” Mark said quietly. “Are those plans the only reason you're upset?”

Lou looked at him warily. “What do you mean?”

“Is that the only reason why you don't want him to have a girlfriend?”

It was a long time before Lou answered him in a low, barely audible voice. “No.”

“Have you explained that to him?”

Lou sighed. “It's not that easy. I don't want things to become weird. And what if he starts hating me?”

“I don't recall Kit ever hating me or your Papa for that reason.”

“But you two love each other, not him. If he finds out someone feels that way about him...”

Mark gently touched Lou's shoulder. “I know it's not simple, Lou. I had the same thoughts about Jinyoung. What if it doesn't work out? What if I hurt him like I hurt Allison? What if I'm a disappointment to him and I lose yet another opportunity for love because I at it so much? I really thought about not getting together with him at all, because of that.”

Lou looked shocked. “Really?”

“Really.”

“God, that's just weird. I can't imagine not having him around.”

“That's because you've never lived in a world where I didn't make that choice. And because I made it, I got over all my worries. Jinyoung got over all of his. We were able to have this amazing life with you and Ginger because we didn't just give up when it was hard.” Mark patted his shoulder. “And maybe one day you'll look back just like I am and count how many important things happened to you because you were brave and took the risk and talked to him. But you'll never have the chance to know that future if you back down now.”

Lou stared hard at the ground for a long time, before nodding slowly. “It's going to change everything,” he said quietly.

“Maybe for the better though, right?”

“I don't know. Sometimes I don't even know why I like him. He's such an .”

“Language.”

“But he is. He just says and does whatever comes to his mind, and most of the time it's completely stupid. The only cool side of him is his determination, but if he goes out with that girl, that's gonna get ruined too.” Lou smiled faintly. “But all my happy memories are with him. Because he was there, I didn't really need anybody else. I don't want to give that to someone else. I don't think I can.”

“If you don't think you can, you better get ready to fight for it.” Mark mussed his hair. “But if it helps, Jinyoung really thinks Kit likes you back.”

This perked up Lou a little bit. “Really? Papa said that? He's good at picking up stuff like that, so maybe he's right?”

“I wouldn't put it past him.”

“Actually, I'm surprised you knew anything about it.”

“Gee, thanks,” Mark said. Then he sheepishly admitted, “Your papa told me.”

“Right. No offense, Daddy, but you're a bit thick.”

“So Jinyoung tells me. I have other charms.”

“Suurree.”

“So you do you think you can come to dinner with us now? Domenicia and your little brother are over, but I'm sure they'll be tactful. Ginger, too.”

“Possibly. At least Gigi's not here.” He stretched, lifting his hands above his head. “I'll be down in a sec. I should probably text Kit and at least apologize for yelling at him.”

“That's always a good start.”

Jinyoung had cleaned up the table and started setting up for dinner by time Mark came back downstairs. “How is he?”

“Better.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“If Lou marries Kit, does that mean Kit is also my brother?” Ginger wanted to know.

“And my brother?” Brendan added.

“Let's not think of marriage right now,” Mark said. “Let's just let your brother make it safely through high school, okay?”

“I want to go to a wedding,” Domenicia sighed. “Having older-older brothers is so cool.”

Mark was going to remind her again that Lou was definitely going to be barred from marrying anyone until he was graduated and employed, but the doorbell rang before he could. He held up a finger and went over to answer. It was probably FedEx, or something.

It was Kit. He was leaning casually against the porch railing, arms folded casually across his chest. He was still like BamBam with his long, slender legs, but he'd also been working out lately and was a little bit for solid than the string bean he'd once been. On a visual level, Mark couldn't really blame Lou for liking him, but at the same time, his protective instinct for his son was triggering. If Kit was going to be “the boyfriend,” he had goddamn better be the best boyfriend it was humanly possible for him to be.

“I hope you're happy about the little scene you seemed to have caused today,” Mark said a little coldly.

Kit shrugged, not looking terribly guilty. “He's been trying to be distant with me lately about anything that doesn't have to do with our racing plans. I thought a little wake up call was in order.”

“How nice of you.”

“I'm sorry he was upset, though. I always aim to make him happy. I hope you get that, at least. This was a one time thing. I'll be all love and consideration from now on.”

Mark wrinkled his nose. That didn't make him feel any better, outside of the fact that it was what Lou seemed to want.

“Well, then,” he said finally. “You better get up there and apologize.”

“Will do.”

“But,” Jinyoung said, poking his head into the foyer, “you better leave the door open, and if this apology takes longer than forty minutes, we're coming up there and dragging you out, okay?”

Kit grinned. “What, you think my intentions aren't pure here?”

“Knowing you, that's exactly what I'm thinking.”

Kit held up his hands. “Fine, fine. Warning received. But he hasn't heard it yet, so I can't be responsible for him. Anyways, better go!” He darted up the stairs before anything more could be said.

“I really have mixed feelings about this,” Mark said with a sigh.

“I hope it's not because he's a guy. Because I hate to break it to you...”

“It's not that,” Mark said. “It's that Lou's old enough for these kind of things to be happening in his life at all. Just wondering where my baby Lou went, and if it'll just keep getting more complicated from now.”

“He's still there,” Jinyoung said gently. “The baby Lou I remember treasured his Daddy. That still seems to be the same.”

“Yeah,” Mark said, smiling again. “I didn't get thrown out of his room. He listened to me. I have to be ahead of several parents of teenagers from that alone.”

“Definitely.” Jinyoung grabbed Mark's hand and pulled him back to the kitchen. “Now let's just hope we're that lucky with Ginger.”

0

Kit and Lou came back downstairs after thirty-five minutes, but it was obvious something more than talking had happened based on their expressions. Mark had to resist the urge to fling mashed potatoes at Kit's head. He'd have to take it out on BamBam somehow later instead.

“So are you boyfriends now?” Domenicia asked. Yes, five years olds definitely lacked in subtlety.

“Yup, so you better not fall in love with him, Nici,” Kit said, putting an arm around Lou's shoulder. “He's already spoken for.”

“She won't!” Brendan insisted firmly.

“Are you gonna be my brother now, Kit?” Ginger asked, since Mark and Jinyoung hadn't properly answered her.

“Maybe if you apologize for picking on me all the time,” Kit said with a shrug.

“I don't! You pick on me!”

Mark simply sighed. “OK, OK, congrats and all that. Please feel free to sit down to dinner. And Kit?”

“Yeah?”

“We're counting on you,” he said simply.

Both Lou and Kit smiled. “Don't worry,” he said confidently. “I'm not planning on letting you guys down. Not about this.”

SIX

It seemed like it would be a quiet summer. As soon as Lou turned sixteen in July, he secured that job he'd been angling for at the car repair shop, and the fact that Lou was busy meant Kit wasn't hanging around every other second. According to Lou, when he wasn't practicing his driving either at the kart tracks or the small speedway nearby, he was busy earning money to support his ambitious plans by working at a hardware store. The two of them usually got together in the evening to go out for dinner at their favorite Thai restaurant before heading over to Kit's to work on his car. Mark was relieved the two of them seemed focused on their goals and kept busy. It put his mind at ease they weren't engaging in illegal behavior like other teens their age. He tried to order BamBam to keep an eye on them when Lou was over so they wouldn't be engaging in other things either.

As for Ginger, she was also out quite a bit for a six year old. Jinyoung had found a small studio in the city offering a variety of cultural dance lessons—Irish step, Chinese traditional, Polish krakowiak—which included Bollywood dancing lessons in the afternoons twice a week. Ginger loved it. By now, she knew she was 50% Indian (though she hadn't asked about the story behind it yet, and Mark and Jinyoung had already decided that they would only bring up the adoption issue if she had concerns about it), and she was excited to learn more about her heritage. She also spent plenty of time at Domenicia's, or else at Allison's to play with Brendan or Regina. Regina herself was nine, a veritable big kid, but she still loved playing with her younger sibling and cousin.

Today, however, Domenicia was over at their place, and both she and Ginger were bored. Mark and Jinyoung were, naturally, the only trustworthy sources of entertainment.

“How about going to the park?” Jinyoung asked after Mark's first two ideas of going swimming (not hot enough!) and playing hopscotch (it was just jumping around, too easy) were shot down.

Domenicia immediately clammed up. “I don't wanna,” she said. “I hate the park.”

“Why?” Mark asked. The park had always seemed pretty harmless to him.

“They didn't come to my birthday party,” Domenicia whispered. “The kids from the park.”

Mark thought back. He'd dropped both Ginger and Brendan off at Domenicia's party, and it had just been them. But he hadn't realized Domenicia had invited anyone else.

A look of righteous fury swept over Ginger's face. “She invited Ashley, Tyler, Jen, and Dylan, and none of them came.”

Those names sounded vaguely familiar from taking Ginger to the park for the past few years. Then Mark remembered: they were the offspring of Super Moms Brittany, Alexa, Danielle, and Mystery Mom (she hadn't talked to Mark after finding out he wasn't available, which hadn't bothered Mark in the slightest). The four kids were really friendly with Ginger, but now that Mark thought of it, Ginger had never received invitations to their houses to play or to their birthdays. And Ashley and Jen always seemed to be busy, according to their moms, when Ginger invited them over.

“All of them are nice,” Domenicia said miserably, “but their mommies don't like my mommy, so their mommies probably said 'no'. But at the party, Mommy got mad because they never sent R-S-V-Ps, and it was rude. And they did it on purpose because...”

Domenicia probably couldn't remember how her mother had phrased it, but Mark could finish the sentence for her. Domenicia was black, the only child of the only black family in four blocks of conservative suburban neighborhood. Just like the Super Moms wouldn't reach out to Ginger for being the daughter of a gay couple. They were keeping the area stuck in the close mindedness that it seemed to have been trying to shed little by little.

“You know, I've heard a lot of other people complaining about the Super Moms for trying to be cliquey at the park,” Jinyoung said thoughtfully. “Allison's brought it up before—the Super Moms don't think Regina is a good influence because she's too rambunctious. And two other mothers said the Super Moms started gossiping loudly about them because they'd come from the neighboring town—the Latin district—and 'the park isn't for just anybody off the streets to use'.”

Mark shook his head. “It's a freaking park. What, do the Super Moms miss high school and playing the mean girls all the time?” He squared his shoulders. “Girls, we are going to the park.”

“But-” Domenicia started to say.

“Don't worry. I have a plan.”

0

The Super Moms were very regular about the times they appeared in the park, so Mark was sure they'd been at the playground with their kids wen they arrived. Sure enough, he spotted the four of them in their matching uniform set, sitting on a bench while their kids climbed all over the jungle gym. When they saw Mark, Jinyoung, Domenicia, Ginger, Brendan, and Regina (who'd they stopped by to pick up on their way over) their expressions grew pinched. However, Ashley—the daughter of Super Mom Brittany—also saw them and immediately smiled. “Guys, look!” Jen, Tyler, and Dylan glanced over and started waving.

Regina ran up to them. “Guys, guys!” she said. “Come over to the lake with us! We're going to blow bubbles!” She flashed them the bubble blowing kit Allison had gotten her for Christmas several years ago. “GIANT bubbles.”

The kids' eyes widened when they saw the picture of a long and rainbow filled bubble on the front cover. It was indeed impressive—that was what Mark had been banking on. He knew all the children would want to do it, so if the Super Moms refused, they'd wind up rebutted by several whiny middle schoolers.

Tyler didn't even bother asking for permission. “Mom, we're going to the lake,” he informed Super Mom Alexa.

“I'm not sure that's...” She looked for support from the more dominant Super Moms.

“We were just going to head home, actually,” Brittany said, rising to her feet.

“No we weren't,” Ashley protested. “You said we could play for another hour. You lied to me.”

“I decided to make lasagna for dinner, sweetie. Your favorite. It takes a long time to make, so we have to hurry home if we want to eat it.”

“I wanna blow bubbles,” Ashley said. “I'll have macaroni for dinner instead.”

“Me too,” Jen said. “These bubbles look so cool.”

“Come on, Mommy, pleeeeeeeeeeeease,” Dylan said, his whining hitting all the right notes so as to be unbearable to listen to. The Super Moms hesitated just long enough for Jinyoung to say, “Let's go to the lake, then.”

There were other children at the lake, so Mark and Jinyoung invited them to join in, too. They even found the mothers who traveled from the town over (Mark had looked it up—the town over didn't even have a park, so of course they would make the effort to go here), and invited their two little girls over to try out the big bubbles.

By time Regina was passing out wands to share, a huge crowd of kids had gathered, full of children who were left outside the Super Mom's playdate clique. All of them were playing together and sharing in something they all found fun, just like real life, just as it should be.

Regina let Domenicia make the first bubble, and she just looked so happy as Ashley, Tyler, Dylan, and Jen cheered for her. “So cute,” Mark said, addressing Brittany who was standing nearby, looking anxious. “That is one happy little girl. A real shame she couldn't be as happy on her birthday.”

“Ashley was sick,” Brittany said automatically. “It was last minute.”

“And Dylan, Tyler, and Jen, too? Must have been some bug. That's really sad, considering she was also sick in May, since I don't remember seeing her at Ginger's birthday either.”

“Or maybe in that case you were worried she'd catch something from the house of sinners,” Jinyoung said sardonically. (God, I love him, Mark thought. )“It's too bad, because all the other kids who came had a really great time. Especially the girls. Ginger hosted a Bollywood Dance class for all the guests and put on a musical scene. Everyone had so much fun, and I heard Ashley was really upset she couldn't learn the dance with the other girls.”

“Ashley's in ballet,” Brittany said, though her expression was flickering. “She knows plenty of dances.”

“That's great,” Mark said. “I'm sure she loves it. I'm sure she'd also like to make friends with who she wants to be friends with. She doesn't see Domenicia or Ginger or the two Latina girls she's blowing bubbles with right now as weird or outsiders. That's all you and your friends. And I think it's just sad that you can't look at two little girls and see them as little girls.” He shrugged. “But it's not like I can force you to be nice. You can continue to make my six year old daughter and her friend cry by trying to mess up their birthday parties. I'm sure that's really an exciting thing for a thirty year old to spend her life doing, making six year olds cry. Still, I hope you'll rethink it. Regina's birthday is next month in September. I hope we can see Ashley and the others there this time.”

With a wave, he and Jinyoung walked over to help Brendan, who was having a little trouble getting his bubble not to pop right away.

“I know I say 'Could I love you any more' a lot,” Jinyoung said as they walked. “But seriously, can I love you any more?”

“I hope so.”

“Thank you for all of that back there. You might not be observant all the time, but your heart is so good when it counts, and I love that so so so so so so much about you.”

Mark smiled. “You too, Jinyoungie. It's a team effort.”

“I know.” He leaned over to give Mark a quick peck on the cheek, not caring if the Super Moms saw. “But it makes me proud anyways. That we're all we promised Mei Hui that we'd be. That we're taking care of our daughter and giving her that world of kindness we said we would.”

“It's because I have the best person in the world to raise her with,” Mark said. “I know how to be this kind because you gave me a world of kindness and so much more ever since I met you.”

0

Both Ginger and Domenicia were bouncing up and down in their seats as Mark and Jinyoung drove them home. The trip to the park had been a huge success, and they'd made some new friends on top of it, so all was right in the world for them. Mark could only hope things would continue to stay that way; in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but pray that Ashley, Tyler, Jen, and Dylan would make that special effort not to be like their mothers, or else they could really wind up hurting his daughter when she was older. Lou had been spared that pain thanks to Kit, but Ginger was still young, and it was hard to say just what would and wouldn't bother her when she was older.

After they dropped Regina and Brendan back off with Allison and Jackson and took Domenicia back to her house, they headed home to start getting dinner ready. As soon as they were inside, Ginger tugged on their arms like she did when she wanted to them to lean down so she could whisper in their ears. Both Jinyoung and Mark obediently got down beside her.

To their surprise, she instead kissed them both on the cheek. "My first grade teacher told us 'Friends are flowers'," she said. "When you're nice to them, it gives them water and they grow tall and happy. Domenicia is a sunflower, so she grows the tallest and sunniest of all the flowers. And she needs a lot of water, too."

"That's a pretty thought," Jinyoung said, fluffing Ginger's curly hair. "I'm sure you give her lots and lots."

Ginger nodded. "And Daddy and Papa were nice to her today, too, so she was super super tall." She demonstrated by lifting her hands as far as they would go. "At school, we give out flower stickers to nice friends, but I don't have any, so Daddy and Papa get kisses. And..." She put her hands on her hips. "Ginger is a lotus, and eating hot dogs helps lotus grow strong, so Daddy and Papa will get more kisses if they make hot dogs for dinner."

Both Jinyoung and Mark burst out laughing. "Hot dogs it is, then," Mark said with a grin. "I think our little lotus flower has earned it."