After pictures and cutting the cake, I sat at the kids’ table, in awe of how stunning they all were. I mean, they come from amazing stock, so no one is surprised, heh. But I didn’t expect them to be that good looking. I was proud and happy and scared at the same time, and judging from the stunned look on Sophia’s face, she felt the same way. But it wasn’t just their fetching looks that caught me off guard. It was just being in their presence. It’s real now. I don’t have to imagine what they’ll be like or look like anymore. Their taller, more matured selves are sitting right in front of me, and I am just in awe of them.
I ate my cake and listened to them talk. It’s almost as if they weren’t aware of how much they had changed and carried on like usual. But thinking about it, I don’t remember feeling very different either. Apart from noticing how cute all the girls were, I felt the same. Oof. Cute girls. I guess that’s something else for me, Less, and Sophia to discuss: how and when do we handle the woohoo talk? I already know Less is gonna pawn the boys off on me, so I should go ahead and prepare. Maybe I’ll do a guys’ night, so it won’t be as cringe like how it was with Dad. He got better at awkward conversations as I got older, but that first time we talked about woohoo was brutal. The message was fine because he always had a way with words, but the delivery was so awkward. I hope it goes much smoother for me.
Sophia nodded toward Less, who sat alone at the adults’ table. I’m glad she called my attention to her because I was so entranced by the kids I forgot we had a proposal for her.
“We did pretty well, if I may so,” I said, sitting next to her.
“For sure. No coward can ruin this gene pool!”
“Stop it. You know you wouldn’t have even given him a second thought if you didn’t think he was cute.”
“Maybe. I still hold the lion’s share of beauty, though.”
“You’ll get no argument from me.”
Sophia joined us, so I started my speech.
“So, here’s the thing. We’re going to drink the Potion of Youth tonight, and we want you to do it with us.”
“…what?“
“It resets your age to the beginning of the adult stage. I don’t want to be a super old man walking my daughter down the aisle! And I don’t want to be dead when my grandkids are still newborns! Have you thought about this at all?”
“No?”
“We lost so much time trying to have a baby. This potion will give us that time back so we can enjoy the family we fought so hard to create. But we don’t want to enjoy the time by ourselves. And I don’t want to watch you die when you get old. Please do it with us.”
She sat there with her mouth gaped, eyes bouncing between the two of us, confused and a bit alarmed. Good thing Sophia intervened after I went in, guns blazing.
“I know we kinda ambushed you,” she said, “and I know it’s a lot to consider. If you need time to think about it, we’ll understand. Your birthday is still a way off. There’s no need to rush this. I, on the other hand, don’t have that kind of time, so we’re doing it now.”
She’s right, but I still felt a sense of urgency. If we do it together, we’ll be the same age. With any luck, we’ll die on the same day, just like Mama and Dwayne did. True, that would suck for the kids, but at least they’d only have to live through one tragedy. Sophia meant to soften my approach, but I had to seal the deal.
“Isn’t that guy you’re seeing younger than you?” I asked. “If things work out, you’ll have more time with him, too, while you’re still young enough to enjoy it.”
“Hmmmm…new roster. I like the sound of that. I’m in!”
