Page 98 of Not Looking
Papa chuckled. “You know how they are. Mikey says that Krista is about to finish her fellowship. They’re hoping to be able to start talking about her having kids once they know if she’s staying at the same hospital, or if they’re going to have to move.”
“Does she want to stay there?”
“Yes and no. Apparently, it’s a good hospital and pays well. But she wants to be closer to her family, too. So it’s going to depend on what kind of offers she gets.”
“Well, I know it’s been a long road for her to become a regular attending physician. Hopefully, she gets what she wants.”
There was a smile in Papa’s voice. “We’re all rooting for her.”
“And Thomas?”
“He’s busy at work lately. But he’s also got a new omega in his life. Neil… I think.”
“You think?”
Papa laughed. “You know how he is. Keep everything quiet for a while.”
I let out a single chuckle. “Yeah, I get it. No reason to loop everyone into his dating life if it might turn into another fling.”
“Exactly. Everything else seems to be good with him, though. Just busy.”
“Well, busy is better than bored.”
“Don’t I know it.”
He seemed on the verge of saying something else, then I heard Dad’s voice in the background.
“Oops,” Papa said. “Your Dad says dinner’s done. I’m going to let you talk to him for a moment before we eat.”
“Ok. Bye.”
“Bye.”
A moment of shuffling, then Dad’s voice. “Hey, son.”
“Hi, Dad. How you doing?”
“I’m good. Your papa says you’re not going to visit for the holidays?”
“Yeah. I kind of want to stick around for Thanksgiving, then Randy’s family will be in Mexico over Christmas, so I don’t want to leave him alone.”
He chuckled. “Good reasons to stay there.”
I smiled. “I thought you’d be ok with it.”
“I am.” I paused. “Did you already close up your greenhouse for the year, or is it still warm enough down there in Valle Granja?”
“It’s mostly closed. I’m keeping a little heater in it overnight for the last of the tomatoes to ripen up. But it’s getting cold enough that I can maybe only do that for another week.”
“Seems like a good long season though.”
“Yeah, I’m satisfied with it.” He paused. “Was there anything in particular you needed to talk to me about?”
I thought about it, then smiled to myself. “Not that I can think of. The most important thing to me right now is keeping Randy, and I think you prepared me well for how to care for my potential mate.”
“I hope I did a good job with that,” he replied. “Just remember to always be there for him, and to do your best to make his life easier, not harder.”
“All the little things add up to more than a handful of grand gestures,” I continued, finishing what he’d told us when we were young.”
