NateI parked the car in the parking lot inside the building where we lived. It was one o'clock in the morning and I felt broken.After the meeting with Dad we locked ourselves in the conference room to study the case that we would go to deal with in the weeks when we would be in Seattle, we had worked non-stop and we had not stopped for a moment except to have dinner. A beautiful takeout dinner we had had while we continued to discuss the case.As much as I wish Jess wasn’t on maternity leave, at least she was going to go first to Seattle and get me out of the game.As great an opportunity as a lawyer was, it was bad timing. I had no desire to leave Maya and Axel all that time alone. I didn’t even know if I could make it back at least the weekend, and in two weeks we had the other ultrasound.What a shitty timing.I sigh and I take the key out of the picture and then I get out of the car and I lock it.I entered the elevator on the underground floor and pressed the floor of our apart
Nate That morning I woke up at dawn, the sun was just peeping out. Maya was completely wrapped up and lying on me. She had one leg put around my hips and with one arm she held me close to her, the head was resting on my chest and I could feel her breath warm on my skin. I was completely immobilized. Not that I was sorry. Finding myself in Maya’s possessive embrace made me relax my body and mind that that night had been completely in chaos. I blinked several times, realizing that, for the first time in weeks, Axel hadn’t woken up during the night, he had slept all night and I didn’t know if it was for the evening tea or if his mind had just started to water. I kissed Maya on the head and moved her, trying not to wake her, as I wriggled from her embrace. Maya sighed annoyed and lay down on her back with her hands raised and the blanket on her legs. Her hair was completely messed up and in front of her face. I laughed at seeing her like that and I bent down to leave her a kiss on her
NateI walked into the house with dinner bags in my hand. I saw Axel’s blond head coming out of his back and immediately snapped at the sound of the door opening. He looked at me for a moment."Daddy," he shouted, jumping off the couch and running toward me barefoot. I put the bags on the ground and lifted him off the ground while he started talking about how his day had gone and what he had done. I approached the sofa to find Maya lying there, completely dishevelled and wonderfully pregnant.She looked away from the ceiling at me and smiled at me as I picked up the dinner bag and lifted it to show her. Her eyes shone, but there was no sign of movement."Mommy eat sister," Axel seriously said, and I laughed as I went into the kitchen and put the bags on the table. The table was completely bare, so I took a tablecloth and started setting the table.Axel was sitting in his seat and he kept babbling while I put his sandwich in front of him."Happy Neal!" he shouted happily as he grabbed
NateI got up to the sound of the alarm ringing in the room. I reached out to the bedside table, where my phone was lying, so I could turn it off. When the sound stopped trilling I sighed, feeling a weight on my chest.I laid my hands on Axel’s little back who had decided to sleep on it that night, just like his mother did every single night, and about her, Maya was clinging to my arm, her breath tickling my skin while she slept blissfully, despite the alarm ringing two seconds earlier.I passed my free hand in Axel’s blond hair that stretched at my touch, even though he, despite the alarm clock, had not hinted at moving.Axel slept with Maya and me that night because we wanted to spend our last night in town inside the new house. I had spent the whole weekend putting things together for the kitchen and the bigger bedroom, and it was the only one ready to sleep there, so we decided to spend the night here. Axel had been more than happy to spend the night in the bed with us, although
NateI came out of the airport, dragging my suitcase and putting the bag on my shoulders. I approached the place where all the taxis were located and took one to go to the hotel where we would stay for all those weeks.While we were running, I sent a message to Maya, telling her that I had landed and was going to the hotel.The separation broke my heart. Axel had clung to me and said so many sweet words that I almost wanted to give it all up and stay with him, but I knew I couldn’t.Maya had been the quietest, she had not completely decomposed even though I knew she didn’t want to be seen sad, because she wanted to be strong. She promised me that as soon as she did the ultrasound, she would send me everything and every day she would send me a picture of her belly.It wasn’t the same, not for me, but I would have made it enough for now.Maya answered with a picture of Axel taking a bath, his h
NateIt had been two weeks, and for two weeks I had done nothing but immerse myself completely in the work, trying at all costs to finish it as soon as possible. When I was not working I complained about the distance and spent my time on the phone with my wonderful wife and son. Axel spent at least an hour talking to me on a video call, telling me everything he did in the day in his language.I could have spent hours listening to him talk even though I didn’t understand anything and he would have been quietly talking for hours, I watched him with Maya’s cell phone in my hand, sitting on his bed, talking, talking, talking. He reminded me so much of Maya when she was little, she could talk for hours without ever getting tired and I remember that many times Jess when she invited Maya to a sleepover, fell asleep while she was talking until late at night. I remember walking past my sister’s room and finding her talking, sitting on
NateI remember Becka Fisher very well, especially what we went through together.When I was fifteen, my father used to take me with him on his business trips, he always wanted to push me to follow his own career, so many times he took me to meetings with his clients. My first trip was just when he came to Seattle to Jack Fisher, one of his most important clients. Fisher had hosted us at his house, where he lived alone, because he was divorced, and occasionally his two children, Becka and Oliver, came to visit him.Becka and I were the same age and we immediately had an extraordinary understanding, perhaps because we both came in a way forced to attend meetings of our fathers, together we complained. The most vivid memory I had with Becka was the first joint I had smoked and the horror of being stoned and trying to hide it from our fathers and the chemical hunger we had had."You grew up, Dare, you look good," Becka said, t
NateAnother day another race.Also that day I had completely locked myself in the conference room since the next day we will have a meeting with the lawyers of the client of Fisher who had paid attention to the note signature of Seattle. We had worked hard, studying every single step of the case so that we could reach an agreement without actually ending up in court.I stretched myself in the chair and looked at the clock on the phone, it was six o'clock in the afternoon and I was dead tired."I think it’s time to close everything," I said, closing the files in front of me."Thank God, I didn’t think it was ever going to come to that," Lopez yelled and immediately stood up."It looks like you were counting the seconds," I said, standing up."Shut up, Dare. Dinner and club tonight?" Zeke asked hopefully."I pass," I said, putting the documents in the suitcase of my laptop."My