Fall 2011: Gabriela Valdez is 26, Nicolas Heredon is 7, Frederic and A.J Heredon are 5 and Taj Behar is 4.
A.J. likes it when they walk to school even though the wind is blowing so hard his ears and nose turns red. His mom always says to wear a hat if he insists on not wearing a jacket but it’s fun the way his hair flies around in the wind. He runs ahead, sliding his hand into his father’s and they smile at each other. He’s not a baby. He can walk down the street by himself, even cross it if his mom is watching, but he doesn’t mind when his dad wants to hold his hand.
They have the best time when Mom has to stay home from work with Sarah and it’s just the two of them. They get to talk about man stuff like going fishing and looking for frogs, plus his dad smiles more. For a long time, A.J. thought his dad would never smile again and his stomach would always hurt when only three of them sat down for dinner.
He’s seen movies. He knows divorce is when daddies go far away and come back only a few times. There’s even a boy in his class who doesn’t have a mommy anymore because of divorce. Maybe tomorrow he’ll talk to Dad about what he’ll miss if he goes away and how much Sarah would cry.
Heredon Cove 