Like Father Like Son

I haven't been completely honest

The weeks that followed seemed to have blurred together. Not only had the boys become even more inseparable, but Madeleine and I had become good friends. It was bound to happen given the amount of time we were spending together while the boys played.

It had seemed like just a normal day for us all - the boys were playing and I was on the porch waiting for Madeleine to come and pick William up. When she arrived, we sat together, giving the boys the usual five extra minutes they always asked for, though nothing could have mentally prepared me for what she was going to say.

"You have some explaining to do." She had her arms crossed. I knew what she was reffering to, but I thought that maybe if I played dumb, she would drop the matter.

"What do I have to explain?" I tried to be as level as possible with my tone, but no surprise, I was having a panic attack on the inside. I thought I had managed to escape this conversation.

I was mistaken.

"Your stammering and the look of dread when my husband introduced himself," she said, looking at me expectantly.

"Oh that. Look, Maddie, before I explain, I need you to understand that I am so sorry that I dashed out the door like that. It was rude and I hope that Charles will accept my apology."

"I'm sure he will. Now stop stalling and tell me what happened."

"Of course. I started panicking because of the irony of both you and your husband's names oddly enough." A nervous laugh escaped me as I attempted to make this sound like a lighter subject than it actually was for me. "You see, I told you that you have the same name as my mother. Now, the thing that really got to me the other day is that Charles is also the name of my father."

"My goodness. That is quite a one in a million chance, isn't it?" I could tell she was beginning to understand my immediate reaction. "Were you close to your parents?"

"My father passed away before I was born. As for my mother, we had, for lack of a better term, an indifferent relationship. I think she saw me as a reminder of my father, who she loved so much, and my facial...condition kept her from wanting to show great affection."

"That must have been awful, Erik. You know, Charles actually found it quite funny. He's actually trying to come up with a different name for you."
"Good to know he has a sense of humor." I stifled a laugh and thought of the awkwardness of the next time we would eventually interact. Not a conversation I was looking forward to.

"You know Erik, I still have yet to meet your wife. I was thinking perhaps we could all have dinner together. Even a double date," Maddie said with a small smile.

My mouth went as dry as a desert. I had yet to come up with a suitable excuse as to why Gustave's mother was never around. I had thought about saying she was at work, but trying to think of an appropriate profession left me at a loss of ideas. This was it. I had to come clean. I knew I couldn't keep up the charade for much longer.

"I'm afraid I haven't been completely honest with you," I began, fumbling over my words. "Please come inside. I'll make some tea and explain myself."

Madeleine frowned a bit, but nodded and got out of her chair to follow me inside. "The boys won't object to extra time to play, I'm sure. We have time to chat," she said.

Once the tea was made and we were properly seated, the inevitable question arrived. "What on earth have you been dishonest about, Erik? I've never seen you be so cryptic," Madeline stated. She looked rather worried about me all of a sudden. I'm not sure what she was thinking I had lied about, but I don't think the reality of the situation was what she had in mind.