by Mariana Lopes
Aiden and I met when we were respectively 32 and 34 years old. I know, it’s not the typical story of a couple, but it’s also great that way. Not belonging to a habit, an expectation. We are originals, at least that’s how I like to think of it. He likes to think about it that way too. Oh, another detail, we’re gay. And have two daughters.
“Dad!” she screamed from her room upstairs.
“Yes?!”Aiden and I responded.
“I can’t find the other yellow sock!!”
Annie is the oldest, and she really loves these yellow socks. So we knew one of us would have to be the hero and find that yellow sock. Amy is the little one, only 6 years old. She is a sweet pea, just unlike her sister. Let’s say Annie is an energetic and torn teenager. Yeah it’s just that.
That evening, Aiden and I were cooking some salmon pasta. It’s our favorite meal, mostly because we never eat it except on the 3rd of November. It’s a weird tradition, just like our unconventional family. We like to think of it that way. I was helping Annie with finding her yellow sock when suddenly I heard a big shablam in the kitchen.
“What’s happening over there? Do you need help?”
“I’m fine!” he said. He actually didn’t seem fine at all. I was coming down the stairs when he yelled at me to keep searching for that yellow sock. It was all good. So I walked back up to help Annie.
“Dad, I’m starting to panic. That’s it, I’m having a panic attack!”
“Sweetheart, calm down, we’re gonna find it. It can’t be that far. Socks don’t just hide from humans.”
“What do you know about that?! Maybe they do.”
“Well maybe if you were nicer to them, they wouldn’t disappear!!”
Of course this doesn’t make any sense. I am just a tired father looking for a yellow sock for what feels to be already an hour.
Another loud sound from the kitchen. This time, I went downstairs. Only to find my dear husband, with our dear youngest, and the salmon on the floor, being eaten by our golden retriever; Sam.
I didn’t know which one I wanted to kill first. But thinking about it, the dog and the kid would be the only survivors.
“I know, don’t get angry Adam. It’s only salmon, it…”
“It’s being eaten by Sam. Our SALMON is being eaten not by our family on the evening of the 3rd of November, but by our CUTE LITTLE FAMILY DOG.”
Yes, the dog may be the only cliché element of our story. But c’mon, a golden retriever?? Who doesn’t love golden retrievers?? We’re two gay dads, not aliens.
“Amy wanted to know the secret recipe, and since it’s such an important tradition of ours, I wanted to show her how it was done. She first spilled the boiling pan with the pasta. Sam was chilling in the backyard. But now she spilled the salmon, and this time Sam was not chilling in the backyard.”
“Amy darling come here.” I said, transferring her from Aiden’s arms to mine. “You know what? Why won’t you go help your sister finding her yellow sock?”
Amy looked at me all excited, because she really enjoyed being with her sister. Even though her sister wouldn’t enjoy it as much at that moment. So I went upstairs with the little pea in my arms, and I confided her to Annie, who was really starting to lose her mind. But she was always careful with Amy, no matter what. So I knew I could go back to the kitchen to commit a murder.
“Aiden. What are we going to do?! If we don’t have our untraditional salmon pasta tonight, I’m gonna start chasing yellow socks too.”
“Relax, love. I’m gonna fix this.” he said.
Aiden was always the reasoned one. Everytime I’d freak out, he would help me and find ways to solve the matter. This time, he decided to run to the store to find some salmon. When he came back, I thought I saw an angel entering the room. Amy was crying for 10 minutes, and Annie was about to destroy the closet in her room. We NEEDED this salmon.
“I couldn’t find any.”
“What do you mean you couldn’t find any?”
“Seems like there wasn’t any stock of salmon in the stores today.”
“Oh jesus. This is a disaster. I’m gonna find all these bastards that bought salmon today and kill them.”
“Adam!! Not in front of Amy!! Watch your tongue!”
I was holding Amy in my arms, while this time it was Sam helping Annie with the mystery of the sock. Amy had finally stopped crying when her other daddy walked in the salon.
“Alright alright.” I said, forced to admit that I couldn’t just say such things in front of a 6 year old. “But listen to me Aiden. I am very serious now… I’m heading to Norway to catch some salmon myself.”
“Come on now Adam!! Always so dramatic.”
“ME?!” Amy was looking at us with her eyes wide open. “Me…?” I repeated more contained. “I am not dramatic. How dare you calling me a drama queen like that?”
“Because you are a drama queen.” He, on the other hand, was looking at me with despair. But despair coming from a place of love.
“I found my sock!!!!! Dads, I found my freaking yellow sock!!!”
“ANNIE! Watch your tongue too!!” This time Aiden was really desperate with the two of us. “But that’s great honey. I’m really happy for you.”
“Me too sweetheart. Come grab your sister and go play upstairs if you don’t mind.” I said.
“When will dinner be ready by the way? I’m kind of hungry to be honest.”
Aiden and I looked at each other. Damn it, we had only averted one crisis. But he instinctively walked in the kitchen and came back thirty seconds later, with a frozen pizza in his hands.
“New tradition kids. November 3rd is pizza night!” He had a smile on his face. The kind of smile only a dad has. The one that says: “I’m doing my best as a human being living with a bunch of kids, myself included.” And I freaking loved him for that.
Sam immediately started to drool profusely, because if there was anything he understood better than everything else, was the word “pizza”. So then, the girls set the table and we all ate a delicious frozen pizza. Of course we cooked it, we didn’t eat it frozen. Everyone was delighted, except Sam because he was punished and couldn’t eat pizza since he ate the salmon. The girls were happy, Annie was wearing her yellow socks and all the crises had been averted. That’s almost a typical day in our family. And I love my silly husband more than anything else in this world. Even if he had the nerve to call me a drama queen.