Read Online Little Children by Tom Perrotta - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Tom Perrotta
Ads: Link
a little while longer, their little chaperone immediately smelled a rat and insisted that one of them join him on the living room couch.
Deciding that this was no time for subtlety, Todd emerged from the bathroom wearing only a towel, his manly intentions on full display. All he had to do was successfully transfer Aaron to his own bed without waking him, and they’d be home free. But when he pulled back the covers and slipped his hands under his son’s knees and shoulders, Kathy released a barely audible whimper of protest.
“Please don’t.”
Todd straightened up, his high hopes already wilting.
“Come on, Kathy. How many times do we have to argue about this? He’s three years old. He needs to start sleeping by himself.”
“I know,” she said, in the melancholy tone of someone fighting a battle she knew she’d someday have to lose. “But he just looks so comfy.”
“He’ll be just as comfy in his own bed.”
“I just like to have him next to me.” She gazed down at her son with a look of profound adoration and shook her head, as if to say that she knew Todd was right but was helpless in the face of her own feelings. “Don’t you love his warm little body?”
What about me? Todd wanted to ask. What about my big warm body?
“Look, Kathy, I’m just getting a little tired of waking up with his foot in my face.”
“But isn’t he just so perfect? Was there ever a more perfect face in the entire history of the world?”
There was only one right answer to a question like that. And besides, for the most part Todd did like having Aaron in bed with them, especially when he was all warm and soapy-smelling from his bath. He’d wake up happy at the first light of morning and beg his parents to tickle him until he couldn’t take it anymore, at which point he’d beg them to stop.
“He is a handsome devil,” Todd had to admit.
“I know,” said Kathy. “He’s my perfect little man.”
So Todd cast off his towel, put on a pair of boxers, and climbed into bed with his wife and sleeping child. Just before she turned off the light, Kathy leaned over Aaron to give Todd a kiss. He pushed himself up on his elbows, just high enough to get a quick peek at her breasts. Even after five years of marriage, it still gave him a little thrill.
“Night, night,” she told him.
“Night, night,” he said.
Blueberry Court
RONNIE WASN’T COOPERATING.
“Okay,” he said. “How about this? Overweight ex-con with receding hairline, bites nails and smokes like chimney. Likes kiddie porn and quiet nights in front of the television.”
“That’s not funny,” said May.
“It wasn’t a joke.”
“Come on, Ronnie. This isn’t going to work if you don’t try. We’ve got to look on the bright side.”
“The bright side? Why didn’t you say so? Let’s see…I have no job, no friends, and everyone hates me. I think that about covers it.”
“You have friends,” May insisted, but she regretted the remark as soon as it came out of her mouth.
“Yeah? Like who?”
She thought it over. “What about Eddie Colonna?”
“That was tenth grade, Ma. If Eddie saw me now, he’d probably spit in my face.”
“You must have had friends in…in…” May’s voice trailed off. She had a hard time saying the word prison out loud. “You lived there for three years.”
“Oh yeah,” said Ronnie. “I was extremely popular.”
“Dr. Linton liked you,” she continued, not knowing why she felt a need to press on with such an upsetting subject.
“She was paid to like me. If the state stopped sending her checks, I don’t think we’d have been hanging out together too much.”
“Didn’t she say you were highly intelligent?”
“She also said I was unusually devious and not to be trusted around children.”
“Well, I know Bertha likes you.” This wasn’t precisely true, but May was determined not to come up empty-handed. “She said so the other day.”
“Oh, that makes me feel much better. It’s
Deciding that this was no time for subtlety, Todd emerged from the bathroom wearing only a towel, his manly intentions on full display. All he had to do was successfully transfer Aaron to his own bed without waking him, and they’d be home free. But when he pulled back the covers and slipped his hands under his son’s knees and shoulders, Kathy released a barely audible whimper of protest.
“Please don’t.”
Todd straightened up, his high hopes already wilting.
“Come on, Kathy. How many times do we have to argue about this? He’s three years old. He needs to start sleeping by himself.”
“I know,” she said, in the melancholy tone of someone fighting a battle she knew she’d someday have to lose. “But he just looks so comfy.”
“He’ll be just as comfy in his own bed.”
“I just like to have him next to me.” She gazed down at her son with a look of profound adoration and shook her head, as if to say that she knew Todd was right but was helpless in the face of her own feelings. “Don’t you love his warm little body?”
What about me? Todd wanted to ask. What about my big warm body?
“Look, Kathy, I’m just getting a little tired of waking up with his foot in my face.”
“But isn’t he just so perfect? Was there ever a more perfect face in the entire history of the world?”
There was only one right answer to a question like that. And besides, for the most part Todd did like having Aaron in bed with them, especially when he was all warm and soapy-smelling from his bath. He’d wake up happy at the first light of morning and beg his parents to tickle him until he couldn’t take it anymore, at which point he’d beg them to stop.
“He is a handsome devil,” Todd had to admit.
“I know,” said Kathy. “He’s my perfect little man.”
So Todd cast off his towel, put on a pair of boxers, and climbed into bed with his wife and sleeping child. Just before she turned off the light, Kathy leaned over Aaron to give Todd a kiss. He pushed himself up on his elbows, just high enough to get a quick peek at her breasts. Even after five years of marriage, it still gave him a little thrill.
“Night, night,” she told him.
“Night, night,” he said.
Blueberry Court
RONNIE WASN’T COOPERATING.
“Okay,” he said. “How about this? Overweight ex-con with receding hairline, bites nails and smokes like chimney. Likes kiddie porn and quiet nights in front of the television.”
“That’s not funny,” said May.
“It wasn’t a joke.”
“Come on, Ronnie. This isn’t going to work if you don’t try. We’ve got to look on the bright side.”
“The bright side? Why didn’t you say so? Let’s see…I have no job, no friends, and everyone hates me. I think that about covers it.”
“You have friends,” May insisted, but she regretted the remark as soon as it came out of her mouth.
“Yeah? Like who?”
She thought it over. “What about Eddie Colonna?”
“That was tenth grade, Ma. If Eddie saw me now, he’d probably spit in my face.”
“You must have had friends in…in…” May’s voice trailed off. She had a hard time saying the word prison out loud. “You lived there for three years.”
“Oh yeah,” said Ronnie. “I was extremely popular.”
“Dr. Linton liked you,” she continued, not knowing why she felt a need to press on with such an upsetting subject.
“She was paid to like me. If the state stopped sending her checks, I don’t think we’d have been hanging out together too much.”
“Didn’t she say you were highly intelligent?”
“She also said I was unusually devious and not to be trusted around children.”
“Well, I know Bertha likes you.” This wasn’t precisely true, but May was determined not to come up empty-handed. “She said so the other day.”
“Oh, that makes me feel much better. It’s
Similar Books
