Angel's Mark

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CIAN - 5.13.2020

 Hi there! Since it's Cian's birthday I wanted to do something a lil bit special for him. Enjoy this brief glimpse into his future!

May 13, 2028

Cian

"Lulu would kill you if she knew about this. She'd kill both of us, really."

I was sitting across from Vinny at a corner table in a small, brightly-painted ice cream parlor, the whole place smelling like confectioner's sugar and vanilla and cream, a Kidz Bop playlist blaring over the speakers. My two-year-old son, Jude, was balanced on Vinny's lap, a smear of vibrant Superman ice cream across his happy face.

Vinny bounced Jude on his knee, feeding him another spoonful. "That's why she won't know about this. This is our little secret."

"Yeah!" exclaimed Dani, Lucie's and my oldest child, who had turned five this past January. "Our little secret!"

I sighed, turning Dani's head and wiping the mess of chocolate ice cream from her mouth. Though she was far from the fitness-crazy soccer moms that populated our street, Lucie did have a thing about giving the kids too much sugar. For this reason, I'd been iffy when Vinny had appeared on my doorstep and announced to Dani and Jude that their Uncle Vinny was taking them out for ice cream—but alas, once it was out of his mouth, there was nothing I could do.

"It's a special occasion!" Vinny said, as Jude reached out for the ice cream cup in Vinny's hands. "It's Daddy's birthday, isn't it? I'm sure she'd understand."

Dani turned, suddenly, to look at me. Her eyes were round, long-lashed, the same deep brown as Lucie's. "Daddy, how old are you?"

I sighed. "Old, cupcake."

"Older than Uncle Vinny?"

Vinny and I locked eyes for a short, tense moment. All of us knew that growing age difference between us was going to be more and more difficult to explain the older the kids got; sooner or later, we'd have to sit them down and tell the truth. Despite the fact that over ten years had passed since he'd come back to life as an angel, Vinny still claimed the petite frame and young face of a sophomore in high school. Soon enough, people were going to start wondering if he was my son, too.

"Yes," I said, after a beat of hesitation. "Much older than Uncle Vinny."

Vinny laughed, placing the last of the ice cream in Jude's mouth, who let out a very dramatic mmm. "Please, CJ. Thirty-one is hardly old."

"Easy for you to say, teenybopper."

Vinny narrowed his eyes. "Hey. You and I both know I'm mature well beyond my years."

That, I thought, was probably an understatement.

"Finished, Dani?" I asked, and she nodded her head, her gingery curls bouncing as she did. Lucie had had red hair as a child before it darkened, though so far, Dani's showed no sign of following the same trend. "Clean up your trash and we'll head back home, okay?"

"Actually!" Vinny said, setting Jude down on the floor and watching as he toddled over to me, clinging to my pant leg. "Didn't you or Lucie say Jude needed new clothes? We should stop and buy some. You know, while we're out."

"New clothes?" Jude repeated, blinking up at me.

It was true that Jude was growing out of his clothes faster than we could keep up with; Lucie bought him a miniature leather jacket she thought was cute one day and it was too small a month later. That being said, such an impromptu shopping trip was unusual for my brother. In fact, everything about this was unusual.