He saw it immediately. He stopped in the doorway.
“You went in my backpack.”
“I was looking for the field trip form.”
He came over, picked up the flyer, folded it back into its tight little square, and put it in his pocket.
“Caleb, we should talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“It’s a Father’s Day assembly. That’s going to be hard. For both of us.” I tried to keep my voice gentle. “I was thinking maybe you could stay home that day. I’ll call the school. Nobody will think anything of it. We could do something together. Go to the lake, maybe.”
He was quiet. He was looking at the floor.
“I want to go,” he said.
“Honey…”
“I want to go.”
“You don’t have to prove anything to anybody. If it’s going to hurt…”
“Mom.” He looked up at me, and for once his face wasn’t blank. There was something underneath it. Something tight and determined. “I want to go. Okay? Just let me go.”
