Hen pulled up in her driveway and turned her silver SUV off. She got out and walked up the long sidewalk to get inside the house. As soon as she opened the door, Denny was already there shouting about the day he had at school. Hen loved coming home from work to hear stories about things that had happened in class, at lunch, or during recess. He would always get so excited. That was what got her through the rough shifts at work; she would just think about the way his face lit up when he wanted to tell her about everything.
Hen laughed a little and got down on her knees in front of him. "Slow down, slow down. I can't hear a word you're saying."
Denny was out of breath, but he began to speak anyway. "A dog showed up at school today and it was there until we went to lunch, but when we came back it was gone. I hope it's okay."
"I'm sure he is," Hen said to keep him from worrying.
"But wait there's more… We had pizza for lunch and Grant doesn't like pepperoni so he gave me his… so that means I had ten whole pieces of pepperoni on my pizza."
Hen laughed. "Was it good?"
Denny nodded with a big smile on his face. "Guess what?"
"What?" Hen asked excitedly.
"We had a spelling test today and I got all of them right! Are you proud of me?"
Hen pulled him in her arms and she closed her eyes when she felt his small hands on her back. "Of course, I'm proud of you, Denny. I'll always be proud."
Hen opened her eyes and looked at Karen, who was only standing a few feet away from them. She had the biggest smile on her face. Hen smiled back.
"Can we go to the park?" Denny asked after they stopped hugging.
"Have you finished your homework?" Hen asked.
"Yes. Can we please go?" He asked as he glanced at both of his parents.
Hen looked up at her wife and she was smiling, and she already knew that Karen wanted to go.
"Okay, yes, we can go… but can I at least change out of this uniform first?" Hen asked Denny.
"Yes, and I'll put on my shoes while I wait for you," he said as he ran away.
Hen stood up and made her way over to Karen. "Hey, baby."
"Hi," Karen replied.
Hen moved in closer and they kissed.
"I missed you," Karen said.
Hen smiled. "I missed you too." She raised one of her hands and rested it on Karen's cheek. They kissed one more time.
"How was your day?" Karen asked.
Before Hen could even begin to answer, Denny began to scream as he ran through the house.
"I have my shoes on. I'm ready to go!" He shouted.
Hen laughed and shook her head. "We'll talk in a few minutes. I need to get out of these clothes and we need to get out the door before he runs there himself."
She walked upstairs and went to her and Karen's room. She quickly changed out of her clothes and into a comfortable pair of jeans and a black shirt before putting on her favorite pair of black boots.
"Let's go! Let's go!" She heard Denny yell from what she guessed was the living room. She already knew he was standing in the living room. She guessed the only reason he was still standing inside the house was because Karen hadn't let him go out yet.
Hen chuckled and looked at herself in the mirror above the dresser to make sure she didn't have dirt or anything that could've gotten on her face or arms while she was at work. Everything looked good and she grabbed her keys before she rushed out of the bedroom to meet Denny and Karen in the living room.
"I'm ready!" Hen announced.
As soon as Denny heard her say that, he ran out of the house and was already trying to climb in the backseat of Hen's SUV.
"I'll make sure he's buckled up and ready to go," Hen told her wife.
"I did it, Mom," Denny said, as Hen made her way over there.
But that didn't stop her from checking it anyway. "You're good," Hen said, looking down at him.
"I told you," Denny replied.
Hen ran a hand through Denny's hair. "I know, but you can never be too careful."
She shut the door and was finished just in time to shut the passenger door for Karen. Hen made her way to the driver's side and got in.
"So, which park are we going to today?" Hen asked as she put her seat belt on.
"The one with the big slide," Denny answered as Hen started the car.
There were at least two other parks close to Hen and Karen's house, but once Denny fell in love with the big slide, he didn't want to go to any of the other parks. It was the furthest away from where they lived, but Hen didn't mind taking him there at all. As long as it made him happy, she would continue to do so.
Hen backed up and put the car in drive.
"Can we get ice cream after the park?" Denny asked excitedly
"Maybe we should wait to do that after dinner?" Karen suggested.
"Or I could get extra scoops of ice cream and that can be my dinner?" Denny added.
Hen laughed. "You're funny, but that isn't a very good idea."
"Please? I promise I won't eat too much ice cream and I'll eat all of my dinner too. Please?" Denny begged.
Hen glanced over at Karen and then at Denny in the rear view mirror. He had the biggest smile on his face and his eyes were closed. That was his "I'm trying to look adorable and get my way" face. It always worked too.
Hen smiled. "Look at him," she whispered to Karen.
She turned her head and looked at Denny; she chuckled.
"Fine," Karen said. "We can go get ice cream after."
Hen shook her head and grinned. That cute little expression worked. Again.
"Yay!" Denny exclaimed.
"Hey, Denny. You know that face isn't gonna work on us forever," Hen told him.
"I know, but I'm gonna use it as long as I can," Denny told them.
That made Hen and Karen smile. Their son was quite the comedian.
About ten minutes later, they arrived at the park and they were surprised to see that they were the only ones there.
"Cool! I don't have to wait in line for the slide!" Denny shouted.
Before Hen and Karen could even open their door, Denny had already unbuckled and jumped out of the car.
"Don't run!" Karen shouted.
Of course Denny didn't listen.
Hen and Karen got out of the car and held hands as they made their way to the bench.
"You didn't get a chance to answer me before," Karen began as they sat down. "But how was your day?"
Hen shrugged. "It was just a usual day I guess. We had a few minor car accident calls, a minor house fire call, and this guy got his head stuck in a fishbowl."
Karen's brows raised. "A fish bowl?"
Hen sighed. "Yeah, he did it because of a dare. Dumbass almost suffocated."
Confusion spread across Karen's face. "But how did he even fit his head in there? Those openings are small."
"Babe, I don't know. His head must be small."
"His brain is too," Karen added.
Hen laughed and nodded her head, agreeing with her.
She grabbed Karen's hand and placed a kiss on the top.
"How was your day?" Hen asked her.
Karen grinned. "It wasn't as interesting as yours, but it was good… kind of slow. I sold that house over on Bingham Avenue. After that, I did some paperwork and answered some phone calls."
"I'm glad you had a good day," Hen told her.
Karen smiled. "I'm glad you had a good day getting that guy's head out of a fishbowl."
Hen smiled. She moved her head closer to Karen's and kissed her.
"I love you," Hen said after they pulled away.
"I love you too."
They both moved around on the bench so Karen could rest her head on Hen's shoulder.
Karen began to laugh. "How many times has Denny went down that slide since we got here?"
"I'd say at least thirty."
After that, they sat in silence. It didn't bother either of them at all. As long as Karen was content, Hen was too. She loved just sitting down and holding Hen in her arms for hours. Hen often wished they had more time to actually sit down together like that.
Hen looked over at Denny as he ran over to the swing set.
"I thought he'd never go and play on anything else," Karen said, breaking the fifteen minutes of silence.
"Me neither," Hen said. "He's getting on a swing… we both know what that means. He's gonna need someone to push him."
Not even ten seconds later, Denny began to shout.
"Can someone push me?" He yelled.
"See?" Hen said as a smile began to form on her lips.
"Do you want me to go and push him?" Karen asked as she moved away from her wife.
Hen stood up and kissed Karen's forehead. "No, I got this."
"Help!" Denny shouted.
"I'm coming. I'm coming," Hen told him as she walked closer to him.
"I can't do it by myself, mom. I'm not tall enough," Denny complained.
"You'll get there," Hen promised him.
Denny situated himself on the swing. "I'm ready," he announced.
"Hold on tight," Hen told him.
"I am."
Hen pushed him and the swing began to move. Slowly. And that wasn't good enough for Denny.
"Higher," he said.
Hen smiled at his impatience. "It's gonna take a minute. I just started pushing you."
Denny let out a sigh.
Push.
Push.
Push.
Push.
Denny was finally getting happier with how high he was going on the swing. He began to giggle a little.
"Tell me when it's too high for you," Hen said.
'I will," Denny said as she pushed him again.
"Hey, mom. I've been thinking."
"About what?" Hen wondered.
"About what I want to be when I grow up."
"Denny, you've got all the time in the world to think about that."
"I know, but Mrs. Carson said it's never too early to think about what you want to be," he argued.
"Well, I guess that might be true, but you do know you're allowed to change your mind if you want? It's okay to change your mind one-hundred times."
"Yeah, but I already know what I want to be and I'm not changing my mind," Denny informed her.
At this point, the swing was going back and forth so high that Hen could go without pushing him for a few minutes. She just decided to stand behind him
"What do you want to be?"
"Guess."
Hen began to think of all the things that every six year old would say they want to be. "Hmm… doctor?"
"No."
"Scientist?"
"No."
"Lawyer?"
No."
"Astronaut?"
"No."
"Cop?"
"No, but you're getting closer."
Then, it hit Hen. She knew exactly what he was thinking. "You want to have the same job as me?"
"Yeah! I want to be just like you, Mom."
A huge wave of emotions crashed over Hen and tears began to roll down her cheeks. Her son wanted to be just like her. Hen had no words to explain how happy she felt.
"Mom? Why aren't you saying anything? Are you mad?"
Hen put her hands on both Denny's and stopped the swing. She made her way in front of him and kneeled.
"Why are you crying?" Denny asked as his face began to fall.
Hen hugged him. "I'm just so proud of you. That's all."
"You want to know what else Mrs. Carson said?" Denny asked.
They stopped hugging and Hen looked at him. "What did she say?"
Before Denny could answer her, they heard Karen's voice.
"Is everything okay?" She asked.
Hen turned around and faced her wife. "Everything's great. We're just having a talk."
Karen nodded and relaxed on the bench.
Hen faced her son. "What were you going to say about Mrs. Carson?"
"She also told us that we should get a job that we really love so that way we'll be happy, and I know that being a firefighter will be hard sometimes, but I just want to be there for people when they need help. It's kinda like being a superhero. That's what you are."
"Is that really what you think I am?' Hen whispered.
"Yeah, mom!"
Hen looked at her son and she began to tear up again. He was so smart and brave and she was so proud of him. She looked into his dark, brown eyes and they were so pure. He was so pure.
And this little boy wanted to be a firefighter… a superhero.
Just like his mom.
Most days Hen didn't view herself as a genuinely good person, much less a hero. She had made mistakes and she paid for them every damn day of her life, and she would never ever put herself on a pedestal and call herself a hero.
And there Denny was calling her one, which Hen knew was the most positive view a person could have about another human being. He viewed her as the bravest, strongest person in the whole world.
God, she loved that little boy so much.
Denny was definitely the best thing that ever happened to her.
"Maybe we might even work at the same fire station?" Denny suggested.
Hen smiled. "Maybe."
"We'll be superheroes and save everyone together."
"We will."
Denny hugged Hen. "I love you, mom."
"I love you too, Denny," Hen whispered.
He pulled away and Hen began to wipe away all the tears off her face.
She grinned. "You ready to go get ice cream now?"
"Yeah!"
Denny hopped off the swing and Hen grabbed his hand. They made their way over to Karen, who looked worried.
"Is everything okay?" Hen repeated the same question from earlier.
"Everything's fine," Hen assured her.
"We're getting ice cream now!" Denny announced to his mom.
"Okay. Let's go," Karen said as she grabbed Denny's other free hand.
"Me and mom talked about what I want to be when I grow up."
"You did?" Karen asked, surprised.
"Yeah!"
"You can both tell me all about it while we're eating ice cream," Karen told him.
"Okay!"
They all walked to the car hand in hand with Denny in the middle. Hen looked over at Karen and they both smiled at the same time.
Hen was so thankful for Karen and Denny.
She couldn't have been happier.