2009

After spending a generous amount of time with Grace's daughter, Laila, during her infancy, Karen was beginning to feel more comfortable with children and babies. Despite this, she was still feeling a slight twang of nerves as she strolled down 5th Avenue towards Central Park.

She knew how to deal with little girls; knew how to braid their hair and let them try on her jewels as they squealed in delight. But little boys were foreign creatures to her. It was true that she had gotten better at relating to children on a basic level, but the differences between the genders was still striking enough to give her pause when considering her first meeting with Will and Vince's son.

Karen veered to the left, passed the entrance to the zoo. Her sunglasses slid along the bridge of her nose, moistened by a slight sweat brought on by the warm summer day in Manhattan. A jogger passed her on the left, a couple with a stroller crossed in front of her. Did she look out of place here? Walking all alone, purposefully and proud towards a destination which she couldn't possibly be dressed for? Her pumps and silk garments didn't exactly lend themselves to a playful day in the park. Yes, she was out of place, but she was used to the feeling. Her entire life she had always stood out, no matter how she looked or what she said or who she was with.

When she had been a teenager, she constantly felt the presence of eyes on her. Usually the peepers belonged to a much older man as he sized Karen up, undressed her with his filthy eyes. She had always looked older than she was (until she turned 30, at which point her aging slowed dramatically), and by the time she was 19 it was a common occurrence for her to be handed the phone number of men who were old enough to have been her father. Whether she was out with a group of girlfriends, or just at the grocery store with her mother, she knew her unique beauty and self-confidence made her stand out.

Of course she had never actually called any of these men or engaged in a relationship with them. In her bedroom, under her bed, she kept all of their little notes and scribblings - some just the corner of a napkin with a ten-digit number scrawled across it, some actual love notes. The little wooden box her father had made for her sixth birthday housed all of these discarded treasures, and whenever she was feeling particularly inadequate or unwanted, she would go through each and every note until she felt thoroughly reminded of her desirability. Somewhere in the manse she still had that box. After her divorce from Stanley three years earlier, she hadn't let it out of her sight for two weeks.

The path she was walking on forked a few feet ahead of her. She took the path that curved to the right, and before long the overhand of the big Willow tree where she was to meet Will and his family became visible to her. A lone picnic table sat beneath the curtain of the tree's droopy branches, maybe 50 yards off of the path.

When Will spotted her coming towards them, he waved. She did not return the gesture, but quickened her pace, greeting them with a wide smile when she reached the table. A lovely picnic lunch had been set up across the table top, and a few yards away Jack was chasing a toddler with olive skin and dark, wavy hair around a grassy clearing.

"Hi, Karen," Vince greeted her, standing from the table to give her a hug.

"Hi, guys," she replied to both him and Will, her attention not leaving the running form of their little boy.

"That's him," Will told her, noticing where her attention was.

Karen hesitantly set her purse down on the bench of the table, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and cautiously moved towards the clearing.

"Hey Poodle," she greeted Jack, moving to stand next to him. His arms were folded across his chest as he watched Ben exhaust himself on the grass a few feet in front of him. When Karen spoke, he turned towards her wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Are you OK?" he asked her softly, as they both observed Ben crawling around in front of them, pretending to be a dog. Jack knew that experiences with children were sometimes difficult for Karen, emotionally and otherwise, and she had confessed her growing nerves about this particularly meeting earlier to him in the day.

"Yeah," she breathed. It wasn't a lie, but her heart pounded inside of her chest. "Can I meet him?"

"Of course," Jack replied. Karen glanced behind her, to where she could see Vince busy at the grill and Will filling plastic cups full of lemonade. As if on cue, he looked up and met her gaze, then instantly dropped what he was doing and jogged towards her and Jack, who was now crawling next to Ben, woofing and sniffing as he partook in the toddler's game of make believe.

"Hey, Ben," Will called , trotting over to where Karen stood. "Come here! I want you to meet someone."

Ben looked up at Will, barked twice, then enthusiastically crawled over to his father, pretending to pant as Will lifted him from the ground and took him in his arms.

Karen grinned widely as she came face to face with Ben. The resemblance between him and Will was striking, and she couldn't help but be charmed by the adorable little boy.

"Hi, Ben," she said, making her voice sugary sweet. Will adjusted him on his hip and took a step closer to Karen.

"Ben, this is Karen," Will told his son. Ben studied Karen intently, then giggled.

"Woof! Woof!" he greeted her. Karen shifted, smiled uncomfortably. He was cute and outgoing, but she didn't know how to interact with a little boy pretending to be a dog.

Will set Ben down as he heard Vince calling his name from the picnic site.

"Hang on, guys," he muttered before taking his leave. Ben watched his father run off, then looked back up at Karen. She smiled down at him, but didn't know what to do.

"Come on," Ben requested, and grabbed Karen's hand. His expression was warm, like his father's, and she instantly felt comfortable with him. For whatever reason, he liked her. "Let's find Uncle Jack."

Karen didn't hesitate this time, and felt herself sigh with relief as she followed behind Ben in the search for a hiding Jack. His enthusiasm and joyfulness reminded her a lot of Will. Someday, he would grow up to become a great man like his father. But until then, Karen was more than happy enjoying the innocence and playfulness of his childhood.