"Okay, Maddie, we need to talk. You and me gotta figure out what to do."
Ethan had just put his baby daughter on the blanket on the floor for some tummy time. It was one of his favorite parts of their daily routine, sitting in the nursery with her and just talking to her. The baby books and parenting YouTube channels all said that talking to a baby helps their development. Ethan tried really hard to do everything right, so this was just one more thing he got to do with his little buddy.
Today's chat had an important goal. Obviously Maddie wasn't going to be any help, but Ethan had an idea, and talking it out to her would be a good way to make it all work. "So tomorrow is Valentine's Day. You probably don't know what that is. That's okay. Everything's new for you, I know. So Valentine's Day is February 14th and it's the day where everyone celebrates being in love or people they love or whatever. Last year, your mom and me went to a fancy dinner. But it was a Monday and I was broke, so it wasn't really that fancy. We went to Outback Steakhouse which was fun but I wanted to do more for her, you know?"
Ethan paused, knowing he was wading into dangerous territory. He knew everything had worked out the way it was supposed to with Hailey going home to Texas and then going back to Northwestern this semester. He knew Alan was right when he told him that loving someone meant wanting the best for them even if it isn't with you. But shit, he really missed her. He tried not to think about her too much, because it just hurt when he did. Thankfully, Maddie didn't actually remind him too much of Hailey. Because Hailey had given birth to Maddie but had never met her, and Ethan had never seen them together or anything. Maddie looked like her mother, but Maddie didn't make him ache for Hailey. Maddie was her own perfect self, and Ethan wouldn't give up being her dad for anything in the world. Even so, Ethan missed his girlfriend.
"Anyway," Ethan continued, moving the subject away from Hailey, "so tomorrow is Valentine's Day and you and me are gonna celebrate our way, but I am kinda frustrated that I didn't think about this all earlier. Because between you and me, I don't think Grandpa Alan planned anything for Nana. I mean, I feel like last Valentine's Day they were just moving into the house here and maybe didn't do much and they probably assumed they'd be married by this Valentine's Day, but still. He should do something. Mom deserves it. I mean Nana. You know what I mean."
There was a distant creak on the stairs, indicating that someone was coming up. Ethan smiled to himself. It was Alan, obviously. Mom was at Stanford teaching right now, so it would have to be Alan coming upstairs. And that was exactly Ethan's plan.
He spoke a little louder. "So what do you think, Maddie? Do you think we should help Grandpa Alan plan something for Valentine's Day? I wish we could get them out of the house so they can go out and do something nice, but I bet they can't get a reservation now. That would be nice, though, them going out and you and me staying in. We can maybe help cook dinner for them, how about that? And I hope he bought a present for her, because it's probably too late to order anything now."
"Alright, message received."
Ethan turned to see Alan poke his head into the nursery. He tried to suppress a smile. "Hey man, I'm just talking to Maddie. Mind your business."
Alan rolled his eyes. "For your information, I did buy a gift for Ellie, and I already made dinner reservations for tomorrow night. We're going into the village to the fondue place she wanted to try and then for dessert, I thought we'd buy some of the chocolates from that fancy place and sit out by the fire pit on the patio with some scotch. How's that for Valentine's Day plans?"
"You came up with all that on your own?" Ethan teased.
"I'm not completely useless," Alan countered.
"I would never say you are. But I do know that my mom once said that you're lucky she loves you so much because she can count the number of romantic things you've done on one hand," Ethan informed him.
Poor Alan's face fell at that. "She probably means then and now, too," he muttered to himself.
"So me and Maddie were just a little concerned for Valentine's Day. Maddie wants to make sure Nana gets all the romance she deserves."
Alan looked past Ethan to Maddie. "Sweetheart, you rest assured that Grandpa Alan is going to make sure Nana has a nice time. She deserves everything good in the world, and so do you and so does your dad."
"And so does Grandpa Alan," Ethan added.
He softened. "Thanks." But suddenly his expression changed. "Wait, is Ellie doing something for me? Do you know something?"
Ethan in fact did know something. Mom had been so excited about it that she hadn't been able to resist showing him two weeks ago when the gift had arrived. She had found a super old edition of some scientific journal with the article by William Buckland first describing non-avian dinosaur fossils. "Alan always referenced this on the first day of his classes, and it was the first thing he ever taught me about. I think he'll really love this," Mom had told Ethan when she was showing him the journal. Ethan thought an old scientific journal was a dumb gift, but Alan would probably love it. As far as Ethan could tell, Alan loved dinosaurs, wine, and the people in this house and basically was fine doing without everything else. He'd probably get super excited over that dumb journal.
So Ethan just told Alan, "She got you a gift and I think you'll like it. But what did you get for her?"
"If she wants to show you, she'll show you," Alan answered cryptically.
"Oh dude, is it something gross?" Ethan was struck with the horrific idea that Alan had gotten his mother lingerie or something. That's a thing people did, right? Ugh god, what a nightmare.
"No, it's nothing gross. It's jewelry. I got her a charm bracelet."
Ethan wasn't grossed out by that, thankfully, but he was a little wary. "A charm bracelet? That's kinda corny, isn't it?"
Alan looked worried. "Is it?"
"Well, what charms are on it?"
"Just gemstones. It's one of those family things. It's got one for you and Charlie and Maddie, each of your birthstones. I thought she'd like it. But if it's corny or…"
"No," Ethan insisted. "No, it's really good. That's super sweet, Alan. She's gonna love that."
And he meant it. Mom would love it. Because while Alan seemed to have very limited interests and just tolerated the rest, Mom loved a lot of things. But Ethan knew without a doubt that she loved her kids and her granddaughter the most. And Alan. So Alan giving her something to do with her kids would score a lot of points. Not that he really needed to score points, really. But it would make her happy, and that's what mattered.
Ethan added, "And dinner at the fondue place and then fancy chocolates outside by the firepit will be really nice. Good job, Alan. Maddie doesn't have to worry about that now."
Alan chuckled lightly. "I'm glad Maddie isn't worried."
