Chapter 15. Lab Rat

                                    

                                          
Oliver walked over and sat next to me on the patio table as Maggie waved him over. For the most part, Dax and Maggie did most of the talking, Oliver and I barely spoke, unless it was in response to their questions, but we didn't speak a word to each other.
                          
Mid into dinner a little girl came running out the patio door, followed by a young looking female. I'd say maybe mid-twenties if I had to guess. Maggie introduced us, she was Dax's eldest daughter, Nicky, from his first marriage. The little girl that stormed out and jumped onto Dax's lap was one of her daughters and Dax's granddaughter. The rest of the family shortly trickled through the patio door joining us. Maggie introduced me to them as they came out. Oliver had already met the family on previous visits and fell right into play as he had joined them at the dinner table before. Oliver was holding a conversation with Nicky's husband, Derek, as we all shifted trying to make room for everyone on the table. I remembered Oliver telling me in one of our previous conversations about his first visit to Dax's home. Where he told me that they all lived in this house together. It was hard to imagine all of them in this small three bedroom home but throughout dinner, the image of all of them living together became more natural. They were respectful towards each other, even though they all lived under the same roof and were probably around each other for the most part of every day, still, conversation flowed easily. They would tease each other and tell jokes about embarrassing moments that had happened to them. The kids were happy using Dax as a jungle gym, as he became a softy, I could see they saw him as a tall teddy bear. The little boy Riley that was with Dax in the seven-eleven when we first met him, was being rocked by Nicky as she held him up with most of his weight being supported by her hip.
                          
I had texted Amy back and forth throughout the day, trying to inform her of Oliver's progress. I had promised her that I would let her know when he woke up, but I wasn't trying to be rude at the dinner table, so it would have to wait a little longer, besides she knew he was safe. I made sure to make a mental note to at least text her as soon as possible. I made sure to thank Maggie for dinner, as everyone sat at the table in conversation, except for Oliver and I. We were forced to move in closer to each other, as we had moved earlier to squeeze everyone in. Our elbows would graze unintentionally ever so often. At one point my hand was on the armrest and his hand landed on top of mine briefly, my guess was that it wasn't intentional but more like habit by this point, but yet the question of possibility that it could have been on purpose still lingered in the back of my head. We both held our hands in place until I reached for Nicky's phone as she was trying to show me some pictures she had taken earlier. Pictures of Derek and Riley, where they both fell asleep identically in the movie theater, as Riley sat on his lap. The pictures showed both of them passed out, with their heads being held up by their left palms. Derek's elbow leaned on the armrest and Riley's arm leaned on Derek's bicep. She managed to capture some great pictures of them. She teased how they paid for them to have a place to take a nap, as they crashed towards the beginning of the movie. Derek countered, saying it was technically her fault for dragging them all over the city running errands and shopping. He said she wore them out. He even added that it was worth every penny because he and Riley had a great nap as he reached up and told Riley to give him a high-five. It took Riley a second, but he returned it gently and even included a giggle before he became bashful, noticing he had all our attention as well and tuck himself deeper into his mother's arms.
                          
Our hands never met again as I never placed my hand back on the armrest.
                          
Dinner started to take a toll on me, it fell heavy in me causing me to feel tired. Granted, I was running on no sleep. I completely related and became a little envious hearing Derek talk about his and Riley's naps. I tried to control my yawns by trying to hold them in and turning around and covering what did escape with my hands. Even quickly wiping at any tears that ran from exhaustion before anyone could notice.