“You reached for him anyway.”
Liam turned from the button panel. “You know I can hear you, right?”
Ben rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m working on it, buddy. I’m allowed to be scared too.”
“I know, but I’m hungry, which means there’s no room for the scary stuff.”
I smiled but kept my hand on Ben’s arm. “He needs room to do things himself.”
“I know,” Ben said again. This time, he meant it.
“I’m allowed to be scared too.”
***
At dinner, Jeff, the restaurant manager, removed an extra chair before Liam had to ask.
“Will this give you enough room?” he asked.
Liam tested the space with one quick turn. “Perfect.”
“Let me know if you need anything.”
“We need dessert,” Liam said.
Jeff glanced at me.
“We need dessert.”
“He needs dinner,” I corrected.
Liam opened the menu and flipped to the last page. “I’m planning ahead.”
“You’re planning around chocolate cake.”
“That’s still planning.”
Ben pointed to the entrees. “Save room for ice cream.”
“I have a separate stomach for that.”
“I’m planning ahead.”
For ten minutes, we were just a family on vacation.
We had no appointments, no equipment lists, and no strangers watching us for too long.
Liam laughed at his own jokes while Ben pretended not to laugh with him.
I let myself relax.
***
Then Liam adjusted his chair.
One wheel brushed an empty chair behind him. It barely moved.
We were just a family on vacation.
“Oh, sorry,” he said, looking back. “I didn’t see it.”
The woman at the next table turned sharply.
She pulled the empty chair toward herself, even though Liam had barely touched it.
“You need to be more careful.”
“I said I was sorry,” Liam replied.
“Then watch where you’re going.”
“I didn’t see it.”
Ben set down his fork. “He bumped an empty chair.”
I placed my hand over his before he could stand.
“Liam handled it.”
The woman looked at me. Her hair was carefully pinned, and a small gift bag sat beside two empty places at her table.
“He shouldn’t be blocking the aisle,” she said.
“He bumped an empty chair.”
I glanced behind Liam. There was enough space for two servers to pass.
“He isn’t.”
Her mouth tightened.
A server walked by, and the woman caught her arm.
“Can you do something about this setup?”
Her mouth tightened.
The server checked the aisle. “Everything meets the spacing requirements, ma’am.”
“So you’re just leaving it like that?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The server walked away.
Ben leaned closer. “She asked them to move us.”
“I heard.”
“So you’re just leaving it like that?”
“Why aren’t you saying something, Ella? Should I?”
“Because Liam already spoke for himself, and the server answered her.”
Across from us, Liam picked up his fork again.
“Can I finish my joke now?”
I smiled. “You’d better. We’ve suffered through half of it.”
He took a breath. “So, the fish says to the waiter…”
“Liam already spoke for himself.”
The woman’s chair scraped behind us.
Liam stopped.
She marched to our table and pointed at his wheelchair.
“Move him somewhere else. It’s ruining everyone’s meal.”
The dining room went silent.
