I just hope she’s wearing clothes in it. “Kid, if that’s a dirty text message, you need to learn to be more subtle about it,” I nag at him, turning on my blinker. “It just said happy birthday.” He looks up at me while sliding it into his pocket. “In body glitter?” My remark makes him throw his head back in laughter. Shaking my head I say, “You can have all the text sex you want later during your party and after, but could you please put your digital love life on hold while we visit your grandparents?” Dean smiles widely at me. “Stop picturing it!” I fuss at him again, parking the car by the curb. A sharp pain hits my stomach, and I try to fight it off. Was that hunger? “I wasn’t.” He shakes head. “I was just thinking…” The sentence lingers and he looks away briefly before looking back. “I was just thinking last year on my birthday I spent it trying to keep warm in the tunnel of a park playground because the old man had come home so drunk and violent.
