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in. We still hitting the gym to play ball?” he asked.
    I nodded. That was something I always looked forward to when we got together. “Yup, I’ll be up and ready to go by nine. Promise I’ll go easy on you.”
    He chuckled a bit. “Don’t worry about me. Worry about getting dunked on.”
    I laughed so loud my son jumped at the sound of it. “Terrell… I’ve been playing ball with you for years and never once have you managed to dunk on me.”
    He grinned and went on the defense. “That’s just because I don’t wanna make you feel bad. Watch. I’mma show you tomorrow,” he promised.
    And I was pretty sure he’d try, which meant I was also sure I’d get a good laugh. Sam, Maisha, and I stood too, preparing to go inside.
    I watched them all head up to bed, staying behind to make sure the fire was out. On my way up, I glanced at the three boxes my father had handed off to me earlier, wondering what I might find inside. Most of this stuff was from my years living alone after leaving Charleston, so they were from the period of my life that didn’t include Sam. Anything could’ve been inside them.
    *****
    A soft whimper was all it took to wake me. Sam continued to breathe softly, her forehead pressed to my cheek while she slept. With her so close, I wasn’t sure I could slip out of bed without waking her, but one thing was for sure; if I didn’t move now, Anthony would soon be in a full-on cry that would wake the entire house.
    I eased back, letting her head fall gently to the pillow and then I placed a foot on the carpet. With another quick, careful maneuver, I was out from beneath the comforter and headed toward our bedroom door. Crossing the hall, I caught a glimpse of the little one standing in his crib, both hands braced on the railing, a single tear glistening on his cheek.
    “What’s the matter? Can’t sleep?” I asked, lifting him from his crib. His head instantly went to my shoulder. I let him relax for a moment and then changed his diaper, thinking that may have been the problem, but as soon as I lifted him into my arms again, he clung to me. He just wanted to be held. I was pretty wide-awake by this point, too, so I figured I’d just hang with him until he fell asleep again. The room was still dark, and turning on the light would’ve probably awakened Sam, so I figured we’d just head downstairs for a bit.
    The first floor was always a little cooler than upstairs, so I made sure to bring his blanket down with us. We took a seat on the couch and I clicked on the lamp beside it. After a big yawn, Anthony popped his thumb back into his mouth and we sat there in silence, just looking around the house.
    “Daddy should’ve brought a book down to read to you,” I said, bringing a sleepy smile to his face. I looked around the room again, thinking to turn on the TV, but I wasn’t sure how high the volume was and I didn’t want to wake anyone else.
    My eyes went to the stack of boxes on the other side of the room and I contemplated. Now seemed like as good a time as any to see what was inside, so I stood from the couch again and hitched my son up with one hand. With the other, I took the top two boxes off one at a time and set them on the floor.
    “Let’s see what can of worms Grandpa sent over for us to open.”
    I took a seat on the carpet and placed Anthony in my lap, bundled up in his blanket with the back of his head resting against me. I set the top to the first box aside and stared at things of mine I hadn’t seen in years—a couple books, a baseball cap I’d forgotten about, a calculator, and a bunch of other stuff I didn’t need or want anymore. Placing the lid back on top, I set that box aside, making a mental note to put it with the other things we had set aside to donate to charity.
    Inside the next box, there was basically more of the same, a bunch of things that I hadn’t thought about in years because they were unimportant. That one would go to charity, too. I pulled the final