Earning a Name

"Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!" Fredo abruptly pulled all attention back to him.

"What, buddy?" Wade knelt at Fredo's level to focus on the boy.

"I got an A on my math test!" Alfredo pulled a wrinkled piece of paper from the pocket of his jacket.

"Mijo! I wanted to leave that on the fridge." Dia shook her head.

"I needed Wade to believe me," Fredo pouted.

"I assured you, he would." Dia's eyes met Wade as she squatted to their level, and he could feel his heart soar.

Dia was far too pretty to give him the time of day. Seeing her in a flowing dress was new. She always wore a pair of tight jeans at the taqueria. Wade had learned to discreetly check out her second-best physical feature whenever he could. Still present were Dia's bright-white tennis shoes, which were a trademark of the woman.

The red dress was elegant but understated and demure. A tan denim jacket complemented both her skirt and her toasty skin tone. Light touches on her makeup and dark-red lip gloss accentuated her radiant, subdued beauty. She wasn't going out of her way, but the woman was gorgeous effortlessly.

"Your mother told me about it. Can I trade you that paper for this?" Wade produced the little Lego box from his pocket.

"Okay! Momma, he got it!" Alfredo bounced with added exuberance.

"Why wouldn't he? Wade's good with a promise."

"Sometimes, Dadda..." Fredo trailed off.

"Your dad's forgetful sometimes, but I'll bet he remembers next time he sees you. Why don't you trade Mr. Coolidge."

"Okay!" The boy stuck out the paper, and Wade exchanged it for the minifigure.

"What do you say, Mijo?"

"Thank you, Mr. C!" Alfredo grabbed his treasure and skipped away.

"Fredo! Don't open it until after the party. And no crossing the street without holding my hand!" Dia admonished with a smile.

"Aww... Okay, momma!"

"So, whose party are you going to, tiny human?" Wade questioned.

"Amber, but I wanna see Clem."

"Who's Clem?"

"Clementine Bryne, a girl from my class."

"A girl, huh?"

"Yeah, she's funny." Alfredo circled back and stood between Dia and Wade. He grabbed both their hands as they navigated the crosswalk to a sprawling park a few blocks from Wade's apartment.

"I know a girl like that." Wade looked at Dia and smiled while the boy was distracted crossing the street.

"Momma's not a girl. She's momma," Fredo explained, with the impeccable logic of a second grader. "She's not really funny."

"You didn't know her in high school." Wade grinned.

"Momma was in high school?"

"Yes, Mijo. I grew up here."

"Okay!" Fredo let go of their hands and started to speed off toward the enclosed group of picnic tables with music, balloons, and a gaggle of children.

"Mijo! Don't forget Amber's present!" Dia held out a gift bag with an outburst of pink tissue exploding from the top.

"Oops." Alfredo obediently sped back. "I wrapped it, so I should take it."

Giving gifts had become important to Fredo since he got an incredible one from Clem. Although Clem hadn't been able to come over for Fredo's birthday several months ago, she had sent a handmade card and a Lego car. It wasn't part of an official kit, but someone had helped Clem create an instruction booklet to build the vehicle. Dia had almost been brought to tears as she related the story to Wade, even months later.

"Be good, Fredo. If you need anything, I have my phone, okay?"

"You're not going to be at the party?"

"No, sweetie. There are plenty of adults there. Mr. Coolidge is going to get a cup of coffee with your momma."

"K! Come back to meet Miss Bryne."

"You want to introduce Clem to your mother?"

"Not Clementine, her momma." Fredo looked down and blushed.

"Okay, sweetie, I will at the end of the party when we pick you up, okay?"

"Yay!" Fredo spun around and skipped toward the party.

"Come on, I'm getting you a coffee."

Dia - That same time

"Miss Bryne wouldn't happen to be Tabitha, would she?" Wade questioned as they turned toward Dia's favorite coffee shop. Not only was it a block from the taqueria, but it also had the caffeine that got Dia through her day.

"Yes, she would. How'd you know?"

"She's a nurse practitioner working on her doctorate in nursing." Wade shrugged, as he explained.

"Yeah, that's right." Dia felt a surge of jealousy. She'd been falling for Wade for a while.

"Bryne isn't a ubiquitous name around here." Wade looked over with a grin.

He's doing this on purpose, Dia decided. What had started out as a rekindling of friendship was becoming something more.

"She was on a rotation with my oncologist. I like her. She told me her boyfriend, Jake, was bald like me."

"He is. That guy's been dating Clem's mom for a while, and I think it's serious. I'm pretty sure he helped Clem make the pamphlet with her present."

"Huh, small world. Did I pick up a hint of jealousy when I was talking about Miss Bryne?"

"Me, jealous? Nah!" Dia tried to pass off a brief blush with a chuckle. He's good at reading me.

Wade was a tall guy who had grown into his lanky form since high school. He was getting some color back from his cancer-weakened state. His muscular ass and broad chest suited the generally affable man well, and worked with his blue eyes to dominate Dia's thoughts.

More than being a good-looking guy, Wade was something else. He was good with Alfredo, which was vital in Dia's world. She'd tried to date since her divorce, but everyone had decided that Fredo was an anchor or a sex trophy and not a little boy that was part of Dia's soul. Those attempts all halted when Fredo's condition got worse. She had no time for anything other than the taqueria and, far more importantly, her Mijo.

"Can I get you your usual?" Wade sped ahead of Dia after he held the door open for her at the coffee shop.

"I was going to get a peppermint mocha since it's November now." She'd had her fill of pumpkin spice finally. "But this is on me. I invited you out."

"Nonsense, I'll let you buy when Fredo's hospital bills are paid off." Wade grinned. "I just shipped a million-dollar product for my company. I can swing it. You wanna split a sugar cookie?"

"Okay, I'll grab a seat. Thank you, Wade." Dia unconsciously stepped over and kissed him on the cheek, even though it took a less-than-graceful hop to reach it.

Wade looked surprised but grinned. "On second thought, that gets you your own cookie."

He's still fighting cancer, and Fredo's not out of the woods yet. Dia pretended to look at her phone as she thought about where her relationship with Wade was going. He was getting healthier every day, and Dia wanted to make a move before he realized how big of a catch he was.

"Here you go, Melod."

"Melod?"

"It's what it says on the cup." Wade spun the large coffee around to point out a well-written but wrong name.

"You should have just told them, Dia," she giggled. "Going to have to veto that as an accepted diminutive."

"I told them Dia for my hot chocolate; it might have gone worse." Wade twirled his cup to reveal that 'Die' was very plainly written on the surface. "Do you think the new barista is trying to send me a signal?"

"Huh, maybe Jean-Claude is just jealous that you spend so much time with me." Dia shrugged as she sipped, and the peppermint and dark chocolate smacked her taste buds. Every year, she would forget how intense those two flavors were in how the shop made it. "Or that I spend so much time with you."

"Do I need to get a professional taster to hang around you?"

"Here are your cookies." The barista walked over a pair of sugar cookies decorated like autumn leaves. "How's your beverages?"

"Tasty, but slightly disturbing," Dia said, with a grin that tried to broadcast amusement instead of chagrin.

"Slightly disturbing? That's not going on our advertising."

"Yeah, what's this look like it says on his cup?"

"Die!?" The barista blushed. "Oh God, I'm sorry, Mr. Coolidge. I was trying to write and take an order through the drive-thru."

"No big deal, my good man. Just be careful."

"No more writing multitasking." The barista retreated.

"My good man?" Dia couldn't help making light of the archaic way Wade had said that.

"I'm wearing a trilby. It seemed apropos." Wade beamed, as he set his hat down before he picked up his cookie. It was an odd quirk of the man who always took off his hat before eating.

"I think it looks dapper," Dia said, as she broke a corner off her orange-colored autumn leaf.

"I might have to have it adorn my head more often." Wade popped a piece of cookie in his mouth.

"Trying to impress me with your vocab?"

"Perchance." Wade's grin got wider.

"It's working, but that's my quirk!" Dia batted her eyelashes. Not the right time or not, she was falling for the man. "Still avoiding caffeine?"

"Chocolate has some in it innately, but yeah. Doctor Hadley says it's okay now, but I don't want to push it."

Wade had told her of experiencing high blood pressure and a soaring heart rate when he'd first started fighting his leukemia. Giving up coffee before coding had been a struggle for the guy who thought it helped with undiagnosed ADHD, but he had muddled through it.

"I don't think I could make it without several doses of coffee a day."

"I didn't think I could, either."

The coffee was fantastic, and the sparkling conversation with Wade was better. Before she knew it, her phone buzzed to alert her that it was time to walk back and pick up Fredo. Dia tried to ensure the boy kept some of his independence even if she wanted to hover around him.

"Oops, we better head back. How come I always lose track of time around you, Wade?" Dia gathered their plates to take them to the counter.

"Has it already been an hour? How?" Wade put his hat back on and stood from the quaint corner table.

Dia was going to come by and buss one cheek and thank him again for the refreshments, but as she got close, something was drawing her into more than a kiss on the cheek. *He's feeling this, too, right?* She'd been dreaming about the tall, intelligent, handsome man for the last couple of weeks and couldn't get him out of her thoughts. Dia questioned as she stepped in front of him, stood on her tiptoes, and came in for a kiss on the lips, instead.

Wade seemed shocked at first, but leaned in and embraced her. Hungry, powerful, and energetic, their shared first kiss was nothing short of phenomenal.

"Thanks for the cookie and coffee." Dia smiled proudly, as she settled back onto her heels.

"Wow..." Wade muttered, as those blue eyes gleamed in her direction.

"Come on, we still need to get Fredo."

"Okay."

Their walk a couple of blocks back started out as pleasant as the kiss. Wade even clutched her hand as they walked. The man got quiet before they got to the park and let go of her hand.

"What's wrong?" Dia stopped them.

"I, uh... I want this, Melodia. I do, but can we wait until I ring the bell?" Ringing the bell was a ritual when patients were declared to have won their battle with cancer.

"What? Why? Did I do something wrong?" Dia was hurt.

"The holidays are coming up, and neither of us will have time. You and Fredo will be in Puerto Rico, and I'm headed to the desert. I'm going to be distracted until I ring the bell. If we're going to try this, I want to give you my best." Wade's eyes betrayed sorrow, as he looked at her.

"Okay." Dia kept any emotion out of her voice. After that kiss, it was like whiplash.

"Did I fuck everything up?"

"Only a little." Dia sighed.

542 - That same time

"That didn't go how I thought it would." Angela sighed, as they looked down at the scene. They'd used the portals to travel to the mortal world so they could view what Angela had been betting would be the climactic moment for the budding relationship.

"No, it was too early. Fear still has too many of its hooks in him." 542 shook his head and sighed. "I might have pushed this too hard, too fast."

"What's the notebook say?"

"Nothing is coalescing yet, but this isn't good."

"We still have cards to play, my dear."

"You have a plan? I'm all ears."

Wade - A couple weeks later

Even though Wade had put the brakes on the relationship, he still stopped by Melodia's a couple times a week to spend time with Dia and keep tutoring Fredo. Wade and Dia's kiss was extraordinary, but he wasn't good enough for the beauty. She deserved more than a pale, scrawny cancer patient who was still fighting anger issues. Dia still needed a friend, though, and that Wade could do.

As he stepped into the restaurant, he saw a tall, elegant brunette with an equally mesmerizing dress, standing hand in hand with a shorter, beautiful blonde woman. They were both appealing to Dia as she stood by the hostess stand. Seeing her there wasn't a rarity as she liked to converse with her patrons and took up the spot when her host or hostess was on break.

"Come on, you and Fredo aren't going to Puerto Rico until December. Do you really want to spend Thanksgiving alone?" The blonde implored.

"What do you think, Wade? Do you have plans for Thanksgiving?" Dia's eyes met his immediately.

"Uh, a small turkey breast in the oven and football on the TV." Wade had been thinking of seeing if Fredo and Dia had plans and inviting them over. A doctor's appointment on the Friday after and a sister who was nine months pregnant meant that he couldn't go to Arizona, and they couldn't come up to see him.

"You should all come over to Tabi and Jacob's." The brunette stated plainly.

"Who are Tabi and Jacob?" Wade played dumb, even if he felt the names were the same that often accompanied Clem.

"Miss Bryne and her boyfriend, Jake. These are my friends Natalie and her wife Rissa. We went to college together." Dia introduced Wade. "I had no idea that Rissa was a lesbian back then, though. I would have insisted on hooking them up if I knew." She smirked at her pair of friends.

"Only for Natalie." The blonde held up her wife's hand. He's cute." Clarissa winked at Dia. There was an odd dichotomy in how the two were dressed: Natalie was in a lovely dress, and Rissa was in high-quality Athleisure. Somehow, the pair made sense, though.

"Believe me, I know. He doesn't want to date until he gets a clean bill of health." Dia sent a wink in Wade's direction.

"Too bad. You two would make a cute couple." Natalie playfully pouted.

"The offer still stands, though. Nat's family Thanksgiving is on Friday, and mine is on Saturday, so we need a Friends-giving on Thursday."

"What about Jake and Tabitha's family?" Wade questioned. His therapist had been urging him to get out more, but he didn't want to walk into some weird half-family, half-friend celebration.

*It would be nice to celebrate something not alone.* The Fourth of July and Labor Day used to involve renting a cabin on a lake with his family, but now his family was too scattered, and he had been too sick to attempt to bring them back this year. He tried to be a loner, but that was more from circumstances than desire. Spending time outside his apartment would be nice, especially if it were spending time with Dia and Fredo.

"Tabi... Tabi doesn't have anyone other than Clementine," Rissa said, sadly. "Jake's brother's family is coming, so Clem and Fredo will have kids to play with. They're doing their Thanksgiving on Sunday."

"I leave it to you, Dia," Wade deferred. "If you want me around, that is." He added with a blush, warming his cheeks. Even if he had delayed asking her on an actual date, Wade wanted to be around the radiant woman. He was hoping that he wasn't making the same mistake he had in high school. It wasn't right getting her involved if the cancer came back. She had enough to worry about with Fredo.

"Could you pick Fredo and me up? I don't want to use the catering truck for anything that isn't for the restaurant or taking Mijo to an appointment." Dia had sold her car to finance Fredo's treatments when Chet's child support money dried up for a while. Even though he contributed again, she made do without a car payment. The woman had unbelievable strength and needed an outlet that Wade was happy to provide.

"Of course, what time?"

"Noon?"

"What do I need to bring?" Wade asked. He'd yet to flex his cooking muscle for Dia. It seemed like a terrible way to impress a woman who ran a fantastic restaurant, but he couldn't feel like a leech going to the dinner without contributing.

"Rolls? I don't think we have those covered."

"I can handle that."

"Wait. Come on now, I own a restaurant. I have to bring something," Dia insisted.

"Does mofongo travel? I know it's not traditional, but damn is it tasty," Rissa declared.

"Does it travel? I cater all the time, and if I hadn't figured out how to make that travel, we would have been out of business long ago," Dia chuckled.

"Perfect. We'll see you three there at noon." Natalie waved with the hand clutching her bag, which was overstuffed with goodies from Melodia's, so she didn't have to let go of her wife's hand. They were adorable together.

"You wanna meet here early so we can use my kitchen?" Dia smiled.

"Uhh, sure. I didn't know you did any of the cooking."

"Do you think my parents would let me run the place if I didn't know how to make mofongo?" Dia grinned.

Dia - Thanksgiving Day

Wade was on time when a tentative knock echoed through the holiday-shuttered restaurant.

"Coming!" Dia yelled, as she set down the last ingredients to prepare mofongo. Even if Wade had put the brakes on a relationship, she savored every time she got to hang out with the man.

"Groceries? You do know I own a restaurant, right?" Dia shook her head as Wade stepped in.

The man looked good in a lightweight zip-up jacket. His college's black-and-gold logo looked smart on the left side of his chest, even if the school was the rival of where Dia got her business degree. A pair of khakis fit the man's long legs nicely. In high school, his long legs made him lanky and slightly ungainly. Wade had grown into his tall form and filled out well in their time apart. Dia was attracted to him before, but his gravity became more significant in their years apart.

"Not really bringing something if I don't pay for ingredients, is it?" Wade argued.

"I suppose, but I guarantee I can get the ingredients for less in bulk than you did." Dia invited him behind the pick-up counter and into the kitchen for the first time.

"I get to see the secrets of mofongo?" Wade grinned, as he set his bag on the counter.

"It's not that secret. I think the beef broth has more ingredients."

"Really?"

"Yeah, mofongo is just fried plantains, garlic cloves, fried pork rinds, and a little salt. It's the broth that goes with it that takes time."

"Huh, it tastes much more complicated."

"It's all in preparing simple ingredients right." Dia grabbed a pair of aprons and tossed one to Wade. "No use in getting flour all over our outfits."

"It is a stunning dress, Dia." Wade nodded.

Dia was wearing an autumn-themed dress in dark yellow for the top and brown for the flowing skirt that had blowing red, orange, and yellow leaves cartwheeling across the surface. A pair of brown tights protected against the chill of the fall day. She might have spent extra time on her makeup and outfit to impress Wade, but she wouldn't reveal that.

"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself."

"I was hoping you'd dig the outfit," Wade said. His cheeks got pink as he smiled.

"Is this a recipe, or did you buy a mix?" Dia couldn't help taunting the man.

"It's my grandma's recipe. I was the only grandchild that was bestowed the secrets," Wade explained, as he washed his hands. "I can cook, you know. Melodia's once-a-week is a treat."

"Yet to be proven," Dia beamed, as she got out her ingredients for the beef broth that went with her mofongo.