“I got these beers for you,” Daniel said. “I remember you liking them twenty years
ago but it's not good.”
“Ha!” William chuckled. “It was those bear commercials. I thought they were funny.”
“Well, I don't care how many Bud Bowls Bud Light won, it doesn't make it a good
beer.”
William hadn't drunk Labatt Blue in over a decade. He had rarely drank alcohol
since the kids were born. When Sasha was young, he got drunk and had to take care
of her hungover the next day. Two-year-olds don't care if a parent is hungover.
William shivered.
“The heat will come back in a little bit,” Daniel informed him. “After the initial
wave of cold air, it takes about ten, fifteen minutes to get comfortable again.
You'll also warm up faster if you drink more of your beer.”
William set the beer on the ground and rubbed his hands together.
Daniel gazed at the street in front of them, his thumb scratched at the beer label.
“I know that I've talked to you about this before,” Daniel started. “But I'm going
to offer again.”
William picked up the beer and took another drink. He recalled the conversations
when his father had tried to talk his grandmother to move in with them.
“You're in a two-bedroom apartment right now. You gave your kids the bedrooms,”
Daniel said. “I would have done the same thing if I was in your situation but there
is plenty of space here. You don't have to sleep on the couch every other week.”
“It's not bad,” William told his father.
“You say that,” Daniel responded. “But if you're anything like me, a night on the
couch means a stiff neck or a sore back for a week.”
William agreed. He did wake up constantly with a stiff neck.