Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Me, I go to the babies. I know they like me. Well, they at least pretend to. All three are on top of the table, still in their carriers. I hug Peyton, slap my son on his shoulder, and take Juniper out of her carrier. I’m holding her for barely seconds when she extends her arms over my shoulder. I turn and see my mom walking toward us.
“Come on,” I say as I hand Junie off to my mom.
“Great grammy loves her little Juniper,” my mom says as she makes baby sounds that Juniper seems to understand.
“Fine.” I look at the boys, seeing if I can tell them apart. I really can’t and that’s an issue.
“Hand me one,” I tell Noah.
“Take Mav, he’s in a mood.”
Clearly, by saying “hand me one” I was hoping Noah would literally hand me one. He watches me stand there and laughs and finally puts me out of my misery by pointing at Maverick.
I get Maverick unclipped and up onto my shoulder. He grabs a fistful of my collar and shoves the other fist in his mouth and leans his whole weight into me. I missed every version of this with his father. I’m not going to miss one with him, his brother or sister.
The next couple of hours are loud. Junie decides she’s against sitting in a highchair. Jace gets handed to Josie, who walks him in slow circles and talks to him about the wedding flowers like he’s the groom. Noah takes Maverick back when Mav decides Grandpa’s collar has given all it’s going to give. I watch my son look at his son and promise that everything will be okay. Noah’s patient, kind. He got that from somewhere. Not from me. From his mother. From Katelyn, Mason, and Nick.
Stevie Nicks parks herself near Peyton and Junie, who takes food from Peyton’s plate and drops it on the floor for the dog.
“She’s teaching the baby to litter,” Peyton says, scrubbing something orange off Junie’s chin.
“Or Junie is teaching Stevie to beg.”
“You used to feed Cat,” Josie points out, “and that cat hated you.”
“The cat respected me.”
“The cat tolerated you. There’s a difference, and the cat knew it.”
Noah laughs, Maverick laughs because his dad did, and for a second the whole kitchen’s going at once—my wife and my son and my daughter and three babies. All people I love, and a dog committing crimes under the table. I came home for a funeral and stayed for this. Most days I can’t believe they let me.
TWELVE
The sun rises over the trees and birds peck through the seed in the feeders. Years ago, Paige insisted we feed the birds. We added a shepherd’s hook and then another, and then another. Next came the bird bath, followed by the fountain, which lead into a whole babbling brook being installed in our backyard.
Paige no longer feeds the birds. Josie does or I will when I’m home. Today, it falls on me because my wife had to rudely leave before the sun even rose, to go work on a wedding arrangement. The groom called in a last-minute change and instead of my wife saying no, she bent and told him no problem. I must suck as a groom because I don’t remember a single flower at our wedding. I only remember my bride and how she looked coming down the aisle. She was fucking gorgeous.
Still is.
Paige comes outside, with a granola bar in her hand, telling me she’s leaving for school. “Mack’s taking me this morning.”
I groan but nod. He’s a good kid and he’s someone I would do anything for. I just wish they weren’t dating.
“Doesn’t he have practice?”
“Not until later,” she says. “Elle and Ben are due back today, so he’ll go to grandpa’s to get Beau and then to Noah’s for Stevie Nicks.” Grandpa being Mason’s dad, Michael. He’s another man who should’ve kicked me out of his life, but didn’t, and I should make sure he doesn’t need anything.
Mack has been walking Beau since he was a puppy, and it was only natural that he did the same with Stevie Nicks when Noah and Peyton moved to town. During Mack’s seasons, he generally walks the dogs in the morning.
“All right. I’ll see you at the studio later?”
“I wouldn’t miss it,” she says. “After the weekend, there’s bound to be a lot of drama people need to unpack to a complete stranger.”
I stare at her for a moment. Those words sting. Finally, I shake my head. “Remember who pays your bills.”
Paige laughs. “Don’t worry. I won’t.” She kisses me on my cheek. “Bye, Daddy. Have a good day.”
“You too.”
My mother is sitting at the island with her coffee when I come in. She looks at me, smiles, and goes back to reading the newspaper, which isn’t something we get delivered.