Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 102754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
No jar sauce. No shortcuts.
“You’re actually making spaghetti,” I said, half-surprised, half-impressed.
He didn’t look up. “What, did I seem like a jar kind of guy?”
I remembered Cody telling me how he’d consistently burned his toast, then turned his scrambled egg brown the one time he’d made it for him.
“I did that once,” Roque groaned, reading my twitching lips and raised eyebrow correctly. “My sister has a big mouth.”
“It was your nephew who ratted on you.” I leaned against the counter and smiled, the nerves slowly unraveling into something lighter, something steadier.
After dinner was left to simmer, I handed over the bag with the wall decals. Kaida’s chubby hands grabbed at it immediately, fingers twitching with excitement. Her eyes lit up like fireworks, and she let out a high-pitched squeal.
“Shwek!” she babbled, bouncing on her toes. “Shwek, Shwek, Shwek!”
Before I could respond, she grabbed my hand in her tiny, sticky one and tugged. “Come!” she demanded.
She half-led, half-dragged me down the hallway to her room, and pointed proudly at the blank wall. “Dere,” she said, her face serious. “Shwek dere!”
I laughed, set the bag down, and started with the castle decal. She watched with wide eyes and an open mouth, occasionally clapping her hands and saying, “Wowww,” in that long, breathy way toddlers do when the world is just so big and exciting.
I stuck the onion carriage next to it, then laid the green rolling hills along the baseboard. She toddled back and forth behind me, trailing a stuffed bear and narrating quietly in her own language, somewhere between words and sounds.
Then, it was time for the big one—Shrek himself. I peeled back the backing, my arms stretched awkwardly around the giant green ogre.
“Roque?” I called out, laughing. “Gonna need back up here!”
He appeared moments later, sleeves rolled up and hands slightly damp from whatever pasta operation he’d left in the kitchen. “This him?” he asked, taking half the decal.
“Yep. Kaida says he lives right there,” I said, pointing to the space above her toy shelf.
“Of course he does,” Roque muttered with a smile.
Together, we stuck him up, smoothing him across the wall. As soon as he was in place, Kaida toddled over and threw her arms across Shrek’s legs.
“Shwek hug!” she giggled, cheek pressed to the wall.
I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up. Note to self: find Shrek bedding.
Roque gave her a gentle pat on the back, then looked at me. “I’m gonna help Kairo with his decals.”
“Go,” I urged, already reaching for Donkey and Fiona. “We’ve got this.”
Once they were on the wall, I stepped back and looked around. A handful of characters were still left in the pack, but we still had space for them. I hadn’t realized how many or how huge they’d be, but the room looked like a storybook now.
As I reached for the next one, I heard a squeal from down the hall.
I wandered over to Kairo’s room and stopped in the doorway. Half his car decals were already up, winding like a racetrack across the wall. Bright reds, shiny blues, and sleek blacks zoomed across the imaginary pavement.
Kairo was sitting on his bed with his small hands in his lap and an excited smile on his face.
“Fank you,” he said shyly, glancing up at me and making my heart melt.
“You’re very welcome, sweetheart. Is there anything else you want?”
He looked down, his shoulders dipping. He didn’t answer, just shook his head a little. That look, that quiet sadness, settled deep in my chest. I glanced at Roque, and he met my eyes. I could see it in his face, too—that ache of knowing and not being able to fix what hurt.
Roque stepped forward and scooped Kairo up, one arm wrapped around him like he was something precious. “We’ll finish the rest later,” he said softly. “But hey—wanna help me make the pasta?”
Kairo perked up instantly and nodded, eyes wide with excitement. “Please!”
I smiled and turned to Kaida, who’d wandered in behind me, still dragging her stuffed bear. “Hey, Kaida, do you like cheese on your spaghetti?”
She gave a very solemn nod. “Cheese.”
“Would you like to help me get it ready?”
“Yah!” she said, bouncing once, which was basically a toddler fist pump.
We all ended up in the kitchen together—Kairo standing on a stool next to Roque, stirring with careful concentration under Roque’s watchful eye, and Kaida in my arms as I showed her how to sprinkle shredded cheese into a bowl. She got more on the counter than in the bowl, but that was part of the magic.
And somehow, the chaos felt normal. Natural.
I looked across the kitchen and caught Roque’s eyes. He smiled at me—soft and full of something unspoken. Then he mouthed, Thank you.
I smiled back, and this time, it reached all the way to my heart.
Getting the kids down had been a mission—spaghetti, cupcakes, a bath that somehow soaked half the bathroom floor, and a slow descent into yawns and storybooks. But eventually, the house quieted.