Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 71768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
I chuckled.
And then we were back to the silence.
And the staring.
And the awkwardness where words should fill the air but all we could do was stand there staring at each other.
“I was just gonna…,” I said finally, pointing to my room.
“Yeah, yeah,” she said quickly. “Same. I just wanted to wash off the lovely shrimp bath I took—”
“Mommy!” Ben screamed. “Mommy! Mommy!”
I jogged back to their room, tripping over stuffed animals and Legos in an effort to get to Ben before he woke his sister, and Colby was right behind me.
“Buddy.” I held out my arms.
He leaped into them, sobbing. “I miss Mommy!”
“Oh, Ben.” Colby rubbed his back while he clung to me, his skinny arms tight around my neck. “They’re going to go to the ocean, and tonight they’re at a fancy hotel eating chocolate!”
“Chocolate?” His sniffles stopped. “Does that mean we get chocolate too? To be fair?”
I laughed as little Viera just slept right through it all. “What do you think, Colby? Do we get chocolate?”
Colby’s grin was so wide, so spontaneous, that I almost had to look away. When she smiled like that I forgot all the reasons she annoyed me. “Hmmm, how about if you sleep really good tonight, Uncle Rip and I will make you guys Nutella pancakes in the morning?”
“Really?” His eyes widened as he looked between us. “You mean it?”
“Yup!” I answered for both of us. “But you have to sleep super good and take care of your sister, all right?”
“I’m protecting her from the monsters,” he announced as he puffed out his skinny chest. “They’re scared of my roar.”
“We’re all scared of your roar.” Colby nodded seriously. “It’s so loud!”
He opened his mouth.
I covered it quickly. “Remember, Sister’s sleeping.”
“Oh, sorry, forgot.” He gave me a sly grin. Lies, all the lies. Damn, I loved this kid.
“Bed,” Colby said in a stern voice. “And dream of chocolate.”
“Like chocolate fountains?” he asked. “And chocolate bathtubs?” He giggled at his own joke.
“Yes,” I said as I tucked him back in and kissed him on the forehead.
Colby kissed both kids as well.
Ben yawned. “’K, happy chocolate dreams!”
“Happy chocolate dreams,” Colby whispered.
“Happy chocolate dreams,” I echoed.
And then we were back in the hall.
The mood shifted from loving and teasing to tense as hell.
“See ya in the morning.” I gave her an awkward pat on the shoulder. “And try not to burn the pancakes.”
“Says the man who burned the waffles last Sunday when the Hawks were playing?”
“The game was on,” I pointed out, still annoyed that she’d spent nearly every Sunday with us since she and Monica bonded during childhood. Family day was just that. For family. And yet Colby was always there. Always.
“Uh-huh.” She shrugged and winked. “See you in the morning.”
“Yup.” I turned around and absolutely did not look back over my shoulder to see if she was watching me, just like I didn’t lie in bed for the next hour tossing and turning and wondering what had set us off on opposing sides in the first place. I mean, apart from the mess of her life, which drove me completely batshit crazy, it’s not that she wasn’t likable, or nice.
Part of me wondered if the issue was that I’d been responsible for Monica since our parents died. And up until she’d met Colby, the two of us had been enough. We were family. Our only family. And family meant everything to me. But then came Colby, and then Brooks and Monica got together and had a family of their own. Where did that leave me?
I wanted what Brooks and Monica had. I’d always wanted it. A normal life where I came home to my wife and kids. Stability. A dog. All the things Colby sneered at with her stupid jet-setting who-knows-where-life-will-take-me attitude.
I turned on my side and stared at the wall.
She was probably on her phone like always, wishing she were somewhere else, when there was nowhere else I would rather be.
THREE
Colby
Something wet hit my cheek.
I shoved it away, only to realize it wasn’t a thing but a person, a tiny person with something wet in their hands.
Perfect.
Please let it not be poo or pee.
I cracked open an eye to see Viera sitting next to me, her wet diaper in hand. “Look, I only went pee once!”
The potty training was not strong with this one.
“Yay!” I tried to sound excited. “Did you come in here to show me?” Had she touched my face with that thing? Horror washed over me.
“Yup!” She giggled. “Mommy says to. I get a prize when I don’t go potty at night and use mine!”
“So no prize today.” I was seeing double, what time was it?
I grabbed my phone.
Six a.m.
How was she so awake?
“No prize?” Her eyes filled with tears.
“Wait!” I grabbed the heavy diaper and dropped it onto the floor; it made a loud thunking sound against the hardwood. Yeah, I would need to clean that up later, but I was too tired to do more than think about it now. “If you cuddle for a few more minutes, then Aunt Colby will give you a prize at breakfast!”