Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Okay, Gran needs to head out,” my mom announced once everyone was done and the kids had been cleaned up. “Come give me some hugs.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Noel said as I started clearing the table.
“You cooked,” I reminded her.
“It was the easiest dinner ever,” she argued.
“Go hang with the kids or somethin’,” I ordered, waving her off.
“I’ll let you know if I hear anything new,” my mom whispered to Noel, catching her before she’d left the kitchen.
“I haven’t heard anything,” Noel whispered back. “We haven’t had a single call.”
“I just talked to Otto an hour ago,” I pointed out.
They both ignored me.
“I hate the waiting,” my mom murmured, leaning in to give Noel a hug. “Not as much as actually giving birth, but it’s a close second.”
Noel laughed.
“Love you, son,” my mom said, hugging me from behind as I rinsed dishes. “Now, can someone come let me out of the house so I don’t set off all the bells and whistles?”
“I can,” Noel said with a chuckle.
They left the room and I made quick work of rinsing the dishes and loading the dishwasher. I’d done it a million times before and I didn’t even really have to think about it, which meant my mind had room to wander. Leave it to my mom to remind me of exactly what I’d been trying to ignore since I’d shown up that morning.
Me and Noel did make a good team. It had been a strange day, and I knew she was worried about her sister, but we worked together well. Being with her and the kids was easy. A lot easier than I would’ve guessed. I loved my nieces and nephews, but after a couple of hours I was usually pretty ready to send them home with their parents or go home to my quiet house. I hadn’t felt like that all day. To be honest, the later it got, the more excited I was to get to see all the bedtime routine shit.
“Your mom got the bag,” Noel announced, startling me as she came back in the kitchen. “And the girls are watching cartoons.”
“That’s good.” I looked at her over my shoulder. She was grimacing, like she couldn’t stand not pitching in.
“You wanna wipe down the table?” I asked with a laugh. “Haven’t got to that yet.”
“Yes,” she said with a loud sigh.
“You need to learn to put your feet up,” I told her as she went to work.
“I’ll put my feet up when the girls are old enough to take care of themselves,” she retorted.
“So in like twenty-five years?” I asked sarcastically. “Never mind, I take that back. Mick’s older than that. It doesn’t stop at twenty-five.”
“It feels rude to just sit there while you clean,” she replied, ignoring my sarcasm.
“I didn’t help you cook,” I pointed out.
“It was my recipe,” she countered. “You didn’t know what to do.”
“I coulda asked.”
“Well, then, why didn’t you?” she asked in exasperation.
My mouth opened and closed like a guppy. “I don’t know.”
“I didn’t need your help,” she said dryly, letting me off the hook. “I like that your family has that system, that the people who cook don’t clean.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Not sure I’ll ever be able to do it,” she mused. “But it’s a nice thought.”
“You don’t have to do everythin’ yourself anymore,” I reminded her quietly. “Let other people pitch in.”
“I know that.”
“Do you?”
“I’m living with my sister and her husband,” she whispered, her eyes wide. “Rent free, I might add. I’m letting other people pitch in too much.”
“You know they don’t expect rent, right?” I asked.
“Yes, I know that,” she huffed.
“Dishes are done,” I announced. “See how easy that was to let me clean up?”
She reached for a towel.
“Don’t you fuckin’ dare,” I snapped, laughing. “I’ll dry those pans.”
“What am I supposed to do?” She threw her hands up in exasperation.
“Go hang with the girls,” I ordered. “Watch some cartoons.”
“Pass,” she mumbled. “But I do need to check on Diana. They’re being pretty quiet in there.”
The rest of the night went by quickly. The kids watched cartoons for a while before losing interest. After that, we used some sweet-ass tiles with little magnets in them to build towers taller than Diana. The two-year-old’s favorite part of the whole thing was slamming through them like Godzilla, knocking the towers to the ground. Ariel and Flora whined and complained every time she did it, making her crow with laughter, but they never tried to stop her. It was ridiculously wholesome.
Noel sat on the couch, yarn and a little hook in her hands doing some kind of magic that left her with a square the size of a coaster. She must’ve made at least ten while we were sitting there, even though she kept having to stop what she was doing when one of the kids needed her attention.