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“Built who… oh,” I said, seeing the massive thing they’d put together with twigs, leaves, sand, and dirt.
For the backyard lizards.
From the looks of things, they’d caught one of the poor things and set him on the ‘playground.’
“Very nice, guys,” I said, squinting at the lizard to make sure it was okay. Sure enough, it seemed to shake off its shock, and darted across the ‘playground’ before rushing over the fence and into the neighbors yard. Where kids wouldn’t grab it and force it to play with them. “Love the imagination,” I declared as I looked at the bridge they’d created between a cave and what looked like a makeshift slide.
“When is Dad coming home?” the oldest boy asked. “We want to show him before it rains.”
“He should be here any—“ I started, only to feel a body move in behind me.
“Who, me?” he asked, jiggling our three-year-old, and only daughter, on his hip.
“Your kids built a lizard playground,” I told him.
“Yeah? Let me get a look at that,” he said, heading across the yard to inspect the structure, praising things, and giving advice to make other parts sturdier.
I never could have anticipated the warm feeling I would get at seeing Alaric with his little carbon copies—blond hair, green eyes, and very tall for their ages. Or how I could just sit and watch him talk to them, interact with them, show them how to build with blocks or destroy with foam bullets.
He’d been my steadfast partner, sitting up with me when the babies would feed, helping me bop and pace when they were colicky, worrying and nursing them through fevers and belly aches.
Then, as they got older, teaching them, listening to them, building them up, and teaching them to set healthy boundaries.
And, of course, always there to swoop in when I was overwhelmed. Or to pull me aside and assure me that I was doing everything right when my anxiety still occasionally got the better of me.
“For the record, we’re not letting them try to keep wild lizards, right?” he asked, coming back to me.
“God, no,” I said, grimacing.
Sure, Frida was absolutely ancient these days, spending most of her time on her bed, snoozing away. But she could still muster some fury for the occasional lizard that crossed her path. We weren’t going to invite that kind of stressinsideher home.
“Good,” he said as I set down our daughter, both of us turning to watch her rush over toward her brothers, always wanting to be a part of what they were up to. And, to their credit,they were surprisingly patient with her, even though all she usually managed to do was destroy the things they so carefully created.
I couldn’t even blame them when they used their bodies to create a human wall to keep her from touching their playground.
“I was thinking of taking the kids over to the clubhouse later. Give you some peace. I know you have that project due soon.”
“You’re a mind reader,” I said, leaning my head into his side.
“You should take a little break after this job,” he said as his arm went around me.
“Get out of my head,” I said, smiling up at him.
Sure, I liked my work.
But I was burning the candle at both ends trying to keep my career going while I had four kids constantly demanding my attention. Even having Alaric home most of the time didn’t offset how often they simply needed me.
We didn’t need the money.
And I no longer had to have a career to make me feel like I was ‘doing something worthwhile’ like my mother always hammered home into me when I was growing up.
Being a mom and wife was more than enough for me. At least while the kids were still small.
“You know what else I’m thinking?” he asked, giving me a saucy look.
“The baby is going to be up in, like ten minutes,” I said.
“I bet I can make you come twice by then,” he said, that heated look in his eyes making my belly go all liquid.
