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Sam looks at me accusingly. “Did you?”
Dom laughs under his breath and looks at the boys. “Let’s go see what’s in all these little white boxes. I ordered both of you a box of broccoli.”
“No!” Tate practically wails.
“Maybe you’ll get lucky and it’ll have chicken lo mein in it instead.”
“I wanted noodles.” Tate’s sullen now, buying into Dom’s joke.
I call upstairs to Hannah about it being dinnertime and downstairs to Zane. When Zane walks into the kitchen, he won’t even look at Dom.
“Beef fried rice and two egg rolls,” I say, passing my son his order.
“Thanks,” he mumbles.
“Thank Dom, he brought it.”
“Thanks,” Zane says, still not looking at him.
Zee takes his food and goes back downstairs. I usually make him eat in the kitchen, but I’ll make an exception this time. Dom meets my gaze and then takes his food downstairs, too.
“Can we watch a hockey game?” Sam asks.
“What’s with the sudden interest in hockey?” Cam asks him.
“Because we’re going to a hockey game.”
“Okay, that tracks.”
“Can we watch it while we’re eating dinner?”
That’s also something we usually don’t do, but it’s been a day, so why not?
“This one time, we can,” I say.
The boys settle in front of the TV, eating right out of their carryout boxes.
“Where’s Zee?” Hannah asks.
“Downstairs with Dom.”
“I got an A on my math test.”
“Great job.”
“Also, I want to go to the winter dance with my friends, can I?”
Ugh. That’ll mean a Saturday spent scouring thrift stores for a dress and shoes, plus the cost of dinner out with her friends. But she’s a good kid, and I don’t want her to miss out on anything.
“Of course. With your friends?”
She shrugs. “Maybe, unless someone asks me to be their date.”
“You’re twelve.”
“So?”
Just the thought of my daughter alone with a horny teenage boy is enough to make me want to break out a baseball bat. She may not have a protective father, but she’s got one hell of a protective mother.
