AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What happened?” I questioned, trying hard not to laugh.
Iris giggled. “I don’t know. I turned the water on to fill the sink, and suddenly I was being sprayed in the face. Then there was water everywhere. You got here just in time. You saved me from a flood.”
I looked down at the small puddle of water I was standing in and smiled. “Well, at least a bigger flood,” I answered. “I brought coffee. How about we quickly soak up this water and then take a rest?”
“Oh, you really are a hero,” she said, throwing her arms around my neck. I could feel my shirt getting soaked from hers. “Honestly, I haven’t stopped this morning.” She stepped back and looked down at my shirt, which was now wet as well. “Whoops, it appears I got you wet.”
“Hey, that is supposed to be my line.” I winked, watching as her cheeks turned pink.
“Yeah, well, I beat you to it.” She giggled, now embarrassed, as she looked down at the front of her shirt to see it clinging to her skin. “I better change and get some towels.”
Within minutes, Iris stood with a couple of dry towels in her hand, which we used to pick up the water while she rambled on about her morning and how the boys had refused to cooperate.
Once we finished, she looked up at me with a hint of a smile. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome. Now, come on over and take a seat,” I said, placing my hand on her lower back and guiding her over to the table where we sat and shared a coffee before getting to work on the faucet repairs.
Iris
I stirred the cheese packet into the macaroni on the stove and quickly flipped the hotdogs that were cooking away on the griddle. My stomach flipped as I added the milk and stirred. My nerves were getting the best of me.
After Zach had helped me fix the taps in the house, he stuck around and helped me with a few other things that needed more than one adult. Once we finished, I apologized again for the wet shirt and the view I’d given him. He smiled and told me I had nothing to worry about, and then he asked if I’d like to have dinner with him tonight.
Honestly, I couldn’t wait for an evening with another adult, even if I was still embarrassed that he’d witnessed the wet T-shirt mess.
"Mom, why do we need a babysitter?" Dylan muttered from where he sat at the table doing his math homework.
"Well, because I'm going out and I'm not sure how late I will be. Leaving you alone for a few minutes after school is fine, but I can’t leave you in charge of your brother for an entire evening. Besides, you like Ava."
I'd asked Ava if she'd mind staying with the boys tonight when I stopped in the bookstore this afternoon. She'd jumped at the chance. She'd been helping me with the reading program so she could get some volunteer credit hours for school and had taken a real liking to Noah and Dylan.
"She's alright I guess," Dylan said, putting his pencil down and picking up his eraser.
I smiled to myself. "You know, she may even help you with your homework. If you ask her nicely, that is."
Dylan shrugged and picked his pencil back up, putting it into his mouth while thinking through the problem.He’d been struggling with math, which was the subject his father used to help him with.
"Is dinner just about ready? I'm starved," Noah said, coming in the door and throwing his ball glove in the chair. He'd been out playing with some kids at the park and had walked through the door looking just like his father used to. It brought back a memory I wasn't prepared for at the moment.I saw more and more of Lucas in these boys every day. The older they got, the more I knew I’d see.
"Where are you going again?" Dylan questioned, shoving his brother into the wall when they both went for the fridge door at the same time.
I stopped stirring the mac and cheese and froze. I hadn't told the boys that I was going on a date. In fact, I'd not mentioned Zach at all to them. I’d simply said I had gone for coffee with a friend the other night. "Just going out with a friend," I replied.
My stomach flipped again as the words fell from my mouth. I hated not telling the boys the full truth, and I'd flip if they lied to me or omitted things, and here I was doing the same thing.
"What time is Ava coming?" Noah asked, sitting down.
"She should be here soon," I said, quickly pouring the mac and cheese into the bowl and adding two hot dogs for each of the boys. "Here we go." I placed the bowls down on the table. "Oh, I forgot, these are for dessert..." I placed a box that contained three donuts from The Crispy Biscuit in the centre of the table.
"Thanks, Mom," Dylan said, digging into the creamy mixture.
“You can have them with Ava tonight while you are watching TV.”
“You never let us have mac and cheese or hotdogs,” Noah said.
“Or donuts,” Dylan added.
Truth was, I wasn't in the mood to fight with them tonight. I didn’t want to have a war on my hands as I walked out the door, so an easy dinner I knew they loved was the right choice. "It’s a treat. So, you boys enjoy. If you need me, I’ll be upstairs."
