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"Who is it, Mom?" Noah asked, looking over at the door.
“Yeah, who is it?” Dylan questioned.
I shrugged. "I don't have a clue. I’m not expecting anyone."
I got up out of my chair and made my way to the door. "Boys, just go back to watching your show."
“What if you need protection?” Dylan said, jumping up and flexing his arms.
I waved at Dylan, trying not to laugh. “I’ll be fine. Watch your show.”
Both boys turned their attention back to the TV. I glanced through the side glass panel to see Zach standing there. I frowned and pulled the door open.
"Hey," I whispered, not wanting to distract the boys.
"Can I come in?" he questioned.
I glanced over to see that both boys were still watching the show and not paying any attention to what was going on at the door. I nodded and opened the door, letting him step inside. We headed into the kitchen.
"Is everything okay?" I asked, grabbing my robe off the back of the kitchen chair, and throwing it over my flannel pajamas.
"Sorry to barge in like this. I tried messaging you after I got your text, but you didn't answer. I got a little worried," he said, taking my hands in his.
He held my hand for a couple of seconds before I pulled away from him. The fire that grew in my body from his touch made me feel guilty. Pretending like things were fine, I walked over to the kettle and switched it on. "Sorry, I shut my phone off. Did you want a coffee?"
"Sure." The room grew quiet. "Iris, is everything okay?"he asked, this time coming over and placing his hands on my upper arms.
Again, I shrugged out of his touch, going to the fridge to grab the cream.
“Yeah, of course. I'm just tired is all. It's been a long week, and I just thought Sunday might be better spent unpacking. We only have a couple more days’ worth of boxes as it is."
Zach frowned and sat down in the chair across from me. "Iris, are you sure everything’s okay? This doesn’t sound right. You were excited to go this morning."
I nodded and opened the cupboard, pulling down a couple of mugs. When I turned back around, I followed his gaze to the picnic basket I’d left on the counter.There was no way he was going to believe that I’d just changed my mind, because he was right. We’d talked about it almost every day this week. He’d known I’d gotten things for lunch. When he looked back over at me, his face fell.
"I’m sorry, but I’m having trouble understanding this. Have the boys been misbehaving?"
I shook my head. I hadn’t mentioned to Zach about being called to the school this afternoon. "No, quite the opposite."
Zach glanced around the kitchen. The amount of confusion on his face was almost too much for me to take. This wasn’t fair to him.
"Iris, give me a bone here. I'm confused. Gracie is excited and ready to go."
I turned away from him, trying to figure out a way to explain how I was feeling, when I heard Dylan’s voice.
"Mom?"
I turned around to see both boys poking their heads around the corner and looking into the kitchen, both of them eyeing Zach with curiosity. I swallowed hard. I wasn’t sure how they would react to seeing Zach here, especially after the way the boys at school had been teasing them.
"Boys, it’s okay. You can come in. I'd like you to meet Zach,"I said, figuring out that now was as good a time as any.
I watched as they cautiously made their way into the kitchen as Zach turned toward them. "Noah, Dylan. I'm Zach. Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you both."
Dylan gave half a wave, while Noah hid behind his brother, acting like he was a shield.
"Hey, Zach. Nice to meet you," Dylan finally said, coming to my side.“You are Grace’s dad.”
I met Zach’s eyes.
