“Daddy?”
Julia was back, and Olivia was very thankful they’d adopted a wearing-pajamas policy when the kids were over since Derek had taken most of the covers with him when he rolled toward the bedside table.
“What’s the matter, pumpkin?”
“When it’s a snow day, how do you rescue people?”
“Our trucks are heavy, so we get around pretty well. If it’s really slippery, we put chains on the tires. You’ve seen those before.”
“Do the ambulances have them, too?”
Derek stood and started pulling out his clothes for the day. “Yeah, they do. They have a special system built in, actually, which is way cooler than ours. But don’t tell Cait I said that, okay?”
When she didn’t smile back at Derek, Olivia patted the bed beside her. When Julia climbed in, she pulled the covers up to their chins. “You should be running around the house yelling about snow days like your brother. Why so serious today?”
“I just wondered if ambulances can get to people’s houses in the snow like fire trucks can. And what if the ambulances are busy?”
There was so much worry in her eyes, Olivia’s heart clenched. “You know your mom is fine, right?”
“I know, but she’s nottotallyfine, since that’s why we’re staying with you and Daddy on school nights.”
The girl was an overthinker, which Olivia definitely understood. “She’s tired and sometimes doesn’t feel good. When you’re carrying a baby, you get tired even faster, so it’s best if she can sleep in. And if she did need help, an ambulance can get to her. And a fire truck can, too.”
“And Mr. Keegan next door has that four-wheel drive,” Derek reminded her. “You know they’re looking out for her. And that guy across the street has a snowmobile in his garage. Can you imagine your mom with that belly riding on a snowmobile?”
Julia giggled, as he’d intended, and Olivia kissed her forehead. “Your dad has to get ready for work, so how about you and I go get his coffee ready?”
When they got downstairs to the kitchen, Olivia saw that Isaac had already poured himself a bowl of cereal, since the Gilman family rule was that there were no rules on snow days. Within reason, of course.
While Julia tried to decide what she wanted to eat, Olivia made two coffees—one in a regular mug and another in a massive travel mug Derek would take with him. Then she went to the large whiteboard hung on the wall. Each member of the family had a block, and the kids had decorated theirs with small stickers.
She picked up the eraser and wiped the kids’ boxes for the day clean, which made them clap. Then she pointed to her name.
“Okay, kiddos. I can rearrange things, but I have one video chat with the people I work with that I have to do.”
“With Kelsey and Jo?” Isaac asked. Kelsey and their new assistant had a lot of screen time with Olivia, and Isaac had developed a habit of popping up over Olivia’s shoulder to say hi. They’d had to set some boundaries, as far as when he could do that and when he couldn’t—Kelsey and Jo were okay, but other people weren’t—but he’d caught on quickly and charmed both women.
“Yes, and with Brynn and Wes, too. But I have one telephone call I have to make in my office that’ll take about a half hour. What’s the rule?”
“Don’t interrupt or knock on the door unless it’s a real emergency,” Julia said.
“Like somebody being hurt or sick or a fire,” Isaac added. “Because Julia not giving my turn on the video games is not a real emergency.”
“And once my stuff is done, if the roads are okay, maybe we’ll see if your mom’s up to some company for board games. If the roads are still bad, maybe we can do the trivia game.”
It was a silly game, but it was something Amber could do with them over FaceTime, so they’d started it when she was in the hospital for observation for a couple of days. Julia’s face brightened at the reassurance nobody was going to forget to check on her mom, and Isaac started talking about board games.
While she waited for an English muffin to pop out of the toaster so she could smear it with peanut butter for Derek, Olivia watched the two kids at the table. Julia was nibbling on a banana, since she’d have eggs with Olivia after her dad left for work. They were trying to put the board games they owned into a list of most to least fun, but they didn’t agree so she knew it would keep them busy for a while.
When Derek walked into the kitchen, he kissed each of the kids on top of the head and then gave her a long, minty kiss before taking his first sip of the coffee she’d made. Then he thanked her for the English muffin and went to sit with the kids. Usually he was leaving as they got up and she knew he’d be pushing it to make it to the station on time, but he didn’t seem worried.
She poured herself a glass of juice, but she didn’t walk to the table and join them quite yet. She just watched them, embracing the familiar sense of gratitude and wonder that warmed her heart.
This was her life.
The house. A pretty two-story, brick house in a nice neighborhood still close enough to Amber’s to make running back and forth manageable, but closer to the office so her commute wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Two funny, awesome kids who had managed to claim their own spaces in her heart and weren’t simplyDerek’s kidsanymore. Her business was still going strong and Kelsey was thriving in her new position and responsibilities.
And her husband.
