The words make my chest tighten.
Saint looks at me, and I nod.
The kids need roots, yes. But they also need a connection to their father too.
“Okay, we can do that,” Saint says eventually. His voice is rough and steady. “We’ll take them down there.”
Marlowe nods. “Great.”
The meeting continues as we review what needs to happen next.
By the end, my head hurts. But Saint looks a lot more calm that he did when we started the meeting.
He’s definitely not happy, or even relieved necessarily. But maybe a little more focused on what comes next. And that matters.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Presley
When we go downstairs to the nursery to get Rhyan, she’s already standing at the door. She’s wearing a tutu over leggings, and a sweatshirt with cats, not dragons, for once.
“You’re late,” she tells us.
Saint looks at the clock on the wall behind her. “We’re five minutes early.”
“It feels like I waited FOR. EV. ER. And Sera already left, so I had no one to play with.”
“My apologies,” he bows.
I bite back a smile.
“Okay then, let’s get out of here. We need to get Remy from school soon.”
He sweeps her up in his arms, and Miss Sandy, the teacher, hands me Rhyan’s bag.
“Thank you,” I say. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Have a good night. Bye, Rhyan!” She waves.
Rhyan’s thrown over Saint’s shoulder at this point and waves back at her upside down, making us all laugh.
Thirty minutes later, we’re in the pick-up line waiting for Remy.
When I see him come out, even though we’re apparently not supposed to, I get out of the car and meet him.
“Hi, Rem,” I say, hugging him.
“Hi.”
There’s something in his voice that worries me. Not necessarily sadness. More like caution.
He seems to be having more moments like this lately. Like reality settles over him.
“You hungry?” I ask, trying to get him to say more than a word.
He shrugs his little shoulder.
“You don’t have practice tonight, so we could grab a pizza or something,” I suggest.
