I narrow my eyes.
“Everything. Tell me everything.”
“That’s pretty broad. What do you want to know specifically?”
“With Saint. The kids. Living in his house. Being married,” she says, lifting her hands. “Your life.”
“Alie, you see me just about every day, and you’re at the house all the time.”
She smiles, but it softens quickly. “I’m serious, Pres.”
I look down at the pretzel bag and realize I ate them all, so I twist the bag into a tube.
“It’s going as well as can be expected with two kids and a best friend who just lost the most important people in their lives,” I say.
“That sounds like a general answer.”
“It’s an honest answer.”
“Presley.”
I exhale. “The kids are getting better every day. Saint is too. They’re settling into their new normal, you know?”
Alie nods.
“The pain is still there, obviously,” I continue. “It always will be. But it seems less sharp now. Or maybe we’ve all just learned to move around it.”
“That makes sense.”
“Remy’s doing well at school. He loved hockey, but he’s ready for baseball season.”
“He’s such a sweet boy. Very intuitive and respectful.”
I smile, thinking about how he’s been picking the spring flowers growing around the house and bringing them to me.
“And Rhyan?”
“You see her every day. She’s the same Rhyan here as she is at home. Always planning to overthrow multiple governments.”
Alie smiles. “Sera is prepared to stand by her side. That reminds me, I’m going to put Sera in that dance class that starts in August, and I was thinking Rhyan might like to get back to it, and they can do a few classes together.”
“Those two are a little scary together. Are we sure we want to subject their energy to a poor dance instructor?”
“Eh, they’re three and four. How much damage can they really do?”
I stare at her, brows raised.
She nods and laughs. “Fair.”
I lean back in the chair. “Seriously, though, Sera being around helps. Rhyan loves having someone close to her. And it helps Saint see her making those connections. Based on little things he’s told me, I don’t get the impression she had many friends outside of school.”
“Sera’s friends are pretty much players' kids or kids of staff here though. Once they go to school, it’ll be different.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“And you?” she asks.
I blink slowly. “What about me?”
