A chuckle leaves me, “Was I interrupting something?” I ask them with humor, lacing each word. My heart beat flutters with happiness as I can see they took the weekend the way I hoped they would.
A sly smirk spreads over Evie’s face before she responds, “I was just taking time becoming acquainted with Josie here, but she saw that you wanted to call so we put a pin in it.”
“Well I’m glad you guys took the time to call me. I just wanted to see your faces before I went to bed.” I say, sitting up on the bed, resting my back against the headboard.
“What time are you guys hoping to head out tomorrow? Harper is going to be coming back in the morning. I was going to get lunch made so we can all eat before Xavier and Harper go home.” Josie asks, always the planner.
I scratch my beard as I think about what’s left to pack before we need to leave. “Probably looking to be home around noon. We packed up most of the stuff tonight, so it’s just all the last minute stuff. I want to let Shiloh get another swim in before we head out.”
“You guys had a good time?” Evie asks, “That fish Loh caught was so big. I can’t wait to hear the story from him.”
“Yeah, we had a great time. I wish I would’ve been able to record it on video though, but I was more focused on making sure he could reelit in on his own. I was ready to jump in if he needed me though.” Pride takes over as I think about how focused Shiloh was. He faltered only for a minute before he rallied and brought the fish the rest of the way in.
“I’m glad you were in the moment with him. That’s much better than a video, besides I like hearing the story over watching it on video.” Josie chimes in, “We should let you get to bed though, talk to Xavier and Shiloh in the morning on what they want for lunch and I’ll have it ready when you guys get home.”
“Sounds good, sleep well girls.” A yawn escapes as I finish the sentence, giving away to how tired I am. “Miss you. Goodnight.”
They reply with their goodbyes and as soon as my head hits the pillow my eyes close and sleep takes over.
ChapterThirty Five
Josie
NineMonthsPostpartum
Scrubbing my eyes, I shuffle down the hallway toward Shiloh’s room. It’s the first day of school, and I already hate this early morning to get him up and ready. Thankfully everything is ready, we packed up his lunch after supper and put it in the fridge. All that’s needed is to transfer it into his backpack before we head off for the bus.
Soft snores come from the dark room, and I hate that I have to wake him up. Thankful for the dimming lights feature, I turn the light on to a light glow and walk over to Shiloh’s bed.
“Good morning my sweet boy,” I brush his messy locks from his forehead, and I’m welcomed with a groan, “it’s time to get up and ready for school.”
“Ten more minutes,” Shiloh whines as he throws his blanket over his head.
I huff a breath, I didn’t think I’d have to deal with this until he was a teenager, but Shiloh is not a morning person.
I anticipated this kind of road bump, so I tried to have everything ready so if he did ask he could have those extra ten minutes. “Okay, I’m going to set your timer for ten minutes. When it goes off I want you up and dressed. Your clothes are on your toy chest.” Getting up I walk over to the little timer and set it.
That timer has been a blessing in disguise. We got to the point where I spent more time circling back and checking to make sure he was getting done what he was supposed to and that we always ended up late. I spent some time looking up information on the best ways to help your childwith ADHD for easier transitions and I saw that timers could be effective with battling the time blindness.
I was willing to try anything and this worked wonders. He knows that when that timer goes off he needs to go to the next task. I have timers around the house so that I don’t have to carry around just one. They’re in all the important places: his bedroom, the bathroom, and the main living area.
In the kitchen, Monty is already making the pot of coffee with three mugs set next to it. Evie is at the kitchen island with the electric griddle, making chocolate chip pancakes. A steaming stack already started next to it.
“Walking into the kitchen smelling coffee and pancakes is so nice,” I say before I take a deep inhale.
Monty looks behind me and sees that Shiloh isn’t there, “ten more minutes?” He asks with a knowing tone.
“Yep. I put on his timer and his clothes are set out, so he should be out shortly. It’s the first day, so I don’t expect it to go smoothly.” I reply, walking to Evie’s side and sliding my hand down her back. “Good morning Sweets.” Leaning over I quickly peck her on the cheek before moving over to the fridge to grab the fixings for coffee and pancakes.
The three of us work together flawlessly, Hayes is sitting at his highchair with pieces of pancake and a banana. Babbling away as he eats and watches us move around.
Shiloh comes in a couple minutes later and takes his seat at the table. Dramatically he drops his chin in his hand and begins to eat the pancakes that Monty places in front of him. There isn’t any fighting to get ready and out the door to wait for the bus.
Monty waits at the end of the driveway with us, he always goes in late on the first day of school so that he can see Shiloh off on his new school year.
Shiloh stands with his yearly school sign, with one of those fake kid smiles. You know the ones that look like someone hooked their fingers in the corner of their mouths and pulled it up? I’m just about to give upwhen Monty does something behind me that makes Shiloh give a genuine smile giving Evie the perfect timing to get a good photo.
I watch as Evie snaps a couple more pictures before standing up with a smile of her own. She looks over at me and winks, then looks down at the screen to inspect the photos.
