She shook her head. “Hallie’s doing poems in her homework.”
Ah. That made more sense.
My phone buzzed on the dash, so I picked it up and saw a message from Jordan.
Hi, Daddy! When will you be home? I’m ready with my crafts.
I smiled and responded to him.
Hey, sweetheart. We’ll be home in about 20. Lily’s excited about making magnets. You and James are staying for dinner, right? It’s spaghetti night.
It was best to phrase certain questions as assumptions. Otherwise, both James and Jordan could get careful about “stepping on toes.” And that was ridiculous. Nate and I werehooked on our new routines. Well, they were becoming routines. Besides, the girls already adored Jordan. Mikey too. He found Jordan hilarious.
So did I. The other day, he and James had given me their birthday present. Jordan had been frustrated, claiming it was impossible to get me alone long enough to explain the joke… But it was funny—and sweet as hell. He’d made me a bracelet with letter beads that spelled out “Take it up with HR, sunshine,” an ode to his awesome Daddy’s love for inappropriate jokes, but also a subtle nod to Hackett and Riley. It was a symbol I could wear openly, alongside some of the bracelets my kids had made me.
A steakhouse dinner was presumably the main part of the gift, but no steak could compare to precious tokens and keepsakes.
Jordan finally replied when I saw Hallie coming toward us.
We’d love to, but is it okay if Emmett comes? James just picked him up.
Absofuckinglutely.
Never mind. Some Wednesdays were fucking fantastic.
“Dad, can we change the music? This is awful,” Hallie said.
She didn’t know what she was talking about. Def Leppard were living legends.
“You go wash out your mouth,” I told her.
I returned to stirring the Bolognese, and Nate and I exchanged a smile.
Listening to our kids dis our taste in music aside, life was goddamn perfect. Jordan, Lily, and Hallie were occupying the kitchen table with crafts. Lily was now obsessed with makingmagnets, and all grandparents could expect new ones for Christmas. Hallie had initially planned on doing her homework there, but she’d abandoned that for the moment.
James was outside, shooting hoops with Emmett, Dylan, and Mikey.
We’d learned that Emmett was gonna be staying with James and Jordan the whole summer, and that made me happy. The kid had grown up too soon. He needed to relax and feel safe.
“I’m putting in the spaghetti now—you know what that means!” Nathan announced.
“Dinner in fifteen!” Lily cheered. “That’s five and five and five minutes. Three hands.”
I grinned to myself and started taking vegetables out of the fridge. We might as well double up on the garlic bread too.
“Are we eating here or in the living room?” Jordan asked.
“In there—you can leave the crafts explosion as it is.” I ruffled his hair on my way back to the kitchen island.
A few days later
Nathan Riley
This was one of those things I’d never expected I’d do one day when I had a teenage son—go buy a putting green with my husband during our lunch hour.
On the way out, we stopped by a food truck and ordered our lunch. One wrap with fried chicken for Ash, one wrap with shrimp for me.
“Have you decided where we should put the green?” I asked, taking a bite of my wrap.
