Cooper giggles, and I shrug. A guy can try.
"Hey, did you bring your game?" I ask.
He shakes hishead. "Mom took it away."
"Did you get into trouble at school again?" Dad asks him as he opens the fridge.
"You really are a little punk, aren't you?" I tease, nudging him with my crutch.
Dad shoots me a disapproving glare over his shoulder. Oops.
"It wasn't my fault," Cooper says, climbing onto the stool at the island.
Dad takes an apple and a block of cheese out of the fridge, placing them on the counter, and gestures to Cooper to move along with his story.
"Okay, it was my fault," he says. "But it's not fair."
I settle onto the stool beside him, propping my crutches on the counter. Dad slides a cutting board and knife toward me, and I cube the block of cheddar while he slices the apple.
"So what happened?" I ask, genuinely curious, because even though he's a smart ass, I get the impression he recognizes there's a time and place for it.
"I finished my reading test and played drums on my desk with my pencil."
"That doesn't seem bad," I say.
"That's what I'm saying."
"Cooper," Dad says. "Were your friends finished with their tests?"
The kid rolls his eyes and lets out a huff. "It's not my fault they're slow."
"How long did it take you?" Dad asks. There's a gleam in his eyes, one I haven't seen in years. Mischief.
"Ten questions, plus a bonus, in one minute and seventeen seconds."
Dad high-fives him, and the two of them share a conspiratorial smile. Then he places the apple slices on the cutting board. "I've gotta get the lawn mowed. Hopefully, this is the last one of the season. You two going to be okay?"
We nod, and he leaves us to our snack.
When Dad is out of earshot, I lean toward Cooper.
"So who's watching who right now?" I ask.
He shrugs and bites into an apple slice. "Your guess is as good as mine."
I chuckle. It's clear why Mom and Dad like him so much.
"You know what this snack needs?" I ask.
He eyes me warily.
"Doritos."
He laughs and says, "Good luck in this house."
I stand from the stool, grab my crutches, and throw him a wink before I hobble down the hall to my bedroom.
When I come back out, I have a purple bag of Doritos between my teeth. Quality, fresh food is my everyday diet because of Mom and Abuelo, but I'm a junk food junkie at heart. If I have the chance to eat something full of dyes and preservatives, so help me God, I'm gonna do it.
