Page 60 of Schooling Little Sage

“Maybe. If Daddy says it’s okay I can come in the spring.”

“Daddy says it’s okay anytime,” Daddy hollered from the kitchen which really was part of the living room. Our apartment was way bigger, but that wasn’t nice to say. “Hot chocolate for my boys, French toast sticks are on their way.”

“Yay! Thank you, Daddy. I love hot choco.”

“Me too, and these tiny marshmallows are so cute,” Devon took a sip. “It’s hot.”

“Of course it is, silly boy,” Daddy rubbed Devon’s messy hair after he sat our plates down. “Blow on it before you take another sip.”

“I like it when you cut up the French toast into sticks, Daddy. It’s fun.”

“I never thought of doing that. Thank you, Daddy,” Devon said, swirling a raspberry around in the foamy sweet stuff. “I’m gonna miss you guys.”

Ugh, this was awful. “You have to come visit as much as you can. And we can come here, right Daddy?”

“Absolutely. Like I said, you’re welcome to visit anytime.”

Maybe Daddy was gonna miss him as much as me.

Daddy left us to play and started cleaning up. We both knew he was packing our stuff though we didn’t say anything. Devon and I curled up on the couch, sharing a blanket and holding each other, which was how we ended up falling asleep.

“Boys, time for lunch,” Daddy woke us.

“Smells good,” Devon yawned. “What did you make?”

“A bunch of stuff. I don’t like you eating out as much as you do so I precooked and froze as many meals as your freezer would hold.”

Devon blinked. “You did?”

“I did, sweetheart. If you like them and want the recipes, just let me know.”

“See, Daddy loves you too.” Maybe now Devon wouldn’t be so sad.

“Thank you, Daddy,” he whispered. “That was very thoughtful.”

“PB&J for lunch. Ham, potatoes, green beans and rolls for dinner tonight.”

“Yummy.” Just thinking about it made my tummy grumble. “Lunch time after potty time,” I sung and skipped down the hall.

“More information than was necessary, butterfly,” Daddy called after me.

It was nice staying in our jammy jams all day—even Daddy did. “Next year you should come have Christmas with us,” I told Devon.

“That would be nice. I’ve always wanted to have a white Christmas.”

Today was supposed to be a happy day, now it was just sad. Didn’t seem fair I was getting a second Christmas this week and Devon only got one. I wanted to share everything with him. Hopes, dreams, toys, our life.

But how much of our life was I willing to do that with?

Daddy and I had a lot of talking to do and hopefully it didn’t end with me being homeless… again.

“Wanna watch Frozen?”

“Sure.” We grabbed our Squishmallows and curled up on the couch under our blankets.

“Wanna have a sleepover in my room tonight?” Devon asked.

“Yes, please.” I snuggled in close to him. “Daddy too?”