Page 92 of Game On

She still didn’t seem convinced. “Well, have a fun time. Tell Logan I said hi.”

I rolled my eyes and got out the door before she could make any other passive-aggressive remarks. There was a part of me that was thinking about her argument a lot, though. That tiny part of my heart that was hopeful. Veronica found her happily ever after with Blaise after Seth destroyed her world. Maybe I could find that too. A part of me wanted Logan to be that man, but he had been firm on not having time for a relationship, and I respected that.

I shook those thoughts away when I parked in the visitor’s space at his condo building. I grabbed my bags and shot him a text that I was on my way up. Mari opened the door with a look that told me I was in for it tonight. And then I heard the wail of a tantrum.

I cringed as I stepped inside. I set my bags down in the living room and found Liam and Logan locked in a battle of wills. Logan was trying to get Liam to eat his dinner, which looked like mini burritos and Mexican rice. That explained why Rosie was being a perfect angel in the high chair. She loved her Mexican food, just like her mama.

Logan looked to be at his wit’s end with his nephew, though.

“NO! You’re mean!” Liam yelled.

“Buddy, please, you gotta eat,” Logan pleaded.

I looked at Mari, and she shrugged. Logan gave me a pained look, as if he was screaming at me, ‘Please, help me.’ Tears were streaming down Liam’s face, and my mama heart wrenched inside my chest.

“He’s cranky today. I can’t figure out why,” Mari said with a shrug.

I knelt in front of Liam and wiped his tears away. “Liam, how about you take a couple of bites, okay?” I smoothed down his hair. “For me?”

He shook his head. “No!”

“Liam,” Logan scolded. “We don’t yell, okay, bud?”

I mouthed, ‘It’s okay,’ to Logan, and sat Liam in his chair. “Logan, it’s fine. If he doesn’t want to eat, he doesn’t want to eat. Come sit down and eat with me.”

I gestured to the takeout boxes he had set on the table waiting for us while I slid in the seat next to Liam. Rosie was still eating, but I eyed her carefully while I opened my takeout box. I couldn’t contain the grin when I saw Logan ordered me the Mole Poblano.

Defeated, he sat across from me and dug into his enchiladas. Liam had his arms crossed over his little chest, and Mari gave him a warning look as she milled about the kitchen, cleaning up.

“Mmm, so good,” I said exaggeratedly to Logan as I took my first bite of my chicken and rice.

Logan’s eyebrow raised, and I glared at him, hoping he’d figure out what I was playing at.

His lips formed an ‘O’ when it finally clicked. “Mmm, this is really good,” he agreed.

“Rosie ate what I put on her plate already,” Mari told me. She walked over to my daughter and kissed her head. “She’s been a little angel today. I’m going to get out of here. Bye, Liam. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

My sister was out the door before I could even say goodbye.

Liam took an interest in what I was eating. “What’s that?” he asked.

“It’s called Mole Poblano. It’s chicken in a sweet sauce.”

“I like chicken.”

“You might not like it,” Logan warned.

I cut off a tiny piece and scooped rice and beans onto his plate. I made sure they didn’t touch, because I know he hated that. “You can try it, but it’s okay if you don’t like it.”

He picked up his fork and took a bite. His face lit up when he tasted the chicken. “I like this.”

“Good. If you promise to eat some of your dinner, I’ll give you a little more.”

That seemed to do the trick, and after prodding him, I offered to deconstruct his burrito since he made a face every time he took a bite. Once I had the burrito unwrapped and his food spread out, not touching, he happily ate more of it. How a kid didn’t like burritos was beyond me, but kids were weird. Sometimes, these little people dealt with such big emotions, and they didn’t know how to tell us.

Logan looked at me in relief, and I gave him a small smile in response. Whew. I didn’t think I’d walk into a tantrum tonight. Rosie was getting like that, and I was dreading the oncoming terrible twos.

I only ate a little of dinner before Rosie got fussy, and I got up to get her out of her high chair. Logan and I put dinner away and gave both kids a bath. While our kids splashed in the bath together, I realized how domestic it all was. And natural. Like this was our life every night.