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“Books!” Axl screeched.
Her dad laughed. “Yes, books. We’re just fine, cupcake.”
Chloe swallowed down a lump. Her boys were doing just fine without her. Was it bad that she wished they weren’t so put together? She made herself laugh because that was what her father intended. “Okay. Call me if you need me.”
“Have fun, Chloe Bear. Don’t worry about us. Axlsaurus is having a blast. Right, dude?”
“Axaserres is a-okay.”
Chloe laughed at Axl’s bastardization of her dad’s nickname for him. “I love you guys.”
Her dad swung the camera around again. “Say g’night, Axl.”
“Niy-nites, mama.” Again, his sticky fingers made kisses over his lips.
She blew back kisses. “Night, little man.”
Her dad came back into the frame. “We’re fine. Have fun. Pretend you’re young and carefree for a few days.”
“Come on. We’re burning daylight here!” Jinx hollered again.
Chloe sniffed back a few tears. “Gotta go, Dad.”
“Love you, Chloe Bear.”
Man, the mushy stuff was going to kill her, but she liked it too. She blinked back tears and smiled. “Love you too, Daddy Bear,” she murmured, using the old nickname she’d had for him. Every now and then, it made a reappearance, usually when she was feeling out of sorts.
This weekend qualified.
“There’s my girl. See you on Sunday.”
She nodded. “I’l
l check in tomorrow.”
“Lori next door invited us to a picnic. So we’ll be gone all day. But you can check in at bedtime.”
“Right. Wow. Got it all planned, huh?” They didn’t need her even a little bit. She tried to push aside the hurt. She wanted them to have a great time, just not too good a time.
So stupid.
“Yes. We’ll have a full day. So text me later and I’ll see if he’s even still awake.”
“Right.” Chloe nodded. “I will.”
“Bye now.”
“Bye.” She thumbed over the end button and rubbed her phone against her jeans. Yeah, she definitely couldn’t spend the whole weekend thinking about how little her boys needed her.
Nope, not even a little. She stood up and dashed the tears from her eyes. In fact, she was going to make sure she had one helluva time this weekend. She went over to the sink and splashed cold water on her skin. Her golden brown eyes were free of makeup, thanks to a very long day already.
She used the ultra-soft towel hanging from the ring by the sink and blotted her face. “You’re going to have all of the fun, girl.” She opened the door. “All right, bitches! Let’s get this party started.”
“Fuck yeah!” Jinx leaped off her bed. “I just made us appointments.”
“Of course you did,” she said with a laugh.
“So fancy.” Ivy drew her fingers over the leather cushion of the creamy wingback chair in the corner of the room. “I could get used to this.”
