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“That was fun,” she agreed. “But it’s not why I’m smiling so much.”

“Oh, yeah? Why are you smiling so much, then?”

“Our wedding is only a few days away. This Saturday, you’ll be my husband.”

I reached over and took her beautiful face in my hands and kissed her. She kissed me back. It almost made me forget we were in public. That is, until the kids crowded around us.

Trent said, “Why don’t you guys get a room?”

Jane said, “Did I act that way around Allan?”

Trent and Eddie nodded at the same time.

All Jane could say was “Ouch. I’ll keep that in mind in the future.”

Then we all folded into a laughing, hugging ball of crazy New Yorkers.

Chapter 100

On our way home, I said a silent prayer, thanking God for the wonderful life I had. And for my bright, healthy kids and my smart, beautiful fiancée. I was in a particularly grateful mood.

Then came Fiona and her seventh-grade math homework. It never got any easier, no matter how many times I helped each of the kids in succession.

Fiona hadn’t put out a general call for assistance. Only her dad’s help would do, and I couldn’t ignore it. But holy cow. I’d been pretty good at math in school. The same school that Fiona went to now. How could I look at this page and not understand a single instruction?

After about fifteen minutes of reading the problems and searching through her book for an example I understood, I had to look at Fiona and say, “We need more help. Ask Eddie.”

From my seat at the dini

ng room table, I called to Mary Catherine in the kitchen. Her reply was short and to the point. “I can’t spare Eddie. You’re the one with a college degree.”

I said, “A degree in philosophy doesn’t prepare you for seventh-grade math.”

“Does it prepare you for anything?”

“‘I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing,’” I quoted. “Socrates.”

Mary Catherine said, “You were already proving your point. You didn’t have to back it up with a quote.”

Brian casually strolled over to the dining room table. He looked at the book and checked some information on an earlier page. Then he explained to Fiona how to do the problems. Correctly. Amazing.

When Brian was finished, Fiona looked at me and said, “Thanks, Dad.”

“What’d I do?”

Fiona smiled. “You adopted a smart kid like Brian.”

I let out a laugh. “I guess that was a good move.”

Brian’s smile compounded my good mood. If things are going well with the kids, nothing else really matters.

Mary Catherine called out a good-bye. She was taking the girls for a dress fitting that would last a few hours. The younger boys were all in their rooms, working on some school project. That left just Brian and me.

He was in the living room, reading a Men’s Health magazine. I flopped down on the other end of the couch where he was sitting.

“How’s it going?” I asked.

He grunted. It wasn’t hostile or disrespectful. Just efficient. Then he said, “How’s it going with you?”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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