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Wren
Ihadn’t gotten enough sleep the night before,so by seven p.m., I was dragging. It didn’t help that I was in a grumpy mood and Ezra was even grumpier. We’d both been off all day. But while he blew off steam throwing toys and collapsing on the floor in a fit, I had to keep it together until bedtime—then I could lose my shit.
I was already losing it internally.
Callum had texted exactly once. At ten this morning, he said he would call or text when he could. That was it. One little ‘x’ at the end, but nothing else. No ‘last night was amazing, I miss you, nothing has changed even after I had time to think about the bomb you dropped on me.’ Nope, none of that. Not even a bossy demand.
That was pretty much the cause of my poor attitude.
My cranky toddler wasn’t helping matters.
“No bath,” Ezra wailed.
“Yes, bath. You have mac and cheese in your hair.”
He stuck his lip out and tears collected in his lashes. “I like it. I don’t want a bath!”
I kneeled in front of him, holding his belly in my hands. He was half naked, smeared in cheese and paint. If he hadn’t been so damn crusty, I would have given in and skipped the bath. My boy was a mess, though. He wasn’t getting out of this, even if getting him into the tub killed me.
“I know, baby buddy, but you have to.” I rubbed his belly in slow circles. “Let’s take a bath, then we’ll read an extra book tonight.”
Oh, how his chin quivered. “Jenny read me a book?”
I nodded. “Of course Jenny will read you a book. You know she loves to read to you.”
He stomped his foot, but I saw the fight flowing out of him. He let me take him upstairs, even though he was crying and stiff. That was the only fight he put up.
Once I had washed his hair, he was much calmer, just as I knew he would be. Jenny popped in and sat on the closed toilet, chatting with us both.
The doorbell rang, followed by a knock on the door. I glanced at Jenny, she frowned at me. It wasn’t late, but we didn’t get visitors often.
“Can you go check, babe?” she asked. “I’ll get Ez out and in his pj’s.”
“Yeah, sure.” I hopped up from the floor and ran downstairs, drying my hands on my sweatshirt as I went. There was another soft knock as I approached. I peered through the peephole and gasped, then I opened the door with caution.
Callum cocked his head, peering at me through the crack. “Hey. I called, but you didn’t answer.”
My eyebrows lowered. “It’s bath time. I didn’t have my phone on me, so I—” I shook my head. “What are you doing here?”
“Told you I was comin’ to talk to you today.” He reached out and pushed the door open wider. “Aren’t you gonna invite me in?”
Just then, my son let out an ear-piercing shriek. Callum jolted, but I didn’t even flinch. I knew that cry. Ezra wasn’t hurt or sad, the kid was angry and over tired.
“This is a very bad time, which I could have told you if you’d called or texted me earlier today. I need to go take care of my son.” I grabbed the doorknob and tried to push the door closed, but Callum wasn’t budging. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“No. Go do what you need to do. I’ll come back in an hour.”
Ezra shrieked again, and this time, it was followed by Jenny calling for me. “All right. Fine. An hour.”
He let me close the door then, and I ran back upstairs to deal with my son. Callum would have to wait. He’d kept me waiting all day, he honestly deserved a little of the same.
Exactly one hour had gone by when he knocked softly again. Jenny beat me to the door, whipping it open and blocking his way. She’d never gotten to growl and intimidate my dates since I’d never been on one, so I was pretty sure she was trying to make up for lost time.
“Hello, young man. It’s awfully late for you to be knocking on our door.” She was clearly going for stern, but she ended up sounding like a mom from an ’80s sitcom.
“Hello,” he answered. I couldn’t see him from my spot in the living room, but I heard his confusion. “Is Wren here?”
“She is. Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”
