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“He should just grow a pair and tell her already. And I swear, Belle’s brain is too big for her own good sometimes. She can’t see what’s right in front of her. If I have to watch Val mooning over her for much longer, I’m going to lose my shit,” she grumbles.
I snort. “Jealous?”
She laughs a full-blown belly laugh until she’s panting for breath and wiping at the corners of her eyes.
I frown. It really wasn’tthatfunny.
“Oh, Keeds, you sweet innocent little thing. The day I’m jealous of a pair of saps like them is the day I want you to put me out of my misery. Use whatever you’ve got handy to get the job done, I’m not fussy.”
I frown harder. “There truly is something deeply wrong with you.”
Snow snorts. “Nah, I just have really strong survival instincts.”
“Right. Let’s go with that.”
“So,I guess that means you guys won’t be coming this weekend then?” I ask my dad as I collapse onto the couch, cell pressed to my ear. Disappointment tightens my chest, and I rub at it absentmindedly. I miss my family.
He sighs. “I’m sorry, bud.”
I know he’s upset, too, and it’s not like he can help it that my youngest baby sister has come down with a nasty cold. “It’s okay. Just look after my baby for me, and maybe you guys can make it next weekend instead.”
“We’ll be there,” he promises. After a beat where he’s silent, but there’s muffled voices in the background, he says, “Aria wants to say hello.”
There are some scuffling sounds, then, “ARLO!”
I pull the cell away from my now ringing ear and swap it to the other side, holding it not so close this time. “Hey, princess, how are you?”
“I miss you. Tan you tum ovba to pway wif me?” she asks in her sweet little voice that grips my heart.
With a deep breath, I tell her, “I wish I could, but I can’t, baby. I live too far away now. But when Aylin is all better, you guys can come visit me at my new house. I even have a special bedroom just for you girls. How’s that sound?”
“Is it pink? I onwe wike pink wooms,” she says, sounding every bit the four-year-old mini tyrant that she is.
“Umm, no. But it has pink stuff in it…”
She “hmmms”through the line, and I crack a smile. “I will tink aboud it.”
I chuckle. “Thanks, baby girl. I appreciate it. So, what did you do today?”
“I work wif momma an wear’d a pink dwess and cwown. Tuz I a weal pwincess, and pwincess work is berry hard,” she explains.
“Oh yeah, I’ve heard it’s a big job.” My smile is huge, and my heart feel full listening to her tell me about her day. I miss the girls more than I anticipated. They’ve been a big part of my everyday life since the days they were born.
“Otay, I dotta doe, momma’s tallin’ me. I lub you, Arlo.”
“I love you, too,” I murmur, then the sound of the phone being passed off comes through, and the little jolt of happiness Aria’s voice brought me fades.
A moment later, my dad’s deep tone replaces her sweet one. “Tell me more about your new town, are you feeling settled yet?”
We talk for a few more minutes until he’s needed for something, then we end the call with the promise to talk again soon.
My heart feels heavy as I lay on the couch, staring up at my ceiling as the late afternoon sun fades away completely, bathing the room in darkness. I don’t bother getting up to switch on a light, choosing to let my mood consume me instead.
* * *
When I wake,I feel sullen and heavy. And pissed because I slept through my alarm, and I’m now running late. I hate being late.
I don’t even have enough time for a shower, so I have what my stepmom calls a hobo bath. I run a washcloth under the sink, douse it with soap then give under my arms a quick scrub before moving down to my balls. I rinse out the cloth, wipe away the soap, pat the essentials dry, then hit the deodorant.
