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The girls and I went to the local ice cream stand in town, which was packed. Everyone else had the same idea as we did, and the three of us got in line to wait to order cones.
“What are you getting, Zo-go?” I asked, stroking her braid. Both girls had the most beautiful hair, so I had hours and hours of braiding practice under my belt by this point.
“Vanilla soft serve in a waffle cone,” Zoey said.
“You always get the same thing,” Riley said. “I’m getting peanut butter cup with rainbow sprinkles and marshmallow and caramel and cherries.”
Zoey made a face. “Gross.”
For as alike as the girls looked, their tastes were night and day.
“What are you going to get?” Riley asked me.
“I’m not sure yet,” I said. I had a few favorites and it was all about figuring out what I was in the mood for.
The girls chatted with the people in line, and I ended up not having a second to think as more and more people got in line.
Then it was my turn and the frazzled teenager at the window was asking me what I wanted.
I ended up with a milkshake because it was easier to drink while I drove.
As soon as they got their ice cream, the twins abandoned me to go sit with their friends and I chatted with some of the other parents who had also been abandoned by their kids.
By the time I was able to drag the girls away, it was nearly time for dinner.
“Come on, you’re going to see everyone tomorrow,” I said as they whined and I handed them wipes for their hands before they got in the car.
The complaining continued until we got back to the house.
“Okay, backpacks upstairs, and pick out nice outfits. Your dad is taking us out to dinner.” Every year, Mark and Sadie switched off who took the kids out for a celebratory dinner at the end of the school year. They aced co-parenting in a way I’d never seen before.
More grumbling as they took their things upstairs and I walked around the house, picking things up here and there. I also double-checked that I had everything for the party. Food, drinks, extra towels, blankets, pillows, the works. There were enough rooms for all the girls coming to sleep in beds, but they were all still young enough that sleeping in a pile in the living room had greater appeal.
Plus, the living room was nearer to the kitchen so they could sneak into the fridge for snacks in the middle of the night and I’d pretend not to notice from where I slept in the first-floor guest room. A bunch of tween girls was a lot of things, but subtle and quiet weren’t any of them.
I ran the vacuum through the downstairs and cleaned the powder room because I’d forgotten to earlier in the day. I was just tossing the gloves I’d used when I heard someone clearing their throat.
I turned around to see Honor, waiting impatiently.
“Can I help you?” I asked, turning on the sink to wash the smell of the gloves off my hands.
“Just waiting,” she said.
“There are like fifteen bathrooms in this house. Go use a different one,” I said. There weren’t fifteen, there were seven, but seven was still a lot.
Honor huffed as if I’d asked her to go use an outhouse and walked away.
“You want me to wipe your ass too?” I called out.
“What?” Mark stuck his head out of his office.
I put a cheery smile on my face. “Nothing. I’ll just make sure the girls are ready for dinner.”
I shoved my cleaning supplies in the closet and walked into Mark’s office.
“I’m almost ready,” he said, his eyes flicking from his computer screen to his phone screen and back.
“Great,” I said. “I’m going to change too and then I’ll make sure the monsters are dressed appropriately.”
