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“Or you can stay home, Mama, and Uncle Liam and Uncle Luke can both take me,” Legs says with an eyelash flutter—which has a cuteness factor that could rival a baby bunny rabbit.
Damn kid’s got us all wrapped around her little finger.
“Deal,” Lana Mae says. “As long as they promise to wear ‘Belieber’ t-shirts to the show.”
Allegra gives her mother a gravely serious look. “What else would they wear?” She then turns on her heel and makes for the stairs. “I’m going to call Uncle Luke and tell him. Bye, Mommy!”
“You don’t want to give your mother a hug?” Lana Mae raises her eyebrows and clasps her hands to her chest in mock horror. “It’s only the first time I’ve left for more than a day since you were born.”
Legs sighs deeply. “Okay, okay.”
But when her little arms wind around Lana’s neck, Legs clutches her tight, hands fisting in her mom’s sweater. Legs might act tough, but she’s soft-serve ice cream beneath that hard candy shell.
“I’ll miss you more than you can imagine, sweetie.” Lana Mae pulls back from the embrace and nuzzles her daughter’s hair. “You going to be good for Uncle Liam?”
“Yesssss,” Legs says with a conspiratorial eye roll in my direction.
“Course she is,” I say, but confident as I sound, something clenches in my stomach. I love Legs to death, and I’ve spent endless hours with her, but it’s hard not to be nervous. I’ve never carried the responsibility of parenting a child before. What if I screw this up?
I remind myself sternly that I can do this. Ihaveto do this. Lana Mae’s counting on me, and Legs is, too. I’ll do my best to be a great parent to her while Lana Mae is out of town.
After a long, lengthy, tearful goodbye (on Lana Mae’s part. I definitely didn’t tear up. Not at all), the door shuts and it’s just me and Legs.
“So…” I say slowly, turning to Legs. Her expression is so down-trodden, I almost call Lana Mae to come back. “Ready for me to kick your butt at mini-golf?”
Legs perks up immediately. She shoots towards me and tackles me in a hug. “We’re going to mini-golf?!”
“Why do you think your mom wanted you dressed? Let’s go!”
“Thank you, Uncle Liam!” Legs yells, taking my hand and dragging me out the door. She gives me a look over her shoulder. “By the way, you smell funny.”
Huh. Maybe I should’ve prioritized that shower before coming over. “Funny like how?”
“I dunno. Kinda like agirl.” Legs giggles behind her hands at what she thinks is a very funny joke.
And maybe it really is a joke—a grown man who’s so unaccustomed to romantic female company that he keeps finding himself thinking about a freakingcuddle.
Joke’s on me, I guess.
7
ANNIE
I woke up early. Extra early.
First day at a new job, have to “seize the day,” as Prisha put it (though not in the context she’d intended).
But then, instead of getting out of bed, I snuggled up and opened TikTok. There was a video of a golden retriever meeting her human baby sister for the first time, so of course, I had to watch that at least five times. The next video was a tutorial on making maple syrup, so I lingered for a few minutes more, because what if I get stuck in a Vermont forest someday and need to make maple syrup to survive?
Anyhow, after my TikTok spiral and syrup-making education (turns out that it’s, like, a million step process involving a lot of equipment so, if I everdidget stuck in a Vermont forest, I would still be unable to make syrup), I was no longer extra early.
Not at all.
“Annie! Breakfast’s ready. Hurry up or you’ll be late for work!” Mom hollers from the bottom of the stairs.
From the vantage point of my cozy bed—which is still draped with my favorite late-noughties-era sequinned turquoise comforter—you could sub out “work” for “school” and I could almost believe that the last decade didn’t happen. That I’m still sixteen, equipped with my new driver’s license and a recently de-metalled mouth of straight teeth. That I have my entire love life and glittering career ahead of me.
A whole world of possibilities. No rap sheet of failures.
