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15
Heather
The dads—I started collectively thinking of them that way,the dads—came upstairs around five. There were squeals of excitement and a rush of children to the door to greet them with hugs and kisses. Even Cora excitedly leaped into Asher’s arms.
“How did it go?” Rogan asked me.
Micah answered, “Miss Heather did okay. I think she can stay.”
“Yay Miss Heather!” Dustin agreed.
Rogan laughed at that. The boys then ran back to the table, where they were playing with their tablets.
“They were fine,” I said when the boys were out of earshot. “Lunch was a disaster. I swear they got more food on the ground than in their mouths.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” Rogan asked.
“I didn’t want to bother you. But they turn into wild animals when food is in front of them. Have you never worked on their manners at the table?”
“Manners?” Brady asked. “They’re boys. They’ll grow out of it.”
“That’s not how parenting works,” I said dryly.
Asher cleared his throat. He was wearing a three-piece suit with a cornflower blue tie. “And how was Cora at lunch?”
“She was perfect. No issues at all.”
Brady groaned. “Don’t give him any ammo.”
Asher smiled softly and nodded to himself.
“What’s this?” Rogan pointed at the fridge. “It looks like a schedule…”
I cleared my throat. “You can’t read that! I cast a spell on the words.” I gave him a look. The three children were watching from the table.
Rogan caught on after a split second. “Oh. Right! I definitely can’t read this. It’s all gibberish.”
The boys giggled to themselves.
“Aside from lunchtime, how’d the rest of the day go?” Brady asked.
“There were times where it was easy. And times where it wasn’t.”
Brady scratched at his jaw. “Yeah, well, you haven’t self-immolated yet out of frustration. I call that a good sign.”
“They’re not bad enough to drive me to suicide,” I said. “But they do need structure in their lives.” I lowered my voice. “That’s what the schedule is for. But don’t call it a schedule. It’s anadventure plan.”
“I don’t know,” Brady said. “I didn’t have any kind of structure when I was a boy.”
“And look how you turned out,” Asher said quietly.
Brady started to raise his middle finger to the man, then stopped himself when he realized the kids were watching. “That gesture I was about to make? Pretend I made it.”
I walked over to the dining room table. “Okay. It’s five o’clock, which means tablet time is over.”
“Just one more level!” Dustin insisted. He was playing some sort of driving game.
“Nope. We have aplan, and the plan means we stop now. As soon as you finish that lap.”
