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I glanced at my watch. “I’m not sure we’ve got time for that, bud.”
“You read to him, I’ll clean up.”
“That’s not nec—”
“I seriously don’t mind. Go read to your kid.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
We got up from the table and before Ally could start piling the plates up, Jesse said, “Good night, Allegra.” He stepped close to her, looking a little uncertain.
“Good night, kiddo.” Then he surprised us both by moving in for a hug. She wrapped her arms around him instantly, leaning down and pressing a kiss into his hair. He pulled back and the smile they shared made my heart thud a little too much. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay.”
I tidied up his room a little while he brushed his teeth, throwing his clothes in the laundry hamper basket and taking his lunch box out of his backpack. My mind was still buzzing from the events of the afternoon and I found the familiar actions comforting – although it did seem a bit strange how quickly this routine had become comfortable to me.
Jesse came in, climbed into bed and pulled a comic book from the stack on his nightstand. “Can we read this one?”
“We sure can. I’ll never say no to Thor.”
Squinting at the front cover, he pointed and said, “How do you say this word?”
I looked. “Val-ky-rie.” I said it slowly and he repeated it, getting it right the second time.
When I opened the comic to the first page, he pointed and said, “That’s how Allegra looked.” I looked at the page which depicted Valkyrie in the throes of battle, her eyes lit up and a fierce expression on her face. “She was so mad.”
“I bet she was.” I thanked whatever powers that be yet again that she came by just when she did.
“When she told me to get in the car, I thought she was mad at me, too.”
“But she wasn’t, was she?”
“No. Her hands were going like this.” He held up his hands, shaking them.
“I see.”
“She said a lot of bad words. You won’t tell and get her in trouble, will you?”
“I think we can let it slide. What happened after that?”
“I asked if she was okay and she said maybe not, because she thought that guy was gonna hit her.”
Jesus. Jesse had no idea how vivid a picture he was painting, and how much it was making my gut churn. “And then?”
“I asked her why she didn’t run away.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she couldn’t, because she knew that he would have hit me if she did.”
Forcing a calmness into my voice that I certainly didn’t feel, I said, “Well, I’m glad neither of you got hit and that you’re both okay. And I’m definitely gonna look into that texting watch for you. And no more leaving school by yourself, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Good.” I settled in next to him, got halfway through the comic before he started yawning. “I think that’s enough, bud. You’ve had a long day.”
“Yeah.”
