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“Would it be terrible to tell them that I… fell down some stairs or something like that?” I asked, looking at Seth’s reflection.
“Not if you think by saying that you are protecting them.”
“I am. Especially Isaac. I don’t want to re-traumatize him.”
“Okay. So, that’s what we will tell them,” he said, leaning in to press a kiss to my neck. “You want to go home and get the hard part over with, so you can relax?”
“Relax,” I repeated with a little scoff. “With three kids? Not likely.”
“Hey, Layna, Sully, and Callow are there. Trust me, they will be occupied so you can rest.”
God, rest sounded good.
A shower to wash that man’s touch off of me, a dark room with quiet for my aching head. Maybe even a nap.
“Aren’t you coming home?” I asked, realizing he was leaving himself out of the equation.
“I am taking you home and getting you settled, yes,” he said.
He didn’t say the rest out loud.
What was it he’d said before?
Plausible deniability.
I knew what he was off to do, but we couldn’t talk about it out loud. To protect him, and me, and the kids.
“Okay,” I agreed, closing my eyes and leaning back into him for a moment. “Let’s go home,” I said.
He must have talked to the guys via text or when he’d been getting me the pain relievers, because no one was around to gawk at me as he led me back to my car, put me in the passenger seat, and drove me back to the house.
My stomach tightened at the sound of the kids playing out back, laughing and squealing at Sully’s antics as Callow filled water balloons with the hose.
I hated to ruin the fun.
Even for just a moment.
But it wouldn’t be right to slink inside and avoid them, either.
Off with the Band-Aid and all that jazz.
“It’ll be fine,” Seth assured me, his hand rubbing across my lower back as we walked into the yard.
Hazel spotted me first, her eyes going wide.
“Mommy?”
There was a catch in her voice that had her brother freezing, then whipping around, worried.
“Mom?” he asked, eyes huge, breaking my heart into lots of little pieces.
“I’m okay!” I said, forcing a chipper voice as I forced myself to keep walking forward, trying to ignore the pain in the side and keep my gait as normal as possible. “I had a little accident today,” I told them. “You know how I’m always telling you not to be messing around at the top of the stairs? Well, Mommy didn’t follow her own advice, and I fell,” I told them.
Hey, it was always good to make something into a teachable moment, right?
“Does it hurt?” Isaac asked, frowning.
“I have a headache,” I admitted. “But I am going to go lie down for a bit, and that will make it all better, okay?”
“Did you cry?” Hazel asked.
“Definitely,” I agreed. “But that’s okay. We can cry when we need to. Sometimes it makes you feel better,” I said. “Are you guys having fun with Sully and Callow?” I asked.
“We’re playing war!” Hazel said, her sweet, but high-pitched voice cutting right through my skull. I was sure the smile I gave her was half-wince right then.
“That sounds fun!”
“And guess what?” Seth asked.
“What?” Hazel asked.
“You can order anything you want for dinner,” he said.
“Anything?” Hazel asked, dubious.
“Anything.”
“Tacos?” Isaac asked.
“Sure.”
“And pizza?” Hazel asked. “And nuggets?”
“Yep. All of that. Anything. And then you can watch movies until you fall asleep,” he added.
“With popcorn?” Isaac asked.
“And candy?” Hazel piped in.
Oh, they were taking advantage of this situation. Which, well, made my heart piece itself back together. Because they weren’t traumatized. They were just… being kids.
It was all going to be okay.
“Thank you, guys,” I said to Sully, Callow, and Layna who had Clara asleep on her shoulder.
“It’s nothing,” Layna said, shaking her head, but there was steel in her eyes as she looked at me. “Go rest. We’ve got this.”
“If you need me—“
“We won’t,” Layna cut me off.
“But…”
“We won’t, but we know you’re here,” Layna said, giving me a smile.
And then Seth was bringing me inside, making me coffee, getting me a couple of the other type of over-the-counter pain meds, then helping me out of my dress, and into the shower.
He surprised me by coming in, by gently washing the feel of Simon off of my skin, out of my hair, until all that was left was his touch. Soft, sweet, loving.
“Come on, baby,” he murmured after helping me into a nightgown. “Let’s get you to bed,” he said, pulling the covers over me, then pulling the shades on the windows. “Want a little background noise?” he asked, pointing to the TV.
“Something quiet,” I said, and he selected some old history documentary on ancient structures that already had me half asleep as he moved over me, and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’ll be home in a few hours,” he told me.
