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“Co-Juwiwian.”
“How about we go home, okay? We’ll go home, get some food. Want to watch a movie while we wait for Mama?”
Theo went to stick his fingers in his mouth, but he held both hands in one of his. With how Theo’s hands looked, one suck and he’d wind up with tetanus, vaccinations be damned.
Theo shrieked, tugging at his trapped hands.
“Theodore Savea.”
It was all he said, and, apparently, all he had to say. Theo quieted and set his head on his shoulder.
Setting aside his bruised feelings, he searched the playground for Josiah, spotted him in the maze area, and waved him over.
Josiah sprinted toward him, sweat on his forehead and trickling down his temples. “Are we leaving? But I haven’t even finished playing with my best friend.”
“Who’s your best friend?”
Josiah turned and pointed at the girl with the bangs. From a distance, the two of them had been indistinguishable from Tyson and Holyfield, and now they had the nerve to be best friends?
“No.” Joel shook his head. “No, I’m not doing this today. We’re leaving. It’s been a long day.”
“But Joel—”
“Josiah, do you see that exit sign? Head for it.”
Josiah folded his arms, and although he grumbled, he stomped toward the exit without further argument.
Joel followed, scanning the playground area for Nik, and spotted him standing beneath a tree talking to a woman who so closely resembled Josiah’s frenemy, she could be no one else but the girl’s mother.
He tossed up two fingers.
Nik did the same.
In front of him, Josiah mumbled all sorts of words under his breath, but as long as he didn’t hear any “mothers” or “fuckers,” they were fine. Unfortunately, he had zero punishment options in his back pocket. If Josiah called him “a little punk ass bitch,” at the moment, he would have to take it like a little punk ass bitch.
CHAPTER17
Neither boy fell asleep on the ride back.
Josiah continued his low mumbling as they entered the house. Ayesha had gotten tied up at work, so he gave Theo a bubble bath and washed his hair with the cutesy hair products he found in Ayesha’s bathroom. While detangling Theo’s hair, he sent Josiah to take a shower. Luckily, it only took three requests and one final firm command.
Hedid notknow who the hell these kids were.
What happened to the toddler who fell asleep without a fuss in Malibu? What happened to the kid who thought Joel Lattimore was the best thing since sliced bread? Where werethosekids?
While Josiah showered, and with Theo attached to him like a barnacle, he dumped pasta into a large pot, thawed frozen meatballs and seared them in another, then covered them with a jar of pasta sauce.
Afterward, he spread blankets on the living room floor. And, nearly three hours after leaving the park, he finally set plates of spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread on the blanket. Then he queued up the first movie that appeared in the streaming library.
He sat on the floor.
Theo crawled into his lap.
“Oh, so now I’m your friend again?”
Knowing Theo would have never stayed in his high chair with him and Josiah on the floor, he’d added extra food to his plate and grabbed a tiny fork. As the opening credits rolled, they ate.
Josiah appeared in the living room wearing a Batman pajama set. “I’m done,” he said, a folder outstretched. “You’re supposed to sign it. I could have done my homework after I ate since it didn’t even take me that long, but I did what you asked.”
