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I sigh as I trudge up the front steps. The only thing keeping my legs moving is the promise of cool air conditioning, a cold shower, and seeing my boy's smiling face. For the past three days, he's talked nonstop about her.
Eve's going to teach me how to tap dance.
Eve's going to take me to the beach.
Eve's going to build blanket forts with me.
To say he was excited to see her today is an understatement. It took three bedtime stories and the promise of chocolate chip cookies to get him to settle down and fall asleep. And even then, it was almost eleven o'clock.
“Hello?” I call out as I step inside the house.
Someone shushes me, and Ma comes hurrying into the foyer where I'm toeing off my boots. “I didn't want to wake them until you had a chance to see,” she whispers.
“See what?” I mumble. “Can it wait? I need to clean off and cool down.”
“No, it can't.” She wraps her hand around my bicep and tugs me toward the living room.
I let her pull me along behind her, stopping next to her when we're at the mouth of the hallway leading into the living room.
Evangeline sits in the middle of my charcoal gray sectional, her head tilted to the side and her eyes closed. And there, laying with his head on a throw pillow on her lap, is my boy. Asleep with his little lips parted. He's always slept like that, and when he was a baby, he reminded me of a baby bird with his mouth just barely open.
And just like that, some of my annoyance and frustration melt away. I give myself a moment to appreciate the image.
A fluffy green blanket is thrown over both of them and some kids movie is playing on our TV, the volume a low murmur.
A ball of emotion lodges itself in my throat, and I have to forcibly swallow past it.
They look so peaceful, so content. It's a moment I want to capture and keep. I slip my phone free from my back pocket and walk slowly into the living room. I avoid the known-creaky floorboards and stop right in front of the couch, and then I open my camera app and take a photo of them.
And then I lean down and run my palm over Hunter's shoulder to wake him up. “Hey, bud. We gotta get up now, or you're never going to sleep tonight.”
Evangeline startles awake, blinking those long lashes of hers a few times. She sits up a little, her brown eyes a little glassy with fatigue.
“Silas. You're home already?” Her voice has that sleepy rasp that feels a little like a punch to the dick. But in a way that feels good too.
My annoyance creeps back in, mostly at myself but also at her for being so . . . soher. I expel a sigh through my nose and look at her.
“It's four o'clock,” I tell her, eyeing the cut along her hairline.
Her hand rubs up and down Hunter's back, almost absentmindedly. “Oh.Oh. Shoot. I'm sorry. He said he was tired, so I put on a movie thinking he might rest a little. I guess I fell asleep too.”
“It's fine,” I grumble, avoiding her gaze. “But don't make it a habit or he'll never sleep at night.”
“Yes, of course,” she murmurs, sitting up further. “I'm sorry.”
“You don't need to apologize.”
There's a beat of silence, and I brush Hunter's hair off of his sweaty forehead. His lashes flutter, and he looks up at me. He's got that half-asleep glazed-over look, like he's not really awake yet.
“Hey, bud, time to get up, yeah? We gotta have dinner soon.”
He stays on Evangeline's lap, wiggling his body a little. “And chocolate chip cookies.”
I chuckle. “That's right, chocolate chip cookies.”
“Well, I better leave you guys to it. Thanks for a great day with me, Hunter,” Evangeline says.
Hunter pushes up and looks at her, both brows raised expectantly. “You'll be here tomorrow, right?”
