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“You’re welcome. I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”
“I’m going to apologize ahead of time for ruining your dinner,” Alice says, helping Leo onto one of the chairs. She sets a plate with small pieces of chicken and salad in front of him.
He cries out, “Want pizza.”
“No pizza tonight, Leo. Eat up.”
“Want pizza!” he yells louder.
“Leo.” Ryder calls his name and the crying stops. “Eat your dinner now. Calista made you chicken and salad.”
“Okay.” He picks up a piece of chicken and shoves it in his mouth.
“And that right there is the magic of my brother. I kind of hate him for it,” Alice says, giving Ryder the side-eye.
Brandon carries Nora’s plate over to the table while she climbs up on the chair. “Here you go.”
“Thank you, Daddy,” she says.
Alice appears with two more plates of food, handing one to her husband. “Better eat while we can,” she says, smiling as if she knows their life is crazy but wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’m convinced there must be some kind of magic involved when you’re a parent. There’s something that makes parents forget how horribly their little ones are behaving most of the time.
“Calista, where do you live?” Alice asks.
“Charleston.”
“Were you raised there too?” she asks.
“Yep, my parents still live there. All three of my brothers do also.”
“Oh, wow, three brothers. I thought one was bad.” Alice smiles at Ryder.
“I’m also the oldest, so you and I have that in common,” I tell her.
“Little brothers are annoying, right?” she asks.
“I don’t think Leo is annoying, Mommy,” Nora says.
Alice’s head falls back as she looks up at the sky. “Nora, I was teasing Uncle Ryder.”
“But, Mommy, you said teasing isn’t nice,” she adds.
“Eat your dinner,” Brandon tells her.
Ryder nudges my leg in warning. “Seems like parenting is just a whole bunch of ‘do as I say, not as I do.’”
With the frostiness of the look Alice shoots his way, I’m surprised he’s not frozen in place. “People who don’t have kids are always the ones offering advice,” she throws back.
“Don’t start, you two. Calista doesn’t need to deal with your shenanigans,” Walter says.
“No worries, Walter. I feel right at home. This is like a typical dinner with my family. My brothers and I inevitably end up ribbing one another until our dad yells at us to stop.”
Walter nods. “Sounds about right.”
“Unca Ry, I ate,” Leo says.
Ryder gives him a thumbs up. “You did a great job.”
