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I paused and blew out a breath.What I wantedandwhat I should dowere two completely different things. Regardless, it was a no-brainer.
Me: Sure. Be there in a few.
The minute Tina opened the door, my whole body relaxed. Which was ridiculous, because the scene behind her screamed chaos.
“Sorry, the kids are fighting over whose turn it is.”
With a sigh, she spun on her heel and headed back to the great room.
With the door shut securely behind me, I followed.
“No, Teddy. You took your turn, and then Mom went. Now it’s my turn.”
“Teddy, I think sissy is right. It’s her turn,” Tina interjected.
“You mean.” He crossed his pudgy arms over his chest and stuck out his lower lip.
I bit back a laugh. God, this kid constantly made me smile.
Before I could ask what they were playing, Tina sat in a chair and motioned to the one next to her.
“You’re just in time. Hope you like whipped cream.” The look on her face saidyou have no idea what you agreed to.
Whipped cream? Shit. I sat gingerly in the chair and watched as Callie pulled the weird contraption toward her, then spun the mechanism on the side. There was a click, but nothing happened. She let out a breath, and Teddy gave a disapproving grunt.
Wearing a smirk that matched her mother’s, she slid the contraption across the table to me. I still had no clue what the hell was going on, but I was good at figuring stuff out as I went. So I put my face into the hole like Callie had and spun the handle on the side. Nothing. Just a click. We went around again until it came back to me. It was like a dunk tank at a carnival, but instead of throwing a ball in hopes of dunking someone, we were turning a knob, hopingnotto get a face full of whipped cream.
I smiled at Teddy. “I bet I get it. What do you think?”
He giggled and nodded. Beside me, Tina was holding back laughter. “Bet you regret asking to come play now.”
“Nah. A little bit of pie in the face is worth it.” I shot her a wink.
I got in position and turned the handle. This time, the hand flung up, sending a plate full of whipped cream barreling at my face. The table erupted in laughter. What were the chances I’d get pied again? Because I would love to see Tina, all of them, actually, get it too.
Five rounds later, and it was obvious luck was not on my side. I had been pied three times, the kids each once. Tina was left unharmed, though she found the whole thing hilarious. So now I was taking matters into my own hands.
I ran a hand over my face, gathering a handful of whippedcream, and yanked her chair close to mine. With an arm around her shoulders, I pulled her close.
“It’s only fair your mom gets pied too, don’t you guys think?”
Teddy nodded like a bobblehead. “Yes!”
“Traitor,” Tina mumbled.
“It is only fair that we each get a turn.” Callie giggled.
Pressed to my side, Tina closed her eyes and scrunched up her face, awaiting the inevitable, though she was still grinning from ear to ear. Damn, she was a good mother. She was prepared to let me smash a handful of whipped cream into her face, knowing it would make her children laugh.
So I went for it, rubbing the sticky-sweet substance all over her face. Quickly, the urge to lick it off her hit me like a tidal wave, and I didn’t think she or her kids would appreciate that, so I scooted my chair away, still laughing.
We cleaned up the mess, and Callie brought UNO to the table while Teddy went into the great room to watch TV.
“How’s school?”
“It’s fine.” Callie shrugged and placed a card down.
“You like your teacher?” I tried again.
