Page 81 of Say You Will

I may not be “good,” but I am hers, and I will use any means at my disposal to make sure she knows it.

twenty-five

Henry

Where's My Love | SYML

“Unca Jerk!”Rap, rap, rap!

I wake to the sound of a toddler tyrant giggling, pounding on my door, and calling my “name.”

Phee heard Bronwyn call me a jerk yesterday and has found immense delight in repeating it. The more I react to it, the harder she giggles, so I’ve made a point to always react.

Franki stirs in my arms, and I untangle her hair out of my morning scruff with a smile. After brushing my lips across herforehead, I slip from the bed, put on my glasses, and pad to the door.

I’m usually the first one awake in any household, but given that Franki and I fell asleep near the time I’m normally rising from my bed, it makes sense that I slept in.

I slip out into the hallway and close the door behind me so that I can crouch next to Phee. Dean leans against the far wall with his arms crossed, looking stoic as always. Phee, wearing yellow footie pajamas, her hair a tangled blonde halo, and her cheeks full and pink, reaches for me.

“Good morning, Ophelia,” I murmur.

She throws her arms around my neck and hangs on, smacking a sloppy kiss against my bristled cheek.

I pat her head. “You behave surprisingly affectionately for someone who calls her wonderful uncle a jerk.”

“Wunnerful Unca,” she parrots.

I lift her as I stand, her little diapered butt resting on my forearm. “Why did you pound on Wonderful Uncle Henry’s door at this uncharitable hour?”

“Daddy said, ‘Time fo bekdrift.’”

“Bekdrift?”

“She wants you to eat breakfast. She’s afraid you’re hungry”—Dean pauses for effect—“because your muscles are puny.”

I’m not puny, but I’m not built like Phee’s father and have never had a desire to be. Gagging down protein shakes isn’t my idea of a good time. Besides, no amount of jerking my chain is going to put a dent in my fantastic mood this morning. “We both know, regardless of your muscle mass, that I’m faster and fight dirtier.”

He grunts in the affirmative. “You and your sister, both.”

I turn my attention back to Phee. “Thank you for your concern, Ophelia. I’ll get ready and come down for breakfast.”

“Yay!”

I kiss her forehead and pass her to Dean.

As he heads for the stairs, Phee stretches in his arms toward Franki’s bedroom door. “Fankeee!”

Dean shakes his head. “We’ll let Franki sleep. Only Uncle Henry is lucky enough to get your wake-up call.”

My bed is empty when I return to the bedroom. In Franki’s place, a folded piece of paper with something colorful sitting on top of it rests on her pillow.

When I get closer, I see that Franki has torn the paper from her sketch pad. She’s written me a note. Instead of my name, the folded paper has a quick sketch of the two of us in cartoon form. We’re lying on the porch roof together, with my hand raised to point out a constellation, and she’s looking at me instead of the stars.

Smiling, I lift the short length of braided string first. It’s maybe an inch wide and a combination of blues and browns.

I set it back down and pick up the note.

“Dear Henry,

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