Page 82 of Replay

In less than a few minutes, we’re pulling up outside of the Oakley house, and I’m running up the stairs before Nate gets out of the truck. The front door swings open, and Josie greets me, and her smile widens when I feel Nate approach behind me.

“Hey you, how’s PJ?”

“Luckily, he didn’t bust his head open,” Tiffany says from somewhere in the house.

Josie rolls her eyes. “He literally yelled ‘I'm Superman’ and leaped off the back of the couch with no plan on where he was landing.”

I cover my mouth to stifle the laugh about to break free.Nate’s elbow hits my side, and I look up at him. He’s biting his lip, trying to contain a smile of his own.

We walk toward the kitchen and find PJ sitting on the island with a cloth pressed to his chin and Tiffany loading up abackpack with supplies to keep them busy while they wait at the hospital.

“Thank you so much for coming. I'm sorry if I interrupted any plans,” Tiffany says, eyeing Nate.

“It’s perfectly fine. I'm glad he seems to be okay,” Nate says, approaching PJ just as Jack appears in the kitchen and comes to give me a hug as he stares, starry-eyed, at Nate.

“Superman, huh?” Nate asks as PJ smiles shyly up at him.

“You should’ve seen how high I flew,” PJ whispers, but Tiffany must overhear, because she quips back, “There will be no more flying attempts in this house, young man.”

Her attention flits to mine, and she chuckles, throwing the backpack onto her shoulder. “Words I never thought I would say in my lifetime. Come on, buddy, let’s go.”

“Stay strong, little man,” I say, helping him off the counter.

“So, Gwen is sleeping already, since the kids do have school tomorrow. Don’t let them tell you otherwise. I’ll keep you posted. Hopefully, it’s not too crazy there.”I inwardly laugh at Gwen’s amazing ability to sleep through basically anything. I guess when you have three older siblings, it’s a necessary skill.

“No problem. We’re good, don’t worry,” I say, and Tiffany shuts the door behind them.

“Alright, one show before you two need to get washed up for bed.”

“Oh, come on, it’s only eight-thirty,” Josie whines.

“How about a game?” Jack proposes.

“What do you have in mind, buddy?” Nate asks, following Jack into the living room, where the TV is paused.

“I was playing Mario Kart on the switch. Want to play?” Jack asks.

“Oh, I haven’t played this in years,” Nate says as he looks at the screen. A calculated expression takes over Jack’s face, and I have a feeling about what comes next.

“How about a deal? We challenge you guys to a round of Mario Kart. If we win, Josie and I get to stay up later. If we lose, we’ll go to bed with no arguments.” I eye Josie and Jack, who both appear to be very confident in this bet, but little do they know, I'm a Mario Kart champion and I will take them down…no doubt.

“Bet,” Nate says without even confirming it with me. Probably because he knows how many times I kicked his ass playing this same game.

We settle onto the couch, choose our players, and then it’s on.

“Goodnight, buddy. Sweet dreams,” I say to Jack when Nate finishes reading him his story. The kids’ defeat was a swift and painless one. Jack was extremely impressed with my skills and will now be challenging me way more often, I'm sure. After they washed up, without an argument, Jack asked if Nate could read to him for a little while. How could I say no? Besides, watching them had my heart soaring to new heights.

“Night, Berk. Goodnight, Nate,” he says before Nate closes the door. I walk across the hallway and peek my head into Josie’s room. She’s reading in the dark with a book light on.

“One more chapter, and it’s lights out,” I say to her.

“Okay, goodnight,” she says without raising her eyes from the page.

We creep down the hallway and settle onto the couch, turning on Netflix.

I place a pillow on his lap and make myself comfortable, his arm instinctually laying across my shoulder.

“Thank you for coming along with me tonight.”

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