Page 17 of Be A Detective, They Said. It’ll Be Fun, They Said

Olivia and Sam came barreling down the stairs, where they’d been playing in Charlie’s playroom. Seeing as it was Friday night, we were having a sleepover at Auntie Nina’s, something the children did often with Carl and Hollis. It would also allow me to spend more time with them while I did some snooping around Neerie’s social media.

They launched themselves at us, smelling of soap and toothpaste, tucking between us in what we called a family sandwich. Heath hugged them hard, burying his face in their necks and making them laugh out loud as he scraped his stubble over their skin.

“Daddy!” Olivia screamed with giggles, her small hands grabbing at Heath’s jaw. “It tickles!”

Sam, while incredibly logical and stoic most times, wasn’t above letting loose when it came to us. “Tickle fight!” he yelped, stuffing his glasses in his pajama pocket.

As they dissolved into giggles, rolling around the couch, I fought tears. There was a time when I didn’t think I’d be able to have a family with Heath. To have been lucky enough to adopt Sam and have Olivia was a blessing I couldn’t find a word for. Sometimes, it still caught me in the back of my throat.

I count myself incredibly lucky, every day, all day.

Olivia’s cherubic face, red from roughing it up with her father and brother, her wispy hair a ball on the top of her head, raised a hand. “Uncle!” she screeched with more chuckles.

“I’ll save you!” I cried, pulling her to my lap and snuggling her close.

She settled down on my chest, toying with the buttons on my shirt, her soft hair under my chin. “Mommy, Tamlin was crying today. I felt bad. I didn’t know how to make it better.”

My heart chugged. Olivia might be larger than life, but she also had a heart as big as the Texas sky. She hated when someone was hurt, and she loved animals almost more than all of us put together.

Like me, she’s a halfsie. We don’t know how that happened, we don’t even know how I became pregnant, but I was glad she was able to experience food and all the things she’d miss if she were only vampire.

“Did she say why, Punkin’?”

Of course, I knew why, but I wanted to see what everyone was saying. We couldn’t keep Neerie’s disappearance a secret forever. Neerie was front and center at school almost every day. Her disappearance would come out sooner or later.

Olivia sniffed. “She said she missed her mommy real bad.”

“And what did you say?”

Olivia sighed, long and dramatic. “I said if my mommy went away, I’d miss her, too. Then I gave her a big hug.”

I squeezed her to me. “Aren’t you a sweet girl? That was a nice thing to do. Did she say anything else?”

“She said she wished her daddy still lived with them.” Squirming in my arms, she cupped my face with her hands. “Our daddy’s never going away and giving us a di…div…”

“Divorce?” I asked, as I gazed into her beautifully innocent eyes.

She nodded with an adorable pout. “Yeah. That’s the word. Daddy wouldn’t give us a divorce, would he?”

Heath leaned over and looked Olivia in the eyes. “Never, ever. Pinky swear promise.” He pressed a tender kiss to her cheek and then one to my lips. “Never,” he whispered.

Oh, how I loved this man.

Nina stuck her face between Heath’s and Olivia’s, dropping a kiss on her button nose. “Okay, lovebird family, Carl’s waiting with James and the Giant Peach upstairs, and Hollis promised to braid your hair in a French braid if you skedaddle.”

Sam wrapped his arms around my neck and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I love James and the Giant Peach! And Darnell promised to make a sheet fort. C’mon, Olivia!”

I wiggled my fingers at them. “I’ll be up to say good night in a bit. Love you so much.”

“Love you, too!” he yelped before racing off to find Carl, pulling up his saggy pajama bottoms as he went.

Heath rose and pulled Olivia up off the couch, swinging her around on his back. “Your steed awaits, fair maiden! Onward ho!” He gave me a wink before he piggy backed her up the stairs while Olivia laughed uncontrollably.

Marty dropped down beside me, patting my leg as I closed my eyes and inhaled. “It’s been a long Bigfoot-filled day. Some tea, madam?”

I smiled in gratitude. “I’d love that.”

As if reading our minds, Tottington entered the room with a silver tray of steaming cups of tea. “Ladies, shall I serve this in the murder basement? I have some news on Mrs. Lincoln’s phone I’d like to share with you.”

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