Page 12 of Tailored for Them

Iris was cackling throughout the whole performance.

Eventually, Susie fell to her knees, wailing and gasping, before falling face-forward onto the hardwood floor.

Damn, get this girl into Hollywood.

“We won!” Iris cheered, dropping her gun to hold both of her fists in the air.

I scooped Iris up and managed a very awkward victory lap around the living room, before plopping the two of us back onto the worn yellow couch.

The townhome had changed a lot since Courtney and Josh moved in, but through years of determination, Courtney was able to maintain the old furniture by reupholstering them with identical fabrics and learning how to rebuild the framework by watching a ton of YouTube videos.

Courtney Madey was very sentimental about the ugly accent chairs and yellow couch, but the rest of the townhome felt updated.

Susie giggled before pushing herself up and resting on her knees, “The babies are asleep.” She announced. Susie was obsessed with her baby brother, the little guy less than a year old. She helped Courtney feed, burp, and rock the little man to sleep. She even demanded that she be the one to feed him his first solid food, pureed carrots.

Iris, however, often forgot that she even had a baby brother. The boys were only a few weeks apart in age.

“Thanks for checking on them,” I sighed to Susie, stretching my neck out.

The doorknob to the front of the house started jiggling, and Iris quickly turned her head to look at me. Her dark curls, so similar to her dad’s, swung with the movement. Her eyes were wide, and her lips were pulled down in a dramatic frown.

“No, I don’t want you to leave yet!” Iris cried.

“This is my house, you’re the one leaving,” Susie corrected, standing up and racing toward the entryway.

When Logan St. James filled the doorway, followed by his wife, Eloise, Susie sighed.

“Oh, it’s just you.”

“Damn,” Eloise laughed, scrunching her freckled nose, “Sorry to disappoint.”

“How was it?” I asked them as I stood from the couch. Suddenly, Iris latched her arms and legs around my calf. I found myself dragging the five-year-old with me as I shuffled to greet her parents.

“It was good, thanks again for watching everyone,” Eloise smiled as she moved to the side, letting Susie race out the door and down the porch steps.

“Of course,” I grinned down at her daughter, giggling as I pretended to be unaffected by her koala-bear grip on my leg, “I had fun with these crazies.”

“More fun than you would have had at the orchestra?” Eloise asked with a lifted blonde eyebrow. Her parents had gifted everyone with tickets, and as cool as orchestras were, I preferred babysitting for my friends instead of sitting through a boring-as-hell performance.

“That’s not even a question.”

I grinned when the sound of Susie’s laughter echoed through the front door. Dark curls fell over Logan’s forehead while he crouched to try to untangle his daughter’s limbs from my leg. Meanwhile, Joshua Madey marched through his doorway with Susie slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“You think you’resofunny,” Josh smiled as he tickled his daughter’s side. Her limbs were flailing as she struggled to get free, but Josh kept his hold as he passed us to drop Susie on the couch.

“What did she do?” I asked.

Courtney, Josh’s wife, finally made it through the threshold, attempting to hold her laughter in as she shut the door behind her, “She ran out to greet us. Josh got excited and crouched down to open his arms for a hug, and—” She covered her handwith her mouth, her eyes watering as she struggled to compose herself, “Susie turned around, bent over and—and farted—”

Logan dropped his hands from his daughter, unable to detach her from my leg yet, and covered both of his large hands with his face as he struggled through his quiet laughter. Eloise lifted her head back and cackled.

Courtney couldn’t hold it in anymore and tucked her shirt over her face to laugh.

“You think it’s funny to try to give me pink eye?” Josh called from the living room, attacking Susie with tickles until she was pink in the face, “How would you like it if I farted on you?” He turned around and pretended to sit on Susie. He supported enough of his weight by clutching the arm of the couch but kept her pinned beneath him.

“No! Don’t do it! Yours are deadly!” Susie cried.

“It’s only fair!” Josh taunted, wiggling his butt for theatrics.

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