Page 8 of Nothing to This
She rearranged a few things in the fridge.“Ha!Yeah, right.”
“Daddy!”Sky shouted from her room.
“We don’t shout, Sky!”she called, closing the fridge to lean back and yell toward the mouth of the hallway beyond the end of the table.“Daddy is helping Kye with his food.They’ll come to your room when he’s done.”
“I’m done,” Kye said, pouncing out of his chair.“Let’s go, Daddy.”
“Uh, if your sister can do her plate, you can too.Come on,” she said and went to take the popcorn from the microwave to put it in a bowl.
Kye put his plate away.“I pick the next one.”
Smiling at their son, she bent to kiss his head.“Of course, little prince.”Straightening to take her amusement to JD, she handed him the popcorn.“Enjoy, Daddy.Between the two of them, they have almost every kid’s movie ever released.You’re in for a treat.”
Kye took his daddy’s hand to lead him toward Sky’s room.JD looked back as though seeking escape, but he was only playing.
She’d known how her children felt about that man all their lives, while she’d spent most of that time judging him for his lack of involvement.
Her family had a routine.Her family and his.Why had JD suddenly decided he wanted to be a new cog in a machine that didn’t need any spare parts?Their lives had been working just fine without him for years.Why was he choosing now to mix it up?
***
Noise from the movie quickly faded into the background as she got lost in her sketches.
She needed to pee and—eleven p.m.With an inhaled shriek, she leaped from her desk to dart through the apartment into Sky’s bedroom and came to an abrupt stop.
JD was asleep on Sky’s bed with their drooling daughter sprawled on his chest.Kye was tucked under his father’s arm, against his side, as dead to the world as the other two.
Her heart slowed as it swelled.They were adorable.There was love there; she could feel it thick in the air.She’d never seen this, had never seen her children share such an intimate moment with their father.
Maybe JD wasn’t playing and had been telling the truth when he said bedtime was familiar.Though, from what she’d been told, he only showed up for half his scheduled visits, and his mother dealt with most of the parenting during that time.The children didn’t mind because they had a great time with his family.
Could be this was their ritual in the times he did show up.Not knowing something about her kids’ lives was disconcerting, but she’d always been happy with her and JD’s limited contact.She never saw him, it never occurred to her to want to, yet there he was, sleeping in their daughter’s bed with their babies in his arms.
Shirking the ridiculous sentimentality, she crept over to the TV and turned the movie off.When the light from the screen faded, the nightlight came on automatically.
Retreating without making a sound, she took JD’s crumpled jacket from Sky’s armchair and backed out of the room slowly, closing the door behind her.It didn’t usually get closed, but she trusted JD to deal with the kids if they woke up afraid.
He’d come to talk work, and she’d roped him into being Dad for the night.If nothing else, he’d have learned his lesson about randomly showing up at her apartment.Kids had a way of hijacking anyone’s agendas; her children were particularly good at it.There were times, like that night, she didn’t mind giving them a helping hand.Maybe they didn’t get all their wiles from their father.
FOUR
Chores waited for no one.With her schedule full at work, early morning was the best time to get things done.After her workout, she did a load of laundry.A second tumbled in the dryer while she updated her accounts spreadsheets.
Breakfast took no time at all to rustle up, though it lacked the required diners.The trio in Sky’s bed stayed sleeping even after she turned up the radio and set the table.
The scent of bacon drifting down the hallway to the bedroom did its job and roused the first sign of life.
Kye appeared, bleary-eyed, yawning.“Momma,” he mumbled.
Her gorgeous boy was always cuddly when he was sleepy.Going over to scoop him up, she tucked his face against her neck and returned to the kitchen to tidy up.Murmuring the words of a song she’d sung to them since they were babies, Sky’s shrieking laughter interrupted the chorus.
Turning around, JD emerged from the end of the hallway holding Sky on his back with one arm while he tickled her.
Kye lifted his head and wriggled from her arms; Sky leaped from her father’s.The pair raced each other to the table, trying to get first pick of the food she’d laid out.
JD scrubbed both hands back and forth through his hair.“You didn’t wake me,” he said, his voice gruff.“Is my jacket around?”
“Yes,” she said and nodded toward the hooks by the front door.
