Page 87 of When the Stars Fall
“No mystery where he gets that fighting gene from.”
I rolled my eyes. “He got that from you.”
He opened the door to Noah’s classroom and we stepped inside. Noah was at his cubby, getting his backpack and chatting with Hayley whose cubby was next to his. She was wearing a rainbow tutu with a black T-shirt and tube socks, her brown hair in two pigtails. Her mom said she liked to get herself dressed in the morning. So cute.
When Noah saw us, he barreled toward me and I crouched down, catching him in my open arms. He smelled like citrus shampoo and crayons. I held on a little too tightly and a little too long before he started squirming and pulled out of my hold. He patted my cheek to soften the blow of pulling away. “I love you, Mommy.”
Oh, my heart. I pushed a lock of dirty-blond hair off his forehead so I could see his face better. His hair was long and wavy, nearly reaching the collar of his Dallas Cowboys T-shirt. I was trying to figure out how long I could get away with not cutting it.
“Love you too, baby.” I kissed the tip of his freckled nose and stood up.
“Daddy!” Noah’s face lit up with a smile that was just for Brody. As much as he loved me, he was a daddy’s boy through and through.
“There’s my little man.” Brody scooped him up into his arms and carried him out into the hallway while I said goodbye to his teacher then trailed behind them. “How was your day, buddy?”
“Good. Real good.”
“No fights today?”
“Not today,” he said darkly, his eyes following Chase who was being led away by his mother.
Brody chuckled and set Noah down then held the door open for us. “How would you like to come over and see the new Mustangs I just got?” Brody asked as we crossed the parking lot to his truck, Noah’s hand firmly grasped in mine to ensure he didn’t dart out in front of the cars pulling out of the lot. “Then we can go for those brisket tacos you love so much.”
“Yes!” Noah’s grin slipped and his brow furrowed. “Mommy loves those tacos. Can she come too?”
“Your mommy is always welcome. You coming with us, Lila?”
“Please,” Noah pleaded, his hazel eyes so hopeful I couldn’t possibly say no. Not to mention Brody had just railroaded any plans I might have had for me and Noah. Our co-parenting plan was flexible, to say the least.
“Sure. Why not.”
Noah rewarded me with a smile before he looked up at Brody. “Daddy?”
“Yeah buddy?”
“How come you don’t kiss Mommy?”
I groaned. Here we go again. This was Noah’s latest obsession.
“I’m scared she might punch me in the face.”
“You’re not scared of anything,” Noah scoffed. “You’re ten feet tall and bulletproof.”
I had to work hard to stop the eye roll. That was the myth Brody was raising his son on, and Noah believed every word of it. Why wouldn’t he? His daddy was his hero.
“I’m only scared of one thing and that’s Mommy.”
Noah giggled and slapped his thigh like that was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. “You should try it.” He side-eyed me. “She might not punch you.”
“Maybe I will, buddy, maybe I will.”
Brody opened the back door of his truck and tossed Noah’s backpack in the footwell while we waited patiently for Noah to climb in. The truck was so high off the ground and he was so small, but he always insisted on doing everything for himself and got annoyed when we tried to help.
I’m not a baby, he’d scoff.
I swear his first words were, “I can do it.” Which meant that everything took ten times longer to accomplish. I kept silent as Brody made sure Noah was strapped into his seat and didn’t say a word until the door was closed and Noah couldn’t hear me.
“Stop putting ideas in his head.” I kept my voice low. Even though the windows were closed, he heard a lot more than we gave him credit for.
