Page 32 of The Wedding Planner's Manny
“You should know yourgood boyjust shredded three of my pillows like a psychotic little serial killer. I don't know what those pillows ever did to him, but he sure showed them.”
The expression on Ethan's face—somewhere between outrage and wonderment—made me laugh.
“That's kind of what you sign up for when you get a puppy.”
“I didn't sign up for this. Nathan signed me up for this,” Ethan claimed as if I didn't know he'd fallen head over heels for the dog I was holding.
“Yeah, sure.” I let the dog down. “Speaking of Nathan, did he leave for school on time today?”
“Almost. He just ran out a few minutes before you arrived.”
“I can come earlier, if you need help in the morning,” I offered, not for the first time.
“No, it's fine,” Ethan waved me off again. “You don't want to see me or the kids in the early morning.
We are not morning people.”
I had to press my lips together to keep from telling him that, yes, I did want to see him in the early morning. I wanted to see him first thing after waking up. To distract myself from that thought, I quirked my head at the stairs. “Did you hang the garlands?”
“No, actually, that was Nathan.” Ethan gave a small laugh before turning to walk back into the kitchen.
We always had coffee together in the morning. It had become one of my favorite parts of the day.
“Seriously? Nathan did that?” When I entered the kitchen after Ethan, I spotted Caleb sitting at the island with a bowl of cheerios in front of him. When he saw me, he climbed off his chair and came over for a hug. I gave it to him gladly. “Morning, kiddo.”
Yeah, this was definitely my favorite way to start the day. Sure beat the extensive morning prayer sessions I’d done with my husband anyway—when he was finally up after I’d cooked breakfast and started the laundry.
“Morning, Rhys.” Caleb threw his arms around my neck and kissed my cheek before letting go again.
“Don’t forget the rest of your cheerios,” Ethan reminded his son before turning to me again. “Nathan says he wants to spread some Christmas cheer this year. I’m not sure what’s gotten into him, but I won’t stop him.”
Christmas cheer? That didn't sound like Nathan, but I was with Ethan on this one. If the boy wanted to get into the spirit of the holiday, I wasn't going to stop him.
“I wonder if he's doing it for Caleb,” Ethan mused. “Caleb's really excited for Santa Claus. Aren't you?” He asked, turning to his son.
“Santa’s gonna bring me presents!” Caleb exclaimed, punching the air with his right fist. Then he let it sink again with equal vigor, droplets of milk splashing across the table as his spoon fell into the bowl. “I'm done!” he announced next, abandoning his bowl and his chair. “I want to watch cartoons!”
With that, he took my arm and dragged me into the living room with him. There, he pointed at the TV.
“Turn on!”
“Okay, but only for half an hour,” I told him as I switched the TV on and changed the channel until I found the cartoons.
“Okay,” he said, not even looking at me, eyes fixed on the screen.
Knowing he would remain like that for the next half hour or so, I returned to the kitchen to finish my coffee. Ethan looked up from his own mug when I came back in. “Do you think we're letting him watch too much TV?” he asked.
“I don't know,” I said, truthfully.
Ethan took a sip of his coffee, a thoughtful expression on his face. “I remember when I was Caleb’s age, I spent too much time in front of the TV too. I was obsessed with a movie called Alpha’s Destiny.
It was so much fun. I’ve tried finding it on DVD to introduce the kids to it, but no luck.”
“I’m sorry I’m not much help. I was never really into watching TV.”
“You don't watch TV? Like, not at all?”
I'd said something stupid again, hadn't I? Something that made other people realize how odd I was.
