Page 14 of Milo
“Uncle Clay!” Emily races towards me. She’s already in her karate uniform with a white belt wrapped around her waist. Her brown hair is in a ponytail to match Callie’s.
I squat to meet Emily and sweep her in my arms. She squeals as I spin her around. Oh, how I’ve missed my family. “How are you, my little flower blossom?”
She giggles and squeals. “Faster! Faster!” I go until I’m out of breath and slow down. She hops around me when she stands onher own feet again. “Dizzy. But good dizzy.” She wiggles her head as if she’s still spinning, causing Callie to chuckle.
“Settle down, Em. You’ll have plenty of time to run around in class.”
I gently plop on the couch, and Emily crawls up beside me. “Why are you here? Are you coming back for Christmas? Christmas issoooooofar away.” She flops dramatically across my lap. It’s still the first week of December, so I can see why she thinks Christmas isn’t closer.
I ruffle her hair. “I’m here to stay, buttercup.”
She sucks in a breath and looks up at me. “Really?”
“Yep! Almost all of my flower stuff is here already and I’m just ten minutes away from you. I’m gonna help your mommy out when I can.”
Callie gives me a soft smile. “I’m glad you’re home, Clay.” She reaches a hand out for me and I squeeze it.
“Me, too.” But I’ll never regret my decision to do my own thing. “Hey kiddo, wanna go see Santa this Sunday?”
Emily scrambles off my lap and jumps around as she chants, “Santa! Santa! Santa!”
“I’ll take that as a yes?” I look to Callie for confirmation. “We can have a whole day of it if you want. Let mommy have some time to herself and we can dowhateveryour little heart desires.”
“Yes,please, mommy.” Emily bats her lashes. I don’t think she needs to put much work into begging, though.
“Of course. We don’t have anything planned and that way I can get the rest of your Christmas presents.”
“Yay! I’m so excited. Can I see all your flowers? Will Santa’s reindeers be with him?”
Callie and I snort. “I don’t think there will be reindeers.” But now I need to see if I can find any local places I can take her to.
“Reindeer are so so so so so so so so so so so so sosoooooocute.”
An alarm goes off on Callie’s phone. “Damn, I thought we had more time.” She slaps her knees as she pushes to her feet. “We don’t wanna be late.”
“No, we do not! Wait!” Emily rushes from the living room and when she joins us again, red and silver glitter is smeared all over her cheeks. “Now I’m ready!” She dashes to the door.
Callie pulls me into another hug at the door. “You’re the best, you know that?”
“Just trying to be useful. Do I need a booster seat or a car seat?”
“She’s still in a car seat, but I have an extra. I hate to run, but…” She nods to Emily, who is dancing at the front door. “She gets anxious if we get there late.”
“I sprung up on you. Call me if you need anything before Sunday. I’ll text you later.”
She gives me a half smile. “I didn’t know how much having you home again would make me so happy.” She squeezes my shoulder and we all head out. I wave as they pass me by on my walk back to the truck.
I hate that Callie’s husband just up and left her. He didn’t even offer an explaination, just served her with divorce papers and that was that. She didn’t want to push things. Why bother when he’d already decided for the both of them? She didn’t deserve it and if I ever see Randal ever again, we might have a problem. Leaving his daughter to question why her dad never wants to see her again is the worst of the worst.
But I don’t want to think about that douchebag right now. No, Milo needs me. I order a pizza from my phone. He said nuggies would be good too… so I’m thinking options. While I wait for my pizza order, I swing by McDonald’s for a twenty count of nuggies and two chocolate milkshakes. Surprisingly, the machines work. It’s a damn Christmas miracle if you ask me.
Chapter 7
Clay
By the timeI get back to my apartment, I realize my eyes were bigger than my ability to get everything inside without spilling anything.
Clay: Could you possibly come open the door for me? I got a little carried away.
