Page 20 of Family First
But no. Noah held out the black case, and he and Erik checked everything carefully, their heads bent, both with golden curls.
“Where is Eva? Is she coming with us?” I teased after ten minutes passed. Noah was complaining about the delay. Yes, he was feeling chipper today. I was always glad to see the bloom in his cheeks. Mama had done well for breakfast. Lots of healthy foods for all.
“I’ll go check,” Erik said, slid down out of the SUV and paused at the hood as Eva came jogging out of the house—at last—her long dark hair free, her smile wide. She was such a beauty. The boys at West Virginia Wesleyan College would be gaga. Perhaps I too should retire and go to live in the same dorms that Eva would be moving into, just to keep the slobbering jackals from her door. “We were about to call the Marines for a search mission.”
“Ha, ha,” Eva replied then climbed into the back seat where she then poked her little brother in the side. Noah giggled. I smiled at the two of them over the back of my seat. Such a sweet and kind big sister she was. I turned from the children to find Erik looking at me. We both managed weak smiles for each other. “I got a last-minute text from Lori. She’s going to meet us on campus tomorrow morning.”
“Ah good.” I buckled up as Erik slid behind the wheel. “Lori is strong and sure friend. You and she will have lots of good study sessions.”
“Lori and her will be too busy kissing guys to study,” Noah said and got another poke in the ribs from his sister. I did note that she did not deny the fact that she and her best friend would, in fact, be kissing boys and not studying.
“Kissing boys is fun,” Erik tossed out.
“See, Dad knows. Kissing boys is fun. Oh, Papa, don’t scowl so. I’ll study hard I promise,” she said in that way she had of making me roll my eyes in a most fatherly way.
“Boys are off the limits until you graduate,” I repeated my tried and true tested reply. “And then only after when you are making good moneys for high-ranking child psyching. And own home. And then find one boy who is good and kind to marry.”
“So, I’m only allowed one guy after I’m thirty?” Eva teased and I nodded. “What about girls?”
Erik threw me a raised eyebrow as he cranked the engine over.
“Girls are okay as long as they do not make you not get big job making children’s brains happy.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said with a naughty wink that made me shake my head.
“Did anyone bring any snacks?” Noah asked. “What? We ate like hours ago. If Eva hadn’t been putting on lipstick and eyeshadow to impress the toll-taker on the turnpike maybe we could have left when we were supposed to.”
“Look in the bags in the back. There’s some baby carrots and a dish of ants on a log that Nana packed for you,” I said, then gave Erik a look. “We are not out of the driveway yet and he is hungry.”
“Just a normal, growing boy,” Erik replied with a glowing smile.
Yes, that he was. A beautifulhealthy, growing boy. And we would do everything within our powers to ensure he stayed that way.
ChapterTen
ERIK
The morning sun filtered through the kitchen blinds, casting a warm glow over the quiet space where Stan was sipping his coffee. He hadn’t heard me walk in, and I took a moment to watch him, the way his eyes crinkled when he concentrated on the crossword puzzle, always at a loss for the American words he needed to find. I’d once told him he should find Russian crosswords to do, but he was adamant working out random clues made his English better. He was wearing a Railers hoodie with his number and in Russian ???? written under it. It meant five, for him, me, Noah, Margot, and Eva, and it was on all of his merchandise.
His family.
Looking at him, I felt a rush of emotions. Love, obviously, a deep all-consuming love as natural to me as breathing. There was admiration too, for the man he was, for the father he was, evident in every word he spoke. His resilience had been inspiring, his hockey awed me, and in all things he was mine and I was his. I didn’t believe for one minute what I had to say to him now would change how we felt about each other, but still, I was scared. Part of me, a very small part of me, wondered if not having hockey to connect us may be a splinter that began to break us apart. I pushed that down. Stan and I were solid.
Still, I felt a pang in my chest knowing the news I was about to share might disrupt this peaceful scene. The kids were all out for one reason or another, Mama was at a neighbor’s place for her weekly coffee and gossip, and we were alone.
“Stan,” I began, my voice steady despite the turmoil inside.
He glanced up and smiled, then tapped his pen on the book. “One word. Five letters. Rhyme for herb.”
I crossed to him, leaned over the book. “So, you have a Y?”
“Why?”
“The Y you have.”
“Why is so hard,” he moaned, and I chuckled.
“No, you have a letter. Y. In the middle.”
