Page 114 of Reunited Soulmates

I slid a plate of toast and omelet in front of him and poured out a glass of cold milk.

“Thanks, Mom,” he smiled, nibbling on his omelet. From the corner of my eye, I saw him look at Dillan, who was still focused on his newspaper. There was a bit of disappointment in his brown eyes but it quickly faded.

The plate of French toast remained untouched.

“I’ll be dropping by the supermarket later,” I announced, trying to break the awkward silence. “Is there anything you guys would like me to pick up for you?”

“More cereal!” Max declared enthusiastically.

“Noted. How about you, honey?” I glanced at Dillan.

He looked up from his newspaper.Finally.

“Huh? Did you say something?”

I tried not to let my crushed heart show up on my face, although I was mostly used to Dillan not paying us attention. He was forever rushing to the office and getting home late. On the rare occasion—like today—that he stayed long enough for breakfast, he was always focused on the newspaper.

“I said,” I repeated, “that I planned on dropping by the supermarket later and if there is something you want me to specifically get for you?”

“Uh, nothing,” he quipped, closing the newspaper and tucking it under his arm. He drank his coffee in one gulp and stood up. “I have to go now. Bye.”

My eyes followed him as he rushed out the door barely glancing at Max, who had been sitting beside him the whole time. He just ruffled his son’s hair on the way out and then, he was gone.

He hadn’t even bothered to kiss me on his way out.

“Trey told me your sandwiches are delicious,” Max told me, his voice cutting through my reverie.

I hadn’t even noticed that I was still staring at the door Dillan had just walked through.

I blinked back the disappointment on my face and kissed him on the forehead. “Well, then, I’ll make an extra sandwich for Trey today.”

“Thanks, Mom! You’re the best!”

While I prepared the two sandwiches, Max went back upstairs to brush his teeth and get ready for school. By the time he was done, I was already waiting for him with an extra sandwich in his lunch box.

He got inside the car and buckled his seatbelt, grinning knowingly at me. I smiled back at him from the rearview mirror and drove down to his school.

“You don’t have soccer today, right?” I asked him, pulling up in front of the school.

“Nope! Tuesdays and Thursdays only, you know that, Mom!” he replied, giving me a quick peck on the cheek before getting off the car. “Bye, Mom!”

“Have fun!” I called out to him.

He waved back at me and jogged up to his friends, who were waiting for him by the gates. I waited for a while, watching my little boy disappear into the school with his friends, before I pulled out and made my way to the supermarket.

***

The supermarket was mostly empty when I wandered down the aisles, loading my cart with the things I had written on the scrap of paper I prepared that morning. Money was a bit tight in our household so I made sure to stick to my list and prayed to God that I wouldn’t go over the budget.

I came to the cereal section, remembering Max’s request at breakfast earlier. My eyes scanned the rows of colorful boxes before they landed on the familiar depiction of a bright blue box with a tiger joyfully chowing down a bowl of cornflakes.

I shook my head. I was pretty sure tigers were into something far more filling than cornflakes but…

“Great choice.”

I looked up at the sound of the deep, masculine voice and found myself staring into twinkling brown eyes.

It was Julian Knox.

---