Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 93284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
I was getting pretty good at this child rearing by myself since James was deployed. Four more months, four more months I chanted to myself when I dumped the stray noodles into the trash.
I went back to Janie and wiped her snotty nose and dried on cheese off of her mouth and cheeks. I glanced at the screen and made a face at James when his mouth quirked up at the side and his eyes danced with laughter.
My older brother by four years knew how much I hated bodily fluids. But I would do absolutely anything for my big brother, and I loved my niece more than my hatred of those said bodily fluids.
When I was a child I couldn’t stand to have a runny nose, so James and Mom would walk around with tissues in their pocket. They learned that it was easier to have tissues than to deal with the tantrum that would follow if they didn’t.
I tossed the wash cloth towards the laundry room door, and hit my mother in the boob as she walked in from the garage. She gave me a disgusted look but didn't say anything. I sat next to Janie and looked at James.
"How are you doing, Jamie?" I asked.
James did that half smile again and replied, "I'm doing pretty good, Chey Chey. It’s the same old, same old here. Dougie says hi, and wants to know when you are sending another package."
I rolled my eyes.
I sent a care package for James at least once a week, and he knew this. Most of the time the packages contained toiletries, baby wipes, snacks, and socks, and I tried to get some of the other guys things if they didn’t have anyone sending them anything. James sometimes requested different odds and ends every once in a while too. I had once sent an erotic romance novel because I had just finished it. The next time I spoke with James it was circulating through the men. Anything was wanted, chick shit or otherwise. They would find a use for it.
The most requested item was golf balls that they would hit across the sand dunes. I had a website that I ordered from that sent as many golf balls as you asked for. They dredged the local golf course ponds and got to keep whatever they found.
"Ugh! I will not order anymore golf balls! That is the 5th time I've done that!
The people probably think I'm a weirdo going through two thousand golf balls in the last four months!" I half laughed.
I wasn’t fooling him though. As soon as I had a chance, I would get online and order another batch of balls and have them directly sent to where they were staying. I would do anything for my brother, absolutely anything.
James glanced behind him as he said "Ah come on Chey, Dougie says he will paint Optimus when he gets home if you buy us some more. You know how boring it is here. We take great pleasure in seeing who can knock the balls the furthest!"
I laughed and started to reply when Janie interrupted me and said "daddy daddy!"
I smiled as I watched James talk to Janie. They were so cute together. They looked so much alike. James was really tall at 6’3, with buzzed blonde hair, a nice square jaw, straight nose, and thin lips that covered straight white teeth that cost my mom four thousand dollars to fix. His eyes were hazel just like mine. He had muscles on top of muscles, but wasn’t huge like a body builder. His tan was a nice golden color from being out in the sun so much. Janie had the same hazel eyes, just like James and I. Her honey blonde hair hung past her shoulders and curled at the ends. Right now it had pieces of it sticking together from the cheese, and one quarter of her hair was still up in her pony tail that I put in early this morning.
Janie's mom left when she was ten days old. She said she couldn't handle all the stuff that came with a baby. She must have liked the idea of having a baby. Not the piss, or shit, or vomit, or all hours of the night feedings that came with one. James raised Janie with the help of mom and me. Mom and I rotated picking Janie up from daycare, and taking care of her while James was doing his duties for the army. I got the "your daughter is so cute" all the time from strangers because she was with me so much. James tried to be there with us as much as possible, but with him moving up in rank in the rangers, he wasn't there as much as he wanted to be. Right now he was serving an eight month deployment in Iraq.
"Hey Jamie, you eating alright?" I heard my mom ask.
I looked over my shoulder to see my mom blowing a kiss at James. Then Janie couldn't be one upped so she threw herself in front of the screen and blew wet kisses which in turn blew spit all over the screen to match the snot that was already drying on. Well at least I won't need a wet wash cloth.... Yuck.
James laughed and said, "I’m doing good mama jamma. Janie girl, isn't it time for bed?"
I thanked the lucky stars that James had skyped us because that meant that I didn’t have to endure a screaming fit that Janie would throw. James was Janie's shining star and vice versa. He could get her to do anything. My mom walked out of the room with Janie after they said their good nights to each other.
"How's work going?" James asked.
"Works work, I suppose. I'm taking twelve hours at Kilgore this year. So Nappa isn't getting the same amount of hours they normally get from me.” I was saying as I was interrupted by a commotion in the background behind James, and he replied suddenly “I gotta go Chey Chey. I love you. Kiss my baby for me!"