Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“I miss my mom,” Flora said eventually, leaning against me. I was actually surprised that it had taken her long to say something. We’d done a pretty good job keeping her distracted, but it was getting kind of late and all the kids were beginning to droop.
“I bet,” I murmured, pulling her onto my lap. “I never liked staying away from Gran either.”
“You didn’t?” Flora asked in surprise.
“Nope.” I could feel Noel’s eyes on me, but I focused on Flora. “Ask Gran next time you see her. Every time I went anywhere for a sleepover, I’d call her and papa to come pick me up in the middle of the night.”
“What’s a sleepover?” Ariel asked curiously.
I looked at Noel in surprise, but she was helping Diana with a couple of tiles.
“It’s when you go over to your friend’s house and stay the night.”
“Oh,” Ariel said thoughtfully. “I don’t got any friends.”
“Yes, you do,” Flora argued loyally.
“Mama says I’ll have friends when I go to school.”
“I’m your friend,” Flora announced stubbornly. “I’m your best friend. Even when you go to school.”
“And I have sleepovers at your house,” Ariel said, like realization was dawning. She spun and headed toward Noel. “I’m having a sleepover at my friend’s house!” she announced proudly.
“You’re a sweet kid, you know that?” I asked Flora, giving her a squeeze.
“Mommy said that Ariel didn’t get to do the same stuff as me…before,” Flora replied, looking up at me. “So, we should be extra kind and include her.”
“That’s good advice.” My voice was rough and I cleared my throat.
“I like Ariel.” She shrugged. “She’s my best friend.”
“She’s lucky to have a best friend like you.”
“Who’s your best friend?”
“Uncle Bas and Uncle Cian,” I replied. “And Auntie Myla.”
“You can’t have three best friends.”
“Says who?”
“Me.”
“Fine,” I replied, poking her in the side. “Then I guess it’s Auntie Myla.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“I think we can skip baths and teeth tonight,” Noel announced, stretching as she got to her feet. “Who’s with me?”
“Yes,” Flora hissed happily.
“We can?” Ariel asked in amazement, looking at her mom like she was some kind of angel.
“It’s a special night,” she replied, smiling at Ariel. “A sleepover night.”
The big girls cheered and Diana followed suit, even though I was pretty sure she had no idea why they were cheering.
“You want me to help you get them upstairs?” I asked awkwardly. If I’d been helping Otto out I would’ve just followed them and pitched in where I could, but I didn’t want to invade Noel’s space. The house only had three bedrooms so she and the girls were all sharing a room. I’d be helping put the kids to bed in her bed, which changed the situation a bit.
“I’ve got it,” she said, watching as the girls raced toward the stairs. “I have a feeling it’s going to be hard enough getting them to settle down already. Adding Uncle Titus to the mix might make it impossible.”
“Alright,” I murmured, a little disappointed. “Night, princess,” I murmured to Diana.
“Night,” she mumbled around her pacifier.
While Noel was upstairs laying the girls down I got to work cleaning up the mess we’d made. It was incredible the amount of toys that kids could pull out when they were playing. I was pretty sure that they hadn’t even touched half of it beyond yanking it out of the toy basket. I wondered how much of it was Flora’s and how much belonged to Noel’s girls. I remembered the basket from when we’d picked Noel up, but from what I could tell all the toys had been combined in the past couple of weeks. There was no division in who played with what or where they were stored.
When Noel finally made her way back downstairs, I was busy building a mansion with the magnetic tiles.
“These things are cool as hell,” I said defensively as she dropped onto the couch with a sigh.
“I didn’t say anything,” she replied.
“You were thinkin’ it,” I grumbled.
“I was thinking that Diana fell asleep really easily,” she said wryly. “And that means she’ll probably be awake three times before morning.”
“That’s rough.”
“It’s not so bad now that she’s sleeping with me,” Noel replied, picking up her yarn again. “I can just pop her binky back in and she falls back asleep.”
“I thought only babies woke up at night.”
“Ha!” she blurted. She hunched her shoulders and looked behind her, like she expected all three girls to come barreling back down the stairs. She shook her head and lowered her voice. “No, even Ariel wakes up still sometimes. She doesn’t really wake me anymore, though, unless she’s thirsty.”
“Kids sound fuckin’ exhaustin’,” I mumbled.
“They are.” She pulled the yarn up and rested it on her belly as she got comfortable on the couch.
“What are ya makin’?”
“A blanket for the baby.”
“Your baby?”
“Esther’s.”
“Ah.”
“I thought I’d have more time to finish it,” she said ruefully as her hands started dipping and twisting.