“Stupidhead,” echoed Emily.
“That would be time out for you, too, Emmy-bear.” I could see her stick out her tongue, which made me grin at her.
“What if you get Dunkaroos now?” asked my mom.
“No school,” Emily replied, but she sounded less sure of herself. The Dunkaroos were really expensive for a snack, so we limited how much sugary frosting they consumed on a daily basis.
“You can have Dunkaroos in the car.” Logan had us all on a membership program that cleaned out our cars on a weekly basis or we’d probably have ants or something.
“Dunkaroos?” Emily asked. I could see her shifting to the edge of the bed. There was a cobweb in her hair. It had been a while since the underside of her bed had been cleaned in the back corner.
“Dunkaroos in the car,” my mom said firmly. Good Lord. Emily was getting two packs of Dunkaroos in one day.
“Okay!” Emily got out from underneath the bed and put her own pants on. I went to the highest shelf in the pantry that I could reach to get another pack of Dunkaroos. Emily picked up her Hello Kitty backpack with aplomb. She had mastered the art of her Velcro shoes now, so she put on her own shoes while Annabelle did the same. Annabelle rolled her eyes as she breezed into the car. Emily was small enough that I had to pick her up to get her into her carseat. I gave her the promised Dunkaroos after strapping her into her seat.
Radio Disney was always on in the car. Annabelle sang along with some pop song I didn’t know and didn’t make a fuss about not getting Dunkaroos. She knew they were a bribe to get Emily to behave; Annabelle should’ve gotten time out for calling Emily a stupid head. She knew that we were late, or she would’ve been more moderate with her words. I was thinking of withholding dessert from dinner, but Annabelle had gotten into the car without a fuss today. Trying to parent two kids was a headache and a half; you had to treat them almost equally, even though one was older than the other by a few years.
When we got to the school, Annabelle unbuckled herself from her booster seat and hopped out of the car on her own. She walked quickly to her cubby. Emily was done with the Dunkaroos. There were sprinkles all around her mouth and crumbs on her shirt. I dusted her off a little and wet a napkin with water to wipe her face. She looked like she was going to rebel again, only this time it would be with sugar in her system.
“Let’s go find some new friends.” I picked her up and balanced her on my hip. Soon, she’d be too big for me to carry. She was looking like she’d be pretty tall. The doctor said that her growth plates indicated that she’d be tall like Logan instead of petite like I was.
I put her down as soon as we were inside. The floor was covered with a soft alphabet to cushion falls from little ones. I went to her Montessori classroom for three-year-olds. There were plenty of kids who were serious and focused at their play stations. There was a cubby with Emily on it.
“Let’s go put your Hello Kitty backpack away,” I said to her. She sucked her thumb as I hung up her backpack at a height where she could reach it. Her lunchbox was inside, but I knew better than to take it out. She’d go for the Dunkaroos inside if she remembered, and one portion of Dunkaroos early in the morning was enough.
“This must be Emily,” said a teacher warmly. She had a little name tag that said “Ms. Granger.” “How are you doing today?”
“A little separation anxiety.” We had kept Emily close to home except for some play dates. She hadn’t been apart from me or Logan for any length of time; her grandmother was the third adult that she’d always been around. Now she was going to a new school where none of the three of us were sitting down.
“Why don’t we get you started playing with some Legos?”
“She loves Legos.” She loved destroying Legos. Logan would build tall towers of Legos with her that she would wreck like Godzilla.
I watched as Ms. Granger gently coaxed Emily into playing with Legos and made my escape. There might have been a tear or two as I walked back to the car. Our girls were growing up so fast. We still had a part-time nanny since Emily was only in a half-day program; Annabelle was used to being picked up by her. Logan and I were always around; it was hard to let go of our youngest.
Epilogue V
“Hold my hand, Emmy-bear.” Emily reluctantly put her hand in mine. She was swiveling around, trying to take in all the sights, sounds, and smells of the LaGuardia airport. I wished then that she would agree to a leash backpack, but Emily hated hers. Annabelle was finally old enough that we could count on her not to bound straight into traffic. Emily had been younger the last time we’d made the trip up to New York with her and had slept through landing in LaGuardia.
“M & Ms!” screamed Annabelle.
“Indoor voice,” I admonished.
Annabelle whispered, “M & Ms.” Our resident chocoholic was obsessed with the M & M store in New York. It would be our first stop after dropping our bags at our hotel. Emily was holding onto my hand while simultaneously trying to take in a 360 degree view of everything around us. We were immersed in the hustle and bustle of New York, a big change from our placid Indiana life. In New York, we didn’t even need to rent a car. Logan had taken care of our MetroCards already; he’d talked to a concierge that set up a kid-friendly week to go everywhere the kids wanted to go. Bianca had offered to have us stay with her, but with three kids in one house, chaos was the best outcome we could hope for. We’d visit them tomorrow, after the kids got a chance to get settled.
“Let’s grab a Lyft.” We went to the Lyft stand with our carry-ons. The girls had a week’s worth of clothing; I’d made sure that there was a laundry service available at the hotel. Last time we came, we’d come with my mother. She had bought so many clothes for the kids that we bought a new suitcase to send home all of her purchases. The girls were growing out of their clothes almost as soon as we bought them, so we might as well buy some bigger clothes while we were in New York. Annabelle had already told us that she was going to grow up to be a fashion designer and live in New York when she grew up. My mom, bless her, had helped Annabelle make paper dresses that looked like runway or red carpet looks. Annabelle was always sketching dresses when she had downtime.
We all piled into an XL Lyft with our suitcases and carseat. Annabelle was wiggly about having to sit in a booster seat now, and we were spending so little time in cars in New York that we’d let her get away with not sitting in a booster seat as a special occasion kind of thing. Emily plunked herself down in the carseat that she’d been in during the plane ride. Then we were off to the Midtown hotel that Logan liked the best. I had lived near Morningside Heights at one point with all the Columbia kids, but I’d finished up in Brooklyn before moving home to Indiana. It took a while to get to Manhattan depending on the trains, so Logan liked to stay closer to all the attractions. By the time our Lyft got us to the hotel, Emily was yawning. Annabelle was jazzed to be in New York again. She preferred being here because she loved the Broadway shows. She did theater camp during the summers and was frequently found singing in our house into the karaoke setup that Logan had put into our basement. We could hear her singing when she felt the urge to put on a performance. Sometimes she’d even taken home a paper dress from Grandma’s and cover a song by a famous singer while dressed like him or her. Logan had helped her put together her own Instagram and Youtube channel. She was slightly Internet famous.