“Violet called and said her boss is requiring her to stay late and asked if the kids could get off the bus here. Of course, I agreed and she let the school know. I’m on their emergency contact list.”
He nodded, not surprised she had volunteered to watch the kids.
“So, can you keep him?” Lily asked, her hands moving over the wriggling dog.
“Yeah, I guess so. He got a clean bill of health and his vaccinations.” He grinned at the dog basking in the attention.
The children cheered again before his grandmother corralled them to sit at the table for their snack. Ben turned to go back upstairs to finish the last coat of paint on a cabinet when he caught Charlie sneaking a bite of cookie to the dog.
“I’ll take the dog outside while you eat. We don’t want him to get sick.” Ben grabbed the dog’s collar and led him through the door. Once outside, he bent down and said, “Stay here and be good. I’ve got a feeling those kids would spoil you rotten.”
The dog grinned, his tongue hanging out, but laid down on the deck. Back inside, Ben headed toward the downstairs powder room only to find Charlie standing at the sink with paint on his hands.
“I’m sorry… I thought the cabinet was pretty, but when I touched it, the paint came off on me!”
“No worries,” he sighed, helping the little boy get his hands clean. He grabbed his paintbrush and carefully painted over the small handprint. Looking at Charlie’s excited face as well as the swipe of dirty dog paw print on the bottom of his shirt, he sighed. “Um, do you have an extra shirt in your backpack? I hate for your school clothes to get messed up.”
Charlie shook his head and wrinkled his nose. “I can go home and change. Mom usually has me get out of my school clothes as soon as we get home.”
“I can’t let you go over by yourself—”
“Come with me. Then I can show you my room!” Charlie ran out of the bathroom, shouting, “Lily, Ben is coming over to our house!”
His cheeks puffed out with a heavy exhalation as he followed more slowly into the kitchen. Babciu’s smile was beaming at him. “I thought he should change clothes.”
“What a wonderful idea,” she said. “You can take a look around to see what needs to be fixed while you’re there. Lily can go, also, to make sure Charlie gets what he needs.”
Before he knew what was happening, he was heading across the backyard, kids in tow and the dog jumping around their legs. He lifted Lily over the fence first, then turned to swing Charlie into the air. Leaping over himself, he glanced back at the dog, who had plopped his bottom to the grass and stared longingly at them.
“I hate to leave him by himself,” Charlie said, looking back at the dog while walking forward, his feet stumbling.
“We need to name him,” Lily pronounced, then halted, her gaze turned up toward Ben’s. “Although, Mom said we need to let you decide.” She scrunched her nose, and he felt her sharp perusal.
“Uh… I don’t mind if you decide on a name,” he said, then immediately wondered if that was a good idea. The thought of having to call his dog something ridiculous ran through his mind, but seeing Lily’s face light up, he didn’t have the heart to take back his offer.
Reaching the back door, he pulled out the Mayfields’ spare key that Babciu had given him. Once inside, the children ran upstairs to change clothes, and he glanced around the kitchen to see what Violet might need in the way of repairs or refurbishing. The kitchen cabinets were older but well-built. Glancing at her appliances, it was obvious the dishwasher was ancient, but her stove and refrigerator were fairly new. The floor was clean-but-faded vinyl and certainly could be updated.
Walking to the powder room under the stairs, he noted the sink had a drip and was chipped on the edge. The cabinet door was hung crooked, the wood faded. The toilet appeared to be in good condition although old with rust stains in the bowl.
“Ben! Come see my room!”
Charlie’s voice carried easily down the stairs and Ben chuckled, remembering many times that his grandparents had to remind him to use his inside voice. “Okay, Bud, I’m coming. Uh… Lily? Are you… uh… all dressed?”
Gaining an affirmative, he ascended the stairs, nervous about being in Violet’s home without her. The kids were in the hall, bouncing on their toes, now wearing their play clothes. He followed Charlie into his room, seeing that Violet had decorated it as a little boy’s haven.
“I used to have dinosaurs on the walls of our old house, but for my last birthday, I asked Mom if I could have race cars.”
“Looks good,” Ben said, appreciating the decorating while noting the strip of foam that had been placed at the bottom of the window to keep the cold air out. New windows can be added to the list.
A framed photograph sitting on the nightstand caught his eye. It was a picture of a man holding a toddler with a little girl leaning against his leg. Dark hair with a wide smile. Their dad. Violet wasn’t in the picture, and he assumed she must have been the one behind the camera taking the shot.
After checking the strength of Charlie’s closet door, he was led into Lily’s room. Her room was an explosion of little-girl and not-so-little-girl. There was a poster of a young actor from a show that Ben had seen advertised, plus a boy band that he instinctively knew their music was shit. It was displayed next to a pink and purple poster of a unicorn. A bookcase held neatly stacked books, while a few stuffed animals sat on her bed. She talked nonstop while he checked her window and closet door as well.
It was hard not to notice another frame on her nightstand, similar to the one in Charlie’s room, the same smiling man with Lily tucked into his arms.
“That’s my dad.” Lily’s proclamation held a wistful tone. “I don’t remember him very well. Charlie doesn’t at all, so Mom says the pictures will remind us that he loved us.”
“I’m sure he did,” Ben said, his voice soft. He remembered his grandparents made sure he had a photograph of his parents in his room at their house as soon as he moved in with them. His heart pounded at the expression on Lily’s face, and he wondered if it mirrored his own several years after his parents died. Not raw emotion… but a deep sadness that was never far from the surface.
Having no idea what to say, he started to back out of the room but halted when he backed into Charlie standing in the doorway. Halting quickly, he looked down to see Charlie looking toward his sister.
“I asked Mom why Dad had to die cause it’s not fair that my friends have dads and I don’t,” Charlie said.
Ben’s chest depressed as the air left his lungs. He remembered asking his grandparents the same thing.
“She just said that some things aren’t forever.” Charlie sighed then looked up at Ben. “I still don’t get why a dad can’t be forever.”
Ben opened his mouth but no words came out. How the hell could he explain it to Charlie when he had no fuckin’ idea himself?
“Do you have any kids?” Lily asked, drawing his attention over to her. She stood with her arms crossed and her penetrating gaze hid deep thoughts.
“No… uh… no kids.”
“Don’t you like kids?” she asked, her eyes wide.