Chapter Three
“It’s Friday night. Movie or board game?” Teddy made himself smile at the kids, but also at Nick as they cleared away the dinner dishes. They’d made it through another week together. Next week was Thanksgiving, and it would be time for the kids to meet more of the family. They’d had little visits so far, Teddy’s parents one day, his brother and his kids another, but they hadn’t had the full McNally experience yet. Teddy wasn’t sure whether it was excitement or dread churning in his gut. Maybe both. Everything with the kids thus far had been one step forward, two steps back, exactly how they’d been told to expect it. But knowing this was normal didn’t make it any easier.
But at least it was Friday, and he could zone out with the TV before the bedtime battle. Every time he offered TV, the kids were always all over it. They’d had no interest in his game cupboard the other nine hundred times he’d offered, but tonight, Teddy was too exhausted to be disappointed.
“Maybe the sequel to that space one we saw last week,” Nick suggested, even though Teddy had a feeling he’d rather suffer through a wisdom tooth extraction than watch goofy aliens again. Nick didn’t usually like TV at all unless it was some crime procedural or maybe a particularly well-done documentary. But he was trying. Like he’d been every night he’d been home for dinner. Nick was trying so hard to make this work, and Teddy had never loved him more.
“That was boring. I’d rather do a game.” Natalie strode back into the dining room, to Teddy’s long-ignored game cupboard. She was probably objecting simply to be contrary, as that seemed to be her singular mission in life. Except, every now and then, Teddy would catch a glimpse of her with James, patiently explaining some Minecraft trick to him, or she’d be unexpectedly helpful with some cleaning project, and he’d see a glimmer of the great kid she could be when she wasn’t scared and hurting.
“Pick any from the top two shelves,” Teddy offered.
“Which is the hardest?” Natalie’s eyes narrowed as she considered the stack of games.
“Oh! This one.” James dragged out one of the many variations on Clue that Teddy owned.
“Okay. I guess we can play an easy one.” Natalie slumped dramatically at the table as James started unpacking the box. But her disdain didn’t last long as James jollied her into helping him set up the board while Nick set the dishwasher going. And then…a minor Friday night miracle happened. Right at Teddy’s dining table. Natalie got into the game. Like way in.
“No hints. We’re not babies.” Natalie’s look of utter contempt would have cut a lesser man, but Teddy merely studied his cards. She had the heart of a true gamer, which showed in the way she fanned out her cards, the intense marking on her slip of paper, and the quirk of her mouth and gleam in her eyes.
They played two rounds of Clue and ate a plate of cookies before Natalie talked James into trying a harder game.
“What’s this one?” She held up one from the cupboard.
“It’s about goblins who hoard gold.” He couldn’t help his smile. “Nick and I love that one. We play it a lot.”
“We played it on our first…date.” Nick smiled back. It hadn’t been a date as much as Nick snowed in with him in a Santa suit, but date probably sounded better for the elementary school set.
“How’d you meet?” Natalie’s head tilted as she considered this information.
“Well. It’s a story.” Nick stroked his chin. “I was wearing a Santa costume and it wasn’t even Thanksgiving yet…”
Huh. They’d spent the past few weeks trying to get to know the kids, making them open up about their mom and Grandma Ivy. They’d gone over which new potential relatives the kids might meet and when, but they hadn’t really talked about themselves much at all. Maybe that had been an oversight on their part because both kids were listening intently to Nick’s tale, asking questions and egging him on.
“And it was true love?” Natalie asked. “Right then? Like in the movies?”
“Well. Maybe not right then.” Teddy caught Nick’s eye. They hadn’t had the smoothest path to their happy ending, but he wouldn’t trade it for all the movies in Hollywood.
“Natalie’s going to marry Samantha,” James said confidently. Samantha was the best friend that Natalie only grudgingly told them little snippets about.
“Am not.” Natalie’s cheeks went pink. “Samantha thinks she’s going to marry this actor kid on Disney Plus. She wants to move to the city like on that show, get a job as a nanny.”
“And you? What are you going to do when you grow up?” Teddy asked.
“I’m going to be a snow plow driver,” James announced with a yawn. “Or maybe be on YouTube.”
“Those are awesome goals.” Teddy smiled at him, much easier now after the gaming and cookies and Nick’s impromptu story time. “And Natalie? Are you going to join Samantha in the city?”
“No.” She made a pinched face. “Then I couldn’t visit Grandma Ivy. We’re going tomorrow, right?”
“Yup. A little before noon. A neighbor is bringing Aunt Iris, and we’re going to have lunch there at the care facility with Grandma Ivy.”
“Good.” She licked her pale lips. “I’m gonna be a firefighter. The kind that does first aid. But not in the city. I’ll do it right here in Mineral Spirits.”
“A firefighter? Like an EMT?” Teddy considered this skinny, surly kid in a whole new light.
“They have girl ones.” She stared him down. “I had to call on Grandma Ivy’s phone when she couldn’t get up. And the lady on the phone, she said the ambulance was coming right away. But two firetrucks came first. And the first firefighter who came in the house, he said I did good. Said if I was his kid, he’d be proud of me. I wanna be like him.”
“I’m proud of you too.” Teddy’s throat went tight and his eyes hot. “You did do good.”
“So I’m going to be one of them. Drive the big engine maybe even. I’ll be who they send for in an emergency.”
“You can do it.” Nick’s voice was all scratchy. “You know, I can probably find out which crew it was. Would you like to visit the station? Tell them thank you and maybe see the rigs up close?”
“You can do that?” Natalie dropped her mouth open like Nick was some sort of fairy godperson.
“Sure.” Nick sat back in his chair. “They do visits for school groups. Shouldn’t be too hard to arrange. I know a captain over there.”
“Wow.” Both kids had big eyes, like Nick knew one of the Disney celebrities on the shows Natalie couldn’t get enough of.
“I know people too.” Teddy wasn’t sure what this weird emotion was, causing tightness in his chest and unease in his gut. Jealousy? Because Nick had managed a break-through with Natalie? That wasn’t fair. He should be cheering. He made himself take a deep breath before he ruined this moment. “Maybe if Nick arranges a time, we can both take you.”
“Okay.” Natalie gave them a smile that loosened Teddy’s tight muscles, tension he’d been holding for days now fading in the face of such brilliance.