“We did!” Katie yelled before skidding into the kitchen.
As soon as the girls had seen we were only in socks and wearing comfort gear, they’d kicked off their shoes and changed into their pajamas. Well, they’d changed into Katie’s pajamas but they fit Allie like they’d been bought for her. Luckily, they were the same size since Katie had worn Allie’s clothes to school that day.
The little girl in question skidded in the door right after mine, sighing happily as she took a deep breath. “What are we having? It smells delicious.”
“We’re doing fall comfort food tonight. Mashed potatoes, gravy, roasted chicken, and veggies. I hope you’re hungry. I expect clean plates.”
“I’m sure we can make that happen.” Jacob grinned when he walked into the kitchen. “Direct us where you need us to go. We’ll make sure the food gets to the table. Allie’s right, by the way. It smells delicious in here.”
To my surprise, he pecked me on the cheek when he walked past me. The girls dissolved into fits of giggles but snapped to attention when I handed over oven mitts and told them which dishes to take out.
We sat down in the dining room with Allie and Katie on one side of the table and Jacob and me on the other. He put his hand on my thigh once he’d dished up, using one hand to eat while keeping the other firmly on me.
“Has Allie told you what happened at school today?” Katie asked us, eyes bright and happy as she glanced at her friend. “It was so funny.”
Allie’s cheeks grew rosy, accentuating the smattering of freckles on the bridge of her nose. “It wasn’t that funny, but I’ll tell you.”
As she grew more animated, her hands started moving and she completely forgot about her food. “Katie and I were playing tag with some of the boys and—”
“It wasn’t the variant of tag with kissing involved, was it?” Jacob growled, arching his brow before giving each of the girls a decidedly stern fatherly look.
They exchanged a disgusted look, both of them scrunching up their noses. Allie frowned at her dad. “No, what even is that? Who would we kiss?”
“No one.” Jacob relaxed back on his chair, making soothing circles with his fingers on my knee. “Continue. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t need to get out a rifle.”
“No rifles necessary,” I said. “I think we still have a few years before you need to oil those up.”
“Why are you two talking about rifles?” Katie asked, scooting forward. “Allie and I climbed up in a tree and we got surrounded. She accidentally spat on Megan Oswell’s head. That’s all.”
“I didn’t spit on her,” Allie argued. “My mouth was just open while I was hanging on the branch trying to scope our way out. It just fell.”
“Megan made such a scene that everyone scattered and we could get down safely,” Katie said, holding up her hand to high-five her friend.
Allie slapped her palm before beaming and shrugging one shoulder. “It really was an accident, but we won the game because of it.”
“And to think she once cried because a plastic doll got bubbles on her foot in a bubble bath,” Jacob said solemnly before lifting his wine glass. “Cheers to you, young winners. We’ve come a long way from crying over bubbles.”
The girls clinked their water glasses against his, grinning at each other before taking a swig. Allie tucked into her food with more gusto than I thought such a little person could, chatting to us after she swallowed each mouthful.
“We have a test on Monday,” she complained. “Katie said she’d help me study, but I suck at math.”
“You don’t suck at it,” Katie said calmly. “You just need more practice. Ms. Davidson really rushes over stuff sometimes.”
“Ms. Davidson,” they said in unison and rolled their eyes.
Jacob and I both reminded them about being respectful toward their teachers and earned a “sorry” before they carried on talking. It was the first meal we’d had together at home except for Thanksgiving, but it felt exactly like a family meal.
We laughed and bickered, ate, drank, and laughed some more. Jacob kept going on and on about how good the food was, clearing three plates before he finally pushed his cutlery together.
“I don’t think I could eat another bite. That was incredible. Thank you, Laurie.”
“It was delicious,” Allie agreed. “Dad’s a terrible cook, so our usual dinners are either takeout or the instant kind you just need to warm up.”
I laughed. “He can’t be such a terrible cook. Thanksgiving was pretty good.”
“It was catered,” she said. “Just like it is every year.”
Jacob tossed a wadded-up napkin in her direction. “Stop giving away my secrets.”
When dinner was over, we cleared the table together and Jacob rinsed the dishes before loading them in the dishwasher. It was still early, so I turned to them and clapped my hands. “How do you guys feel about a movie night? We have popcorn.”
The kids squealed and nodded. When I glanced at Jacob, he just smiled. “Whatever you girls want, you get. Go pick the movie. I’ll be out as soon as I’m done.”
Chapter 34
Jacob
Laurie and the girls fell asleep on the sofa. The movie credits had rolled ages ago, but I stayed right where I was because I didn’t want to wake them. It felt so darn good to be there like that with them—even though Laurie had fallen asleep on my arm and Allie on my lap.
Half my body had pins and needles, but I still wasn’t willing to move. Being there like that was too satisfying, too peaceful. It was a foreign feeling to me to be so content while not doing anything, but it was deeply satisfying in more ways than one.
Usually, I was always on the go. Busy.
Between work and Allie, there hadn’t been much time for me to just be quiet and still in the last few years. I’d come to associate being happy with being productive, but I wasn’t doing anything productive right then and there was a bone-deep feeling of quiet joy coursing through me.
Spending time with Laurie and Katie made me feel like our family was finally rounded out. Complete.
After Shannon left, I thought I’d never feel that way again. Not that I’d ever had a moment like that with her. Before Allie was born, we used to be close. It never felt quite like this, but we had some good times together. Once the baby came into the picture, however, she started distancing herself.
We also hadn’t been close in the same way that I felt to Laurie right then. Our relationship had been go, go, go all the time. There had never been moments of intimacy quite like this one, where everyone was relaxed, sleepy, and happy to just be where they were.
Shannon didn’t do relaxing in front of the TV after a movie night and dinner at home. She needed activity, to see and be seen. When she started distancing herself from us, I’d thought at first that she only needed time to adapt to having to be at home with the baby more often than she was out on the town.
A rift formed between us and we’d never been able to pull back together. I’d been ecstatic about staying home with Allie, but Shannon had never quite gotten there. Even when she was home, she always kept busy.