“He told me he was going to flush it down the toilet,” Kate said as she rolled her eyes.
“Well, it may just take him some time.” Emily smiled.
“I don’t know. I mean, maybe me and Greg did this too soon. I mean, maybe we should have waited til Eli was a little older.”
“He’s four, Kate. He’ll come around. He should be excited. He’s going to be the big brother,” Emily said.
“I just think maybe this wasn’t the right time.”
“What do you mean? Do you wish you weren’t having it?” Emily asked as her smile faded.
“No, not at all,” Kate said, shaking her head. “I just think we should have planned it better. I just feel bad for him, as crazy as he’s making me. He just doesn’t get it.”
“Mom!” a high-pitched voice rang out as the sound of tiny footsteps stomped down the staircase in the foyer.
“God, I guess the Benadryl wore off,” Kate joked as she looked to the kitchen doorway. “In here!”
Emily glanced to her right as Eli McCallister raced into the kitchen, his tiny socks gliding along the white tile floor as he held an action figure in his little hands.
“Ranger Roy’s arm fell off!” Eli sighed.
“Hey, Eli!” Emily grinned as she ran her hands through his shaggy black hair.
“Hi, Emily,” Eli scoffed, dodging Emily’s hand as he looked to Kate. “Mom, I’m serious! Look at him!” Eli said as he held up the action figure, his right arm gone.
“Well, you’ll have to wait for your daddy to get home so he can fix it,” Kate told him.
“Fix what?” a deep voice rang out as Greg McCallister stepped into the kitchen through the back door. Greg closed the door behind him as he shuffled into the kitchen, tugging at the blue tie dangling from his neck. Greg set his black briefcase on the center island of the kitchen as Eli raced toward him, his little feet zooming across the tile floor.
“Ranger Roy’s arm fell off!” Eli said, holding the action figure up in the air.
“What? No!” Greg laughed as he looked at Emily and Kate at the kitchen table. “Hey, Em!” Greg smiled as he smoothed his long black hair back.
“Hey, Greg,” Emily said, raising her mug to him.
“Break my boy’s toy and drink all my coffee? How dare you,” Greg joked as he walked to the kitchen table, leaned forward, and kissed the top of Kate’s head.
“I did no such thing!” Emily laughed.
“Honey, can you please fix his toy?” Kate sighed as she rubbed her fingers along her forehead.
“Babe, I just walked through the door.” Greg sighed.
“Dad, he’s going to die!” Eli screamed as he waved the action figure around, his sticky hands wrapped around the toy’s legs.
“We will just see about that! Dr. McCallister is on it!” Greg said in a deep voice as he lunged forward, wrapping his hands around Eli’s waist.
“Yes! Hurry!” Eli giggled as Greg draped Eli over his muscular shoulder and headed toward the kitchen doorway. “Go, daddy! Go!”
“I expect a fresh pot of coffee when I come back down!” Greg smirked as he walked through the doorway, Eli giggling loudly as he swayed back and forth on his Greg’s shoulder.
“Yeah, and I expected a clean house when I woke up this morning, but we don’t always get what we want, now do we?” Kate matched his sarcasm.
“Hey, I dusted!” Greg called out from the foyer as he rushed up the stairs.
“Yeah, six months ago!” Kate groaned.
“Isn’t marriage great?” Emily asked sarcastically as she slowly stood up and carried her empty mug to the sink.
“Yeah, when he’s not here,” Kate joked as Emily placed her mug into the hazardous waste bin they call a sink. “Take him with you!”
***
Emily tucked her cellphone between her shoulder and ear as she ran a sponge along the soapy surface of a frying pan in her kitchen sink. It had been an entire hour since she last saw Blair, but she couldn’t help herself. She had been gone for an entire year. She knew she probably just wanted to spend time with Cole, but just hearing her voice calmed Emily.
“I told you I’ll send you the pictures in a little bit. I have to go run a few errands and then me and Cole are going to dinner,” Blair said.
“All right, I get it. You’re tired of your mom.” Emily smiled as she spun the sponge around, massaging the suds on the slick surface.
“No, I am not! I told you I missed you. I’ve just got to run to the bank and then to the dry cleaners. There’s just not enough time in this world, I swear.”
“All right, well, I love you and just text me the pictures whenever you can, all right?” Emily asked as she turned the sink on. The crystal-clear water rained down from the faucet and trickled over the pan, dripping into the sink and circling the drain below.
“I love you, too, Mom,” Blair said. Emily ended the call and set her cellphone on the counter beside her as she heard the back door creak open.
“You’re home early.” Emily grinned as she glanced over her shoulder to see Hank Saunders step into the kitchen.
“I’ve got to go back, sadly.” Hank sighed, rolling his eyes as he closed the door. Emily eyed the concrete smears and dirt plastered all over his red shirt as she snatched a paper towel from the roll, drying the bubbles off her hands.
“I thought today was an early day?” Emily asked as Hank stepped toward her. She reached up and grabbed a tiny piece of wood from his short brown hair, pulling it from the spiked-up strands and dropping it into the sink beside her.
“Well, Bruce said the base we laid
