“Okay.”
“And I want a shower.”
“Good.” I couldn’t stop smiling at him. “You do that. I’ll make you a sandwich and some soup. Meet me in the kitchen.”
“Thanks.”
I got up and left him then.
By the time he staggered out to the kitchen and took a seat at the bar, I had a turkey sandwich made for him, just plain except for a light smear of mayonnaise, and a bowl of chicken noodle soup. There was a glass of water as well, and two Tylenol caplets.
He ate and I cleaned up.
“Web.”
I turned around, leaned back against the sink, and looked at him.
“What are you planning on doing now that you’re going to stay?”
“I’m gonna work for your sister and take care of them boys. I don’t think her husband is comin’ back, but even if he does, she’ll still need me. He cheated on her once, she ain’t about to be made a fool of a second time. She won’t have another woman in her house.”
“I agree.” He cleared his throat. “Are you okay with doing that? Taking care of the kids?”
I crossed my arms. “I am. Are you?”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, you’re the one who has to say to people, I sleep with a nanny.”
He choked on his water. It went down the wrong hole, and I moved quickly, taking the glass and shoving a napkin in his face.
“Don’t barf anymore.”
“Well, what the hell,” he yelled at me. “Jesus Christ, Weber, I don’t give a shit what you do. I just love thinking of you here at home, in our home, just puttering around doing nothing, just being with me every single day. All I want is—”
“A foundation.”
“What?”
“You wanna build. You want us to make a life together.”
“Yes. Exactly.”
I nodded. “The other day, Micah had to draw somethin’ that reminded him of me, and he drew me as a mountain.”
“He did?”
“He did, and it got me thinkin’,” I said as I walked around the bar to stand beside him. “I am a mountain. I don’t have roots like you and your family, but I’m here and I won’t move. You can build on me, count on me, and we’ll use your roots, and I can make a home for all y’all.”
He was nodding and not speaking, and it was easy to see that he couldn’t. I turned him in his chair and took him into my arms, cradling his head in my hand, smoothing my hand over his back, rubbing circles there.
“Oh God, please, Weber, be my home.”
“Thank you for believing I could be. I won’t let you down.”
He hugged me so hard, so tight, and kissed the side of my neck before something occurred to him and he leaned back to look at my face.
“What?”
“Who is you all?”
My smile was huge.
Chapter Seven
THE auditorium was filled with people and our seats were in the middle, so once we were sitting, there was no way to get back up. It was why, before we went in, I was squatting down in front of Pip asking if he had to go to the bathroom.
He was standing, as was his habit, between my thighs, arm around my neck, leaning on me as he considered the question.
“I dunno, maybe.”
“We could go just in case,” I suggested.
He was thinking on it.
“Hey, Weber, Tristan.”
I lifted my head and then my hand in greeting to James Barnes, Tristan’s soccer coach. “Hey, Jim, how’s your daughter?”
“Good,” he said, coming over, “she’s good. Just lost the one tooth. Thank God it was a baby one.”
“That other kid should be out for the year. He’s a menace.”
“Oh, I agree. One red card isn’t enough of a deterrent for him or his father.”
“Is Lily playing in the concert?” I asked him.
“Oh no, my younger daughter, Jane.” He smiled at me. “She’s the same age as Micah.”
I nodded, rising, picking up Pip and lifting him with me. “Lemme introduce everyone. This here is Carolyn Easton, Tristan’s mom, and my partner, her brother, Dr. Cyrus Benning, and you know Pip.”
“Nice to meet you all.” He nodded, shaking both of their hands, but really, you could tell, not giving a crap. His attention was back on me fast. “So, Weber, Thursday the bus for soccer camp leaves at eight in the morning, so I’ll meet you and Tris there at seven thirty.”
“We’ll be there.”
“I’m so sorry I haven’t been able to make any of Tristan’s games,” Carolyn said quickly, getting his attention. “It feels odd to just now be meeting the coach of my son’s team.”
“Everyone’s busy,” he told her. “But you have Weber to stand in for you, and for that you’re very fortunate.”
“I agree.” She smiled at him.
James turned back to me. “And again, I can’t thank you enough, Web. You’re the only guardian that everyone agreed could go. Everybody else has a stick up their—” he remembered Pip was there “—has something to say about some other parent, except you.”
“Well, I appreciate that.” I smiled at him.
He squeezed my shoulder and left us then.
“Lemme take him to the bathroom,” I told Carolyn and Cy before I started across the floor. “You too, Tris.”
The three of us headed for the restroom, and we would have made it quicker, but I was stopped by Micah’s second grade teacher, who wanted to tell me how wonderful his three-dimensional diorama of the inside of a potato bug had looked. I thought it was disgusting, but apparently she had liked it. She was also looking forward to seeing me at the parent-teacher conference since Carolyn would be out of town on business that week. I was waylaid by Tristan’s teacher as well, then Pip’s, and several parents who just wanted to say hello.
The boys and I barely made it to our seats before the lights dimmed and the curtain rose revealing the three rows of kids. The Easter concert was beginning. At Christmas, the whole school participated in the program, but for this one, only the school chorus, of which Micah had become
