“You look like hell,” Gavin says to Will.
Will shrugs and falls into a chair at the kitchen table. He runs his hands through his unkempt hair, then folds his arms across the table and rests his head on them. “I did just get my first solid hour of sleep in two weeks,” he says. “So things are looking up.”
If he’s this tired, I can’t imagine how Layken feels. “Is Layken still asleep?” I ask Will.
Will lifts his head and shakes it. “She’s awake. She’s just trying to pull herself out of bed.”
With that, I make my way to their bedroom. I open the door and it’s almost dark inside, but I can see her motionless under the covers. It doesn’t look like she’s attempting to get out of bed at all. “Layken?” I whisper.
I hear the covers rustle, then her head appears. She smiles and I hop onto the bed next to her. “You finally get some rest?”
“Kind of,” she says with a groan. She scoots herself up and props herself up against the headboard. “I’m starting to wonder if maybe Julia is a vampire, because she never, ever sleeps. Was Katie like this? I can’t remember that long ago.”
I laugh. “Yep,” I say, rolling onto my back. “Remember that day I came over to your house in my bra?”
Layken laughs. “I forgot about that.”
Katie was about three weeks old and I was so frazzled and tired, I walked right across the street with her in my arms and was completely unaware that I wasn’t wearing a shirt. She had spit up on it a few minutes before and I had every intention of putting a different one on, but it just slipped my mind. I didn’t notice until I walked through their front door and Will looked at me, wide-eyed and nervous, and said, “Eddie? You’re kind of almost naked.”
The sad part is, I looked down at my bra and I just rolled my eyes and walked back to my house to put on a shirt. I wasn’t even embarrassed. You lose your ability to be embarrassed when you have an infant. Suddenly, things that once seemed important become not so important when you’re being peed and pooped on daily.
“How are the boys doing with dinner?” Layken asks.
“Well…that’s debatable. They seemed pretty frazzled, so we ended up ordering pizza.”
Layken laughs and throws the covers off, then picks her pants up off the floor. “I guess I should go relieve Will. He’s been giving me a break since this morning so I could catch up on sleep. He starts work again on Monday, so I’ll be waking up with her alone after that.”
I sit up on the bed. “Actually, she’s been asleep for a while. I think Kel and Caulder may have found her weakness.”
Layken looks at me curiously.
“The dryer.”
Her eyes bulge. “They put her in the DRYER?” She begins rushing toward the door.
“On the dryer,” I clarify. “She likes the vibration.”
She pauses at the door and turns to face me. “She’s on the dryer?”
I nod.
“And she’s asleep?”
I nod.
“And she’s safe? She can’t fall off?”
“She’s fine. And very peaceful looking.”
Layken sighs, relieved, then walks back toward the bed. “That’s good. Come get me when the food is ready. I’m gonna steal fifteen more minutes of sleep.”
I stand up and head toward the door, but turn back to face her just as she’s pulling the covers over her head. “Layken?”
She looks at me and waits for me to continue.
“Isn’t it amazing? Seeing Will with her? I saw him kiss her earlier and it was just the sweetest thing. It reminded me of when Gavin would hold Katie as an infant and kiss her on the nose. I used to love seeing that.”
Layken smiles endearingly. “Will being a dad is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” she says. “It’s killing me to know we have to wait four more weeks. I assumed we were done with countdowns forever.”
I laugh. “Go back to sleep,” I tell her. “I’ll come get you when it’s ready.”
*
“Tuck and tweet,” Katie yells.
Katie has no idea how to play suck and sweet, but since she turned two years old, she’s always been the first to demand we play it as soon as we sit down to eat, only she’s not very good with her pronunciation of it.
“As soon as Layken gets in here, we’ll play,” I tell her.
“I’m here, I’m here,” Layken says from behind me. She makes her way to the table and pulls the chair out next to Will. He already has her plate ready. “You first, Katie,” Layken says to her.
Katie is sitting between Gavin and me. She usually sits next to Caulder, but for some reason, Kiersten took that seat tonight. Which is strange, because she usually sits next to Kel, but Caulder is between them now. I can tell by the way Kiersten is poking at her food and staring down at her plate that something is wrong with her.
I hope it’s not an issue between her and Kel, because I’ll make sure Kiersten marries into this family if it’s the last thing I do.
“What’s your suck, Katie?” Gavin asks her.
Katie pulls her finger to her chin as if she’s actually contemplating an answer. We all know she isn’t really contemplating, because her answers never make any sense.
“Poo poo bird!” she says loudly, then begins clapping.
Everyone laughs other than Kel and Kiersten, which really makes me nervous.
“Yes, poo poo bird is definitely a suck,” Gavin says. “What’s your sweet?”
“Poo poo Gabin!” She squeals and Gavin shakes his head, then gives her a squeeze.
“Well, my suck is that my daughter doesn’t call me Daddy anymore,” Gavin says. “My sweet is that she sleeps through the night and Eddie and I don’t have to walk around like zombies anymore.”
“Rub it in,” Will says.
“Speaking of sleeping babies, is she still on the dryer?” Layken asks. She stands up and walks toward the laundry room.
“Let her sleep,” Will calls after her.
Layken walks into the laundry room to check on her, even though we can all see her from the kitchen table. I forget what it’s like to be a brand new mom and always having to be within eye contact of your infant.
We’ll see how long that lasts.
“What’s yours, Caulder?” Gavin asks.
Caulder drops his eyes to the pizza on his plate. “My suck is that I actually thought I might want to be a chef when I graduate high school, but now we all know that’s not in the cards.”
I laugh, because at least he realized this early on.
“My sweet,” he says with a grin, “was kissing Ariele Simpson under the bleachers today after school.”
This gets Will’s attention. He snaps his gaze in Caulder’s direction and Caulder just smiles even wider. “With tongue,” he says. “It was awesome.”
Gavin stands up and reaches across the table to high five Caulder. Will intercepts and pushes Gavin’s hand away. “Don’t reward that,” he says. “He’s only fourteen!”
“Exactly!” Gavin says. “It’s about damn time he frenched a girl.”
Will looks horrified.
Caulder is still smiling.
“I can’t believe I’ve been missing out all this time,” Caulder says. “I want to do that again. Every day. Maybe even with a different girl every day. Do all girls kiss the same?”
“Make him stop,” Layken pleads to Will, covering her ears as she sits back down to the table.
“Stop,” Will pleads to Caulder.
Caulder shakes his head. “Dude, you’re my brother. You should be happy for me.”
Will drops his head in his hands. “Caulder, I’m also raising you. I’m not about to reward you for making out with a girl. I swear to God, if you make me an Uncle/Granddad before I’m even twenty-five, I’ll kill you.”
Caulder laughs, but Kel and Kiersten are still quiet, staring down at their plates.
“What’s your suck, Kel?” I ask him.
He doesn’t look up when he responds. “I don’
t want to play tonight.”
I move my attention to Kiersten. “What about you, Kiersten?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I don’t want to play, either,” she says. “You guys go ahead.”
I can’t take it anymore.
I stand up and push my chair back. “You two,” I say to them. They both look up and I point down the hallway. “Follow me.” I head toward the hallway without giving them an opportunity to object.
I walk into Kel’s bedroom and wait for them. Kiersten walks in first with her arms folded tightly across her chest. She doesn’t even look at me. She marches over to Kel’s bed and sits. Kel walks in, but not far. He pauses in the doorway and stares at Kiersten, then looks over at me.
“What’s up with the two of you?” I demand.
Kiersten rolls her eyes and Kel stares hard at Kiersten, waiting for her to answer.
“Ask Kiersten,” Kel says. “Maybe she can enlighten us both.”
Kiersten stands quickly and turns toward Kel. “Are you serious?” she says loudly. “You’re gonna pretend you don’t know what’s wrong with me?”
Kel takes a step toward her and I back up a step, because two angry fourteen-year-olds is something I didn’t realize I was afraid of until now.
“Kiersten, everything was fine this morning. Then when I sat next to you at lunch, you give me the silent treatment like we’re kids.”
“You are kids,” I interject.
Both of them look at me and roll their eyes.
“Listen,” I say. “I think I know what the problem is.”
They both swing their eyes in my direction, so I continue. “There’s something both of you should know about men and women. Kiersten…men are idiots. You think they should know what you’re thinking or what happened to upset you, but believe me, they never do.” I face Kel. “And Kel, women are smarter than men. They always know what happened and they always know what you should be thinking, but you’re more than likely thinking about sports or cars or boobs.” I face both of them. “So the only way for a guy and a girl to get along is if the girl spells things out like a five-year-old to the guy, so that the guy knows exactly what’s going on at all times.” I face Kiersten again, but point at Kel. “So spell out whatever problem you have with him and give him the chance to fix it, because he’ll never guess what’s wrong with you. Men’s brains are like T-Rex brains. They’re very tiny.”
Kel is glaring at me now. “I’m not sure I agree with your advice this time, Eddie.”
I shrug. “The truth is hard to swallow.”
I walk out of the bedroom and leave them to fix whatever issue it is they have in private.
“What’s your suck, Lake?” Will asks Layken.
She looks at Caulder. “My suck is the realization that we’re raising a womanizer.”
“I’m not a womanizer,” Caulder says defensively. “A womanizer is someone who objectifies women. I appreciate them,” he says with a smile. “A lot.”
Layken shakes her head. “My sweet is that, despite my exhaustion and how incredibly tired I am, I’ve never been this happy in my whole life. I love being a mom. I love seeing Will be a dad. It’s incredible.”
I smile, knowing exactly how she feels. I also know how exhausted she must be.
“Let me take Julia for the night,” I say to her.
Layken looks up at me, but her expression is nervous. “I can’t do that. She’s only two weeks old.”
“Oh, come on. The two of you are exhausted. I’m right across the street.”
Will shakes his head. “It’s not that we don’t trust you, Eddie. Like Lake said, she’s only two weeks old. You wouldn’t get any sleep.”
I laugh. “You guys forget I’ve been through this before. Besides, I’ll stay up with her all night, then as soon as one of you wakes up in the morning, I’ll bring her home. You guys just need a good solid eight hours of sleep. Believe me, it’ll make a world of difference.”
They both look at each other hesitantly. I can tell Layken is waiting for Will’s approval and Will is waiting for hers.
“If she cries too much or I can’t calm her down, I’ll bring her right back home. It’s just for a few hours.”
Layken inhales, then lets out a huge sigh. “Oh my God, that sounds incredible, Eddie. You are seriously the best friend I’ve ever had.”
Now that Will sees the relief on Layken’s face, he shares his own relieved sigh. “Wow,” Will says. “I don’t remember what it’s like to sleep a solid eight hours. This is gonna be weird.”
Kel and Kiersten walk back into the kitchen and take their seats. They both look more at ease, which relieves some of my worry.
“Ready for your suck and sweets now?” I ask them.
Kiersten nods. “My suck is that sometimes I’m really stubborn,” she says. “My sweet is that my boyfriend loves that about me.”
Kel puts his arm around her and kisses the side of her head.
“Stop!” Layken says. “What did I say about physical contact?”
Kel rolls his eyes. “God, Lake. She’s been my girlfriend for two years now. We kiss. Get over it.”
“Which is exactly why I won’t allow physical contact,” Layken says. “It isn’t enough we have to worry about the two of you, now we have to worry about Caulder, too!”
Caulder smiles again. “I’d worry more about me than the two of them,” he says.
Will throws a breadstick at him to shut him up.
Kel glares hard at Layken. “My suck is that my sister won’t accept the fact that I can kiss my girlfriend without getting her pregnant. My sweet?” Kel looks at Kiersten and smiles, then holds her hand. “My sweet is right now.”
As soon as the line passes his lips, a breadstick smacks him in the face. “That’s my sweet, you thief,” Will says. Kel laughs and Will looks over at Layken. “My suck is that your little brother stole my sweet.”
I look around the table at everyone, taking the opportunity to appreciate what we all have. I look at Will and Layken, who have overcome more heartache than most people even experience in a lifetime. I remember back when I first had my suspicions about the two of them. I didn’t know Layken all that well, but I knew Will and I had never seen a girl make him more nervous and uneasy as Layken did. The odds weren’t in their favor when they met, but everything ended up working out for the best. I’m convinced it’s because they’re just like Gavin and me. Meant to be.
Yes, that may be cheesy, but it’s true. The first time I met Gavin, I knew he’d be the boy I would end up marrying. Granted, he was stuck under my car with a broken leg, thanks to me, but one glance at his contorted, pained face and I knew I had run over the man of my dreams.
Katie puts her hand on my arm and I look down at her and watch her shovel another pepperoni into her mouth. She slaps the table playfully, then reaches for her sippy cup. Gavin grabs it and hands it to her and they exchange smiles. “Tanks, Gabin,” Katie says to him.
“Thanks, Daddy,” Gavin responds, correcting her.
“I not Daddy. I Katie,” she says, correcting him. He just laughs and leans down to kiss the top of her head.
There is nothing in the world like seeing the love of your life loving his daughter. I’m convinced of that. As much as Gavin and I struggled to finish college while raising Katie, we were able to do it. I know we couldn’t have done it without each other, so seeing how far we’ve come makes me love our little family even more.
I look at Kiersten…the little sister I never had. We’ve grown really close over the past two years and Layken has no idea how much Kiersten shares with me. Layken doesn’t have to worry about things progressing between Kiersten and Kel just yet, but you can bet I’ll be the first person Kiersten talks to about it, and I’m glad for that.
“So…Ariele Simpson, huh?” Kel says to Caulder. Caulder winks at him and Kel looks impressed. It’s nice that not only are they best friends, but they consider themselves brothers now. Baby Julia solidifies that bond between them. I feel s
orry for her in a way, because I have a feeling Kel and Caulder are going to be ruthless protectors of that girl. And of Katie, too.
The best part of the two of them, though, is the fact that they realize how much Will and Layken have fought for them to all stay together. To stay happy.
I think about Mrs. Katie and what she once told me when I was a child.
Your happiness isn’t determined by where or who you live with. Happiness comes from within, and only you can control that.
Mrs. Katie was absolutely right, but I view her words in a different way now that I’m older. All the years I was in foster care and had virtually no one, I repeated her words in my head. Knowing that I could be happy if I chose to be happy, despite my external circumstances, is what kept me going all those years.
Now I actually do have family, thanks to my father, Joel, who stepped in when I was fourteen and finally gave me a stable environment. I have a wonderful group of family and friends who mean the world to me, and while happiness may not be determined by where or who you live with, or the people that surround you…it certainly adds to it. So many people have friends and family who love them, but they spend their lives blaming them for everything wrong in their life.
None of us do that in this room. Maybe it’s because we’ve all been dealt a bad hand once or twice in our lives and it taught us to appreciate what we have. Maybe it’s because we know how lucky we are to have found each other when we did. I don’t know what sets people’s attitudes apart in this life, but just like Mrs. Katie wasn’t worried about me…I’m not worried about any of these people. I’m not worried about a single one of them, because they all know how to find the positive in every situation.
I just hope Gavin can find the positive in what I’m about to tell him.
“You’re last, Eddie,” Layken says. “Suck and sweet.”
I inhale slowly and decide to just get it over with. Rip the band aid off. It’s the best way. I look over at Gavin and he’s smiling at me, unsuspecting of what’s about to hit him.
“My sweet is the same as Gavin’s. That I’m relieved Katie is already three and we’re not having to suffer through sleepless nights anymore.”
The Kiss: An Anthology About Love and Other Close Encounters Page 6
