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James looked at his hand as he took his briefcase from the car. It was his hand, but it looked so much different. He remembered when he had been young. Then it had looked new and strong and clean, just like all of him. Now it looked old and scared, just like the rest of him. He shook his head and walked up the porch.
“Dad’s home!” he heard his wife yell from somewhere as he opened the door. A beagle and two young boys came flying into view, racing to see who would crash into him first.
James smiled, but it was a tired smile. The kids were great and the dog was great but when he got home he was exhausted and Lane would need her “me time.” He understood, but man, he could use some “me time” too.
“Dad, Dad,” Joseph screamed as all three creatures crashed into his legs at the same time. Joseph and Damon were identical twin boys, nine years old.
“Dad,” Joseph continued. “You gotta come and see what we did! Me and Damon made a kite and it really flies and then Bean tried to eat it and Damon and Bean were tugging on it and it was so funny but we fixed…”
“Whoa!” Joseph laughed in spite of himself. “You got to be kidding me. You guys didn’t make a kite,” he teased, taking off his coat and throwing it and his briefcase on a bench by the door.
“We sure did, Pop,” Damon retorted. “You got to come see it right now!”
“Well, hold on. I want to see that thing and I want to spend some time hearing about your days but I got to say hello and kiss your mom, don’t I?”
“Ew, Dad, come on!” That was Joseph. He could tell because he called James Dad. “We don’t want to hear about that.”
“’Sides, Pop, mom’s got a cold or something.”
“He’s right, babe,” James heard his wife yelling from above. “I ordered a pizza for you and the kids. I’m too tired to get up. I’ll see you when you come to bed.”
James sighed. He was tired, but people got sick. “Okay, honey.”
James night went better than planned. The kids showed him their kite and he was surprised by the quality. He had some good damn kids. The pizza was great and Bean the beagle got to eat more than his fair share of crusts.
By the time he got the kids in tucked in bed, he was dead tired. But he was content. He went into his room and saw that Jane was still in bed, her back toward him. He saw how lovely her hair looked on the pillow and admired the soft glow of skin where the blanket had slipped down her back.
Tired but content he got undressed and dropped into bed next to his wife.
“Oops,” he muttered to himself.
“Oops what?” Lane said, turning toward him.
He looked into her beautiful face and fell in love all over again, just like every night.
“I’ll be right back,” he smiled. “I forgot to brush my teeth.”
Her warm, incredibly soft arm pulled him down, into her embrace. “Your teeth can wait awhile, don’t you think?”
“Yeah,” he smiled. “They can wait.”
He kissed his wife.
My Life Would Suck Without You Page 15
