Page 13 of The Hang Up
“They said that might be the case at this stage in remission.” Jason peered around Ellie and called out to his nephew. “Hey, big guy! You gonna be good for your mom today?”
Henry nodded and dropped his cymbals, then scurried toward the door. He wrapped his small body around his uncle’s leg with the fierceness of a small anaconda, then released it before Jason had a chance to stoop down to proper hugging level.
Henry looked up at him, beaming, as he shoved his glasses up on his tiny freckle-spotted nose. “Uncle Jason, I have a penis and you have a penis but mommy and Mrs. O’Reilly have fa-chynas.”
“Right,” Jason agreed, unfazed by his nephew’s typical entrée to conversation. He looked back at his sister. “Mrs. O’Reilly?”
Ellie shrugged. “A woman we met at the park yesterday. One who seemed taken aback by receiving an anatomy lesson delivered by a five-year-old.”
They both looked at Henry, who seemed unconcerned by the whole thing. He’d scampered back to his makeshift drum set and was rearranging Ellie’s Dutch oven beside an overturned saucepan. Henry giggled and picked up the wooden spoons again, looking so happy and healthy that Jason’s heart squeezed in his chest.
This is the most important thing in the world. Taking care of these two, making sure Henry gets healthy and Ellie stays happy and they have everything they need. Nothing else matters more.
“So why are you here?”
He turned back to Ellie, remembering why he’d come in the first place. “Do you still have that helmet I loaned you when Henry was in his Iron Man phase?”
“I think so. Why, you planning to build yourself a powered suit and spend your days fighting terrorism and corporate crime?”
“Maybe, if the executive team pursues this stupid plan with the layoffs.” He grimaced, then shook his head. “Forget I said that. It’s a confidential personnel issue, not something I should be talking about with my sister.”
“My lips are sealed,” she said. “Not that I was planning to go post it on the Facebook page for my mommy-and-me play group.”
“I know, but I have to be careful now. Being the CEO of a major international company is a little different from running a regional outdoor adventure firm.”
“I can only imagine.” Ellie studied him a moment, her pale blue gaze so intense, he was tempted to look away. “Jason, I still feel bad about you giving up the job you loved just to support us through?—”
“Don’t,” he said, clapping a hand over his sister’s mouth the way he used to when they were kids and she ran around the yard telling everyone he had cooties. She responded by biting him, which was also par for the course.
“I hope you’ve had your rabies shot,” he muttered as he drew his hand back. “Come on, El. Don’t say that stuff. The new job was a good career move. The fact that it happens to help you guys through this stage of Henry’s treatment is just a bonus.”
“I know, but I still wish I could contribute more.”
“Youarecontributing. Remember how much you were paying for babysitters and day care before?”
“Right.” She glanced over her shoulder at Henry, her expression softening a little. “Itisnice watching over him all the time. Knowing one of us is always there in case something happens.”
“Exactly. This way we don’t have to trust some uneducated babysitter or?—”
“Hey, it wasn’t Karen’s fault about the PICC line. That could have happened with one of us watching him, too.”
“I know,” Jason said, not totally believing it. “But this just feels safer. Not having to worry that someone else won’t take care of him the way we would.”
Ellie frowned but nodded. “In any case, we owe you big- time.”
“So pay me back by finding that damn helmet. Come on, I’ve gotta go.”
Ellie quirked an eyebrow at him. “Hot date involving a helmet?”
“Kinda,” he said, which earned another probing look from his sister. “Not a date, exactly. Just going caving with the owner at our PR firm.”
Ellie grinned like he’d just handed her a spa gift certificate. Come to think of it, he should probably do that. Being a single mom was a thankless job, and since the men in Ellie’s life hadn’t always been kind to her, Jason damn well ought to be.
“Oooh!” Ellie said. “Is this the same woman who saw your baloney pony?”
Henry looked up from his drums and giggled. “Baloney pony! Baloney pony! Baloney pony!” The boy dropped the wooden spoons and began galloping around the house like a horse while Ellie and Jason looked on fondly.
“Baloney pony!” Henry shouted again. “I’m a baloney pony! Yee-haw!”
