Page 76 of As Long As You'll Have Me
“Hi,” I say to her, squeezing her tightly.
“Hi.” She takes a step away and looks up at me with a smile. She looks tired, almost worn down. She has the face of a nurse who’s seen a lot in her days.
“How are you doing?” I ask, knowing it’s a loaded question.
She shrugs. “This time of year is tough, but I manage. I’m grateful that work is keeping me busy. Keeps me distracted.”
“You know you can always call me if you need anything, right? Even if it’s a home cooked meal. I’m sure hospital food is less than healthy, which is ironic.”
This earns me a chuckle. “I know. I appreciate it.”
“How’s Coop doing?Really,” I stress, knowing that she’d cover up how her big brother is doing even though he’s my best friend.
She turns over her shoulder and looks towards the sounds of Coop and Carter talking in the kitchen before shrugging.
“He’s okay. I think Christmas is harder for him than it is for me. You know.”
“I do know.” I nod my head solemnly. Reaching out, I rest my hand on her arm. “You two always have a family in us, I hope you know that.”
“I know we do. Coop might not express it enough, but we’re really grateful for all of you.”
I pull her into another hug. “And we’re grateful for you.”
Letting her go, I follow behind her into the kitchen. When we step inside, I see Coop sitting at the dining table with Lola curled up at his feet. Ivy has the whole place decorated for Christmas except the tree, just like always. We’ll spend the morning decorating it next week as a family like we always do. As tradition goes, we wait till the last Sunday before the holiday to decorate it to commemorate my first Christmas with her. We did the same thing when Carter came to live with us and once Willow and Coop started coming around for the holidays, they joined in too.
“There’s my second handsome son. How are you?” Ivy asks, stepping away from the stovetop and reaching for a hug. I smile down at her and encase her in my arms.
“I’m good, Mama. How are you? Did you have a good week?”
“I did. It’s better now that all of my kids are home,” she says, releasing me and looking at the four of us. One thing I can only hope to have is the kind of heart Ivy does. She cares for everyone and everything, even if it’s not hers to care about.
My phone buzzes in my back pocket and I pull it out to read the message.
What’s this one going to be? A deranged turtle?
I’ll have you know I went back and fixed my deranged bunny’s ears and they look much better!! Instead of looking deranged he just looks like someone whacked him in the face with a frying pan.
I chuckle under my breath at her message because I can hear her voice getting defensive about her little crocheted creatures.
“There it is again, the face,” Carter calls out. Looking up from my phone I see him pushing himself up to sit on the counter. “Who ya texting, Miles?”
“Get off my countertops, you know better than that,” Ivy chastises before smacking him on the leg with her dishtowel.
“Oh, please, you know you love when I sit up here. Reminds you of when we were small and you’d put us on the counter to watch you cook.”
She rolls her eyes but gives him a sideways smirk.
“Why so smiley, Miles?” Coop asks from his seat.
“Is a guy not allowed to be happy? Who’s to say I’m not happy because I get to spend my Sunday with all of you?”
“Because you’ve been nothing but a perpetual grump since this summer. Suddenly you’re smiling at your phone and have a pep in your step that wasn’t there before,” Carter explains.
He and Coop stare at me before passing a glance between them.
“I bet it’s the therapist,” Carter says matter of factly.
“Therapist?” Ivy says with concern. Her brows meet in the center of her face as she gives me the classic, something-is-wrong-with-my-child-and-they-kept-it-from-me look only mothers can give.
