Page 13 of Lyric Squared

“Yes. But, when?”

“Soon. Probably when Mommy has your brother. She and daddy will need the house to themselves.”

“Okay. Mommy, can you have my brother tomorrow?”

Ever and I shared a hearty laugh. Emorey’s impatience was comical. She wanted her way and anything else was an insult.

“You all ready for bed, kid?” I asked, pushing her pretty, blonde curls out of her face.

“Yes.”

“Good, because it’s bedtime. Which story would you like me to read tonight?”

“You pick.”

“Okay. Lay down, and I’m going to grab a special book to read to you. We have to wait on Essence to get her jammies on and get in her bed first.”

Essence was a little woman. Her level of independence was scary. Just as I mentioned her, she walked into the bedroom with her bathrobe wrapped around her body.

“I’m all done.”

“Look at you big girl, all squeaky and clean,” Ever cheered.

“I brushed my teeth, too!” she shouted, excitedly.

“Good job, Es.” I clapped my hands as I told her. “Go ahead and put on your pajamas. I’m picking a bedtime story, now.”

“Okay, TT Lyric.”

She was her mother’s child. The calmness of her spirit was enchanting. I gazed at her bouncy curls as she made her way to her bed where Ever had laid her pajamas as well. She didn’t take any shortcuts when it came to her children, and I loved that about her. San helped out many days to alleviate her from her duties, but even then she was always on point.

Both girls weresound asleep when I crept out of their bedroom. It was going on ten o’clock. Aside from a few light sconces in the hallway, the Eisenberg residence was dark and quiet. I didn’t have to peep in on Elle to know that she was asleep with her mother’s boob dangling from her mouth. It was the same routine nightly until Ever woke in the wee hours and went to bed or Luca got lonely enough to retrieve her.

“Let me walk you out,” I heard Luca’s voice but couldn’t pinpoint his location.

When he appeared from the shadows beneath the steps, I knew that he’d been tending to his other best friend, Glock. The tri-colored, short, and stubby dog was the most well-behaved I’d ever encountered. He was much like his owners, unbothered by anything and everyone. Not even the children could work him up.

“Putting Glock down for the night?” taking in Luca’s appearance, I asked. It was still uncanny how much he and Laike resembled each other. They were identical twins. Laike had just been born two years later. It was as if our parents had birthed the same boy twice.

“Yeah. And wanted to catch you before you snuck out,” he admitted.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Everything is good on my end. I’m just trying to figure out if that is the case for you. Lately, you’ve seemed… I don’t know… sad.”

“Me? Sad?”

My questions were in vain, especially knowing how intuitive Luca was. He could sniff out any sign of trouble on my end. I still think it was how he ended up in my parking lot the night Chauncey put his hands on me. He was due there anyway, but he’d come so much sooner than he was expected. He was at least twenty minutes early and that never happened. He was usually a few minutes late for dinner.

“Don’t insult me,” he chastised. “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours, baby girl? Is there something wrong? Something you need to talk to me about? Something I can help with?”

“I’m fine, Luca. Just going through the motions.”

“Don’t lie to me, Lyric. You’ve never done it, so don’t start now.”

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you, Luca.” I sighed, pressing my back against the wall. He’d stopped so I followed suit.

“The truth,” he declared.