Page 96 of Starting Back
Mom laughed as Donna headed for the kitchen. “Did you have enough to eat, Leo?”
“I did, thank you, Mrs. Russo. Can I help you?”
“Call me Rose, please. I’m glad you had off from both jobs to join us today. Sit with Kristina. Donna and I will clean up.”
“Mom, I can help—”
She shook her head. “Stay with your guest.” She beamed at us before shifting back to the kitchen. “Plus, Donna probably already has it half done anyway.”
“Can you come back home with us tonight?” I slipped my hand into the crook of his arm. “The girls should be in enough of a food coma to pass out once we’re home.”
“I don’t have work until tomorrow afternoon. I can come back for a while.” He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “Thanks for having me today.”
“I’m happy to have you here. Really happy,” I said and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “If you don’t have to go in until the afternoon, maybe you could stay until the morning? We usually have a big breakfast the day after Thanksgiving.”
“You’re sure?” His brows pulled together. “They won’t be weirded out?”
He’d slept over before but was gone early the next day. Having Leo at the breakfast table with us in the morning seemed significant. We were going at warp speed with so many things, but I wanted him to be a part of our daily life when he could, and even though things between us had always been quick, it seemed like it was time.
“Emma will be thrilled, and Chloe will get used to it.”
“As long as they’re okay with it, yes, I’d love to stay over tonight.”
“You’re sleeping over?” Emma gasped and climbed onto Leo’s lap. “Tomorrow, we’re having a big breakfast. Baconandsausage.”
“Both?” Leo widened his eyes. He leaned back when she bobbed her head in a slow nod. “Wow, that is big.”
“I guess I’m still not allowed in the kitchen.” Peyton took a seat next to us. “Someone should check on Rose and make sure my mother isn’t rearranging everything.”
“They’re both fine.” Jake came up behind her and rubbed her shoulders. “You need to relax.”
“Leo is sleeping over at our house,” Emma said, bouncing in Leo’s lap.
Jake and Peyton both glanced at me, the same smirk curling their lips as they looked between us.
“If we open the couch in the basement, I think that will be better for you.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked, my chest tightening as I tried to figure out where Emma was going with this.
“Because,” she began, her big blue eyes narrowed at me. “The last time he slept over, I heard him tossing and turning like Chloe does when she can’t sleep. I heard the bed hit the wall just like when she keeps moving around. I think it’s because your bed may be too small and his legs are really long.”
Peyton burst out laughing, while Jake scrubbed a hand down his face.
“But don’t be scared,” Emma said, wrapping her arm around Leo’s neck. “That weird noise is just the boiler, like Mommy said.”
“That’s very nice of you. Thank you,” Leo said, trying and failing to stifle a laugh. I wanted to melt into the carpet and thanked God my mother was too busy in the kitchen to hear.
“Is dessert out yet?” Chloe asked, her eyes darting away from where Leo was laughing with her sister.
“Soon. We’ll call you when it’s out. The kitchen is a little crowded right now.”
She nodded, her mouth angled down in a frown as she turned to go back upstairs.
Leo brushed a kiss on my shoulder and squeezed my knee. As much as I tried to put it out of my mind for the holiday, I couldn’t fully enjoy my life until I figured out how to make my daughter enjoy hers.
THIRTY-FIVE
LEO
