arch @starsinthesky5 - Tumblr Blog

Aug 21

Operation: Tag Team

Summary: After a big project in another city takes away from family time, you re-evaluate things as your kids come up with a plan to add a new member to the family.

Word Count: 6.4K

“We should ask for a pony. They’re pretty, I can brush it everyday. And we can ride it in the back yard?”

Kai stares at her and immediately shuts his sister’s idea down. “Mom and dad are never going to say yes to a pony, it’s too big. We should get something small and cool. A Komodo Dragon.”

Peach cocks her head to the side. “What’s a Komodo Dragon?”

“It’s a big lizard that looks like a dragon,” he explains, very matter of fact.

“Mommy’s not gonna let you have a dragon in your room Kai,” Peach tells him, sounding sad. “Dragons are cool, but she’s gonna say no. They’re too dangerous for kids.”

Clearly unable to come to a solid conclusion, the two kids decide to put a pin in the conversation and pick it up another time. Molly, their nanny just happened to hear the entire exchange. She thought it was cute, listening to them brainstorm together calmly when an hour earlier she had to tell Kai to stop picking on his sister while she tried to host a teddy bear tea party. He was still upset about her purposefully knocking down the train tracks he’d been working on and decided her post-nap quiet time was the perfect opportunity to crush her spirits by reminding her it was water not tea in her teacups so Molly made a mental note to brew real tea tomorrow so this wouldn’t happen again.

Kai heard the garage door open but didn’t look up from his magna-tiles, uttering “mom’s home” while adding the finishing touches to his cuboid. He either wanted to turn it into a huge tower, or add triangular pieces and make a house. You tried not to get emotional seeing his interest in building models because he’d once mentioned that when he built a home in his playroom he was kind of like an architect like his mom and that made your heart smile. But you had to keep that immense happiness at bay when you saw him because he’d probably be super confused if you started crying over building blocks that contained magnets.

You looped your bag through the hook in the mudroom and took off your shoes as Molly came into view. “Hi, how were they?”

Molly smiled at the concern on your face. “They were great.”

“But…?” You began, knowing there was something missing. Not that Kai and Peach weren’t well behaved, they usually were, but from Molly’s expression, you’d known her long enough to know she was withholding some pertinent information. “What’s the damage? I can handle it.”

“No it’s not anything Earth shattering I promise,” Molly laughs. She leans her hip against the counter and smiles at you. “We were doing a craft after I picked them up and Peach spilled some paint on the table and said ‘damnit.’” She watched as you practically flinched hearing her retelling of the incident, your eyes wide, eyebrows raised so much the nanny held back a laugh just enough to assure you it really wasn’t that bad. “I told her it was a naughty word and not to say it again. But, if it makes you feel any better, she did use the word in the right context.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better, though I appreciate you for trying.”

She laughs again, shoulders naturally moving up and down. “Worth a shot.” Molly grabs her stuff off the side table and her keys, heading into the playroom to say goodbye to Kai and Peach who stop what they’re doing to hug her.

“Okay guys, I’ll see you in the morning at breakfast time.”

Kai turns when you enter the room and rushes over to give you a hug. “You’re leaving early tomorrow?”

“I am, I have to be in Dayton at 8AM and it’s an hour drive, remember? So Molly’s gonna be here when you wake up.” He nods, still holding onto you and Peach accidentally hammers in the final nail in the coffin.

“Why do you always have to go to work?” The words aren’t coming to you, because what is there to say to the sets of eyes full of sadness who want to spend time with you but you’re off in another city building some gym for strangers when all you want to be doing is hanging out with your two favorite people.

Luckily Joe comes in, having missed that entire interaction and Peach sprints into his arms, giving Molly the perfect chance to sneak out as you mouth a small “thank you.” She gives you a small nod before leaving for the night. You have an hour as Morgan makes dinner to hear all about what you missed, not having seen them last night because they were already asleep by the time you got home. Joe watched them try to stall and wait for you but there wasn’t enough energy left after a jam packed day. With the summer in full force in the midst of the offseason, Joe had meetings and workouts but spent time swimming with them, taking them to the zoo, getting ice cream and doing bedtime alone when you missed your window. Yes, you were grateful that the kids were getting older and that Joe was a seasoned parenting veteran but a part of you still felt like you’d been dropping the mom ball, a bit too often. And after Molly’s confession, you had to put the mom hat on and address a few things…over spaghetti.

You looked at your toddler who was mindlessly digging into her food, eating her broccoli without being asked, almost as if she knew she was about to be in trouble. “Layla Rose…I heard you used a naughty word today.”

Kai snorts into his cup of juice before setting it back down. “Yeah Peach cussed, big time. Somebody’s in trouble.”

“Not now, dude.” Joe warned him, voice low. The five-year-old, as of a month ago, seemed unmoved, shrugging while taking another bite.

“I heard daddy say it,” Peach says casually. “I thought it was a funny word but Molly said don’t say it, so I didn’t anymore.”

You glance over at Joe who isn’t exactly rushing to make eye contact and Kai decides it’s his time to shine again. “Dad and Peach are both in trouble.”

“No!” Layla cries, looking over at Joe and reaches for him. “Daddy don’t be in trouble, I love you for my whole life. You can’t be in trouble. I won’t say a bad word ever ever again, promise.”

“I love you too Peach. We’re gonna be fine. We just can’t say bad words, okay?” He assures her, reaching to wipe a tear slipping down her face. The thought of her dad getting in trouble sounded worse than getting all of her toys taken away in the middle of the night.

Layla takes a sip of water, needing a minute to recover from the emotional turmoil she hadn’t expected to experience. “I’m sorry for saying a naughty word, mommy.”

“I’m sorry too,” Joe adds in right after her, looking at you. You want to be mad but the entire thing has just been so unbelievably dramatic, you want to laugh but you also want her to know it’s not okay. The last thing you need is a phone call from her teacher that she told someone to fuck off because she heard it in passing, nipping this in the bud before it became a bigger issue.

“You have to say who you sorry to,” Peach reminds him. “It’s mispeckful, right mommy?”

“It is respectful. Thank you for your apology,” you give her a fist bump, “love you sweet thing.”

“Love you the mostest. And daddy? Who you sorry to?”

Joe’s face is stoic, but in the way that you know he’s really trying to keep it together. “I’m sorry…mommy.”

Kai and Layla erupt into a wild fit of giggles, you and Joe share a look, wanting to bottle that sound and carry it around with you so you can listen to it on repeat. Whenever you want. The wide range of emotions is wild, feeling guilty about not being around them much, being appalled that your two and a half year old cussed in front of her nanny, to wanting to put both of them in your pocket and wanting to hold them close all in the span of an hour.

“She’s not your mommy, she’s ours.” Kai informs him. “Your mommy is Gigi.”

“Do you want me to call Gigi to apologize?”

His son takes another sip of his drink and says “no one should be saying bad words.”

“Thank you Kai, I agree.” You said to the table, satisfied enough with the conversation to finish your food.

Bedtime was a routine carefully curated by every member of the family and an ordeal that was probably too dramatic to discuss in public. Kai picked out s’mores pajamas, a T-shirt and shorts set and for some reason, Layla allowed Joe to pick out what she’d wear to bed so she came into the bathroom also in a matching two piece set, with a twist.

“Are those…lobsters?” You asked her incredulously, “where’d you get these from?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, standing on the step stool to reach the sink. She wet her toothbrush and waited for toothpaste. “I want daddy to do it.”

You were almost offended she didn’t want your assistance until Kai grabbed your hand and asked for help. He placed the tub of toothpaste in your hand without letting you go and watched you squeeze the perfect amount onto his toothbrush. Both of them had electric ones that did most of the brushing for them just to make sure they were actually cleaning their teeth and not just messing around with water and bubble gum berry blast gel. Joe entered the room and walked over to Layla’s sink, placing toothpaste on her brush. “There you go.”

“Thank you,” she said in her most angelic voice. “Can you play the song too, pretty please?”

“Yeah we love the song,” Kai echoed, getting excited.

Joe grinned as he scrolled through his phone while you turned on the speaker in between both basins, My Shiny Teeth and Me, blared throughout the room as the kids pushed their buttons and started brushing while dancing.

“When did you get her lobster pajamas?” You asked him, in the middle of the performance. “Don’t forget the inside of your mouths, top and bottom. And your tongues.” They responded with a thumbs up each, mostly consumed by Chip Skylark’s voice. Peach stood on the step stool knees bouncing while Kai tried to mumble the lyrics as he brushed.

“My dad got ’em for her the last time they were in Baton Rouge.”

“Of course he did. They’re super cute.”

The song ended and they filled their cups with water and rinsed their mouths. “We spit at the same time,” Kai laughed, giving his sister a high five.

Joe stifles a laugh, shaking his head. “Let’s see those shiny teeth,” he examines Layla’s first. She places her hands behind her back, imitating her brother. Both of them seem prepared for a thorough inspection. “Not bad, those are pretty sparkly.” He moves over to Kai next, “glowing teeth right there, very shiny.” He nods a few times, gesturing over to you. “What do you think?”

You scan back and forth between them and flash a warm smile. “Ten out of ten on the shiny scale. At ease soldiers, you’ve done good work. I think you’ve earned two books each tonight.”

“Each?” Kai asks, making sure he heard correctly.

“Each. But no big Dr. Seuss books,” you let them both know in advance because you didn’t want to be reading all night. “Those are way too long. Anything else is fine.”

Peach takes off running to the library hallway. They’ve gotten so many books over the years that Ivy hired someone to turn the hallway in between their rooms into a lengthy bookshelf even Layla can reach. “I’m picking first!”

“No fair,” Kai groans, “she always picks first.”

“You can pick first tomorrow,” you assure him. “I’ll make sure we remember.”

“Fine,” he relents, dragging his feet to the books. “But can we read in your bed before we go to our rooms?”

Joe now has Layla in his arms with her two books already chosen. “Sure buddy, we can read in our room. Pick your books and meet us in there.”

You and Kai spend a few more minutes by the bookshelf, letting him carefully choose his two books. He stands there pensively like this is the most important decision he’ll ever make and you try to avert your eyes from the flashcards and early level reading books on one of the higher shelves. The thought of him being able to read on his own made your stomach hurt but you quickly recovered when Kai made his selection and walked over to the master bedroom, stopping in his tracks when he stepped in. “Peach, that’s my spot. I always sit by dad.”

“Oh,” she says, scooting over to the other side. You expected an argument, some kind of protesting because that was pretty much the toddler’s default setting, but she didn’t say another word. You settled in next to her and Kai took his rightful spot next to Joe, who started reading Peach’s first book, letting Kai turn the page for him. She started out super engaged, her small hand in yours but listening to every word. By the second book, both of her arms were wrapped around one of yours, clearly fading. As you started reading the fourth book, Peach had become an extension of your body, you didn’t know someone could be sitting so close without being surgically attached. Once you were finished, you knew you weren’t getting rid of your little shadow so you picked her up, letting her rest her head in the crook of your neck. “Night night Kai,” you grumbled in a sleepy voice, “love you.”

He stood on the bed so he could meet her eyes, a gentle hand resting on her back. “I love you Peach, night.”

You smiled at their sweet interaction and walked Peach to her room. She hopped down when you crossed the threshold to turn on her white noise machine, getting into bed as you pulled the banket up to her chin and gave her a kiss on her forehead, then her cheek. “Goodnight peach pie, I love you so much.” She wrapped her arms around you one more time giving you two kisses in the midst of the hug.

“Love you more.” On your way across the hall to Kai’s room, you turned on the unicorn nightlight and left Peach’s door open.

Kai walked with his dad a few steps behind him on the way to his room and climbed into his big boy bed. Joe hugged him, letting his son give him a big squeeze then he kissed Kai’s temple before tucking him in. “Love you, dad.”

“I love you more little man,” he said softly, reaching over to turn on the Death Star light-up shelf on the dimmest setting so his son could have a little light, but still get some sleep. The two of you walked past each other as you switched rooms. You kissed Kai on both cheeks and he paused, “why two kisses?”

“Because I wanted to give you two, is that okay?”

“Yeah,” he said plainly as you ran your fingers through his curls.

Joe walked into Peach’s room and found her in the middle of a dramatically loud yawn, followed by “I’m not even tired yet, daddy.”

“That’s great to hear,” he tells her like he means it, “but I am. I’m going to bed.”

“You are?”

“I am. Everyone needs sleep.”

Peach yawns again, a million questions dancing in her mind but she’s physically too tired to muster up the words she wants to say. “Everyone? Even princesses?”

“Especially princesses,” he pokes her nose and kisses her forehead. “Love you.”

“Love you forever.”

Joe beams at her. “And ever. Get some sleep.” Both doors finally shut behind you, and Joe lets out a long breath in the hallway. Two kids successfully asleep, or at least contained in their rooms. He finds you back in the bedroom looking every bit as exhausted as he feels. “You good?” He asks, practically melting into the bed.

“I’m great, actually,” you sat next to him, resting your head on his shoulder with a sigh of relief. “I missed this.”

“Bedtime?”

“All of this. Even them bickering and you teaching my daughter curse words.”

Joe makes a sound, “sorry. I didn’t see or hear her. I thought—I’ll work on it.”

“That’s all I ask,” you tilt your head up to kiss him. “But seriously, they’re…the best. And they’re getting older by the second, I mean Kai’s going to kindergarten in a few months and—”

“Okay, slow your roll,” Joe interrupts, “he’s five, not going to college in the morning.”

You caressed his face, thumb tracing the outline of his chin. “You don’t want me to acknowledge that our baby boy’s growing up, I get it. I just—I feel like I need to do more on the mom front. Work has been taking up so much and I don’t know babe, I want them to know even if I’m gone a lot, I still love them.”

“Is this about getting them a pet?” He deadpans.

“Wait, what?”

“Oh you didn’t hear? While you were planning to wash our daughter’s mouth out with soap, I heard about a pony. And a Komodo Dragon.” Joe takes your hand in his, encasing it in his warmth. “You’re a great mom, you hear me? And they are very loved and cared for and they know your job is important, just like mine is when the season starts. Working does not mean we love them any less and it definitely does not mean we should get them a fucking pony, no matter how many times Layla gives me those adorable begging eyes she got from you.”

“Fucking? Seriously? Dude.”

He curses again under his breath which kind of defeats the entire purpose. And you heard him anyway. “I’m trying to give you a pep talk here, working parent to working parent. We have two really cool, fun little charmers who are incredibly happy. Komodo Dragon or not.”

“You’re right,” you sigh, allowing yourself to be pulled into him. He lets your bodies rest sideways on the mattress, your ear resting in the space that’s ideal to feel the steady beat of his heart and you could fall asleep right there with the lights on, at roughly 8:30PM. The guilt is still brewing somewhere deep down in your gut but Joe did help ease your mind. And the night spent with your kids wasn’t bad either. You’d definitely be replaying parts of the night tomorrow morning on your early drive.

The next night before dinner, the kids called a family meeting to talk about something important. Peach climbed into Joe’s lap and hugged him, asking him if he wants water, or a cheese stick. “I’m good Peach, thank you for asking.”

“Mama, do you want water? I can fill it by myself,” she was batting her eyelashes and really laying it on thick which meant this family meeting was more like an ambush than an entertaining, educational segment.

“I would love some, thank you sweets.”

“You’re welcome.”

After placing your water bottle back on the table without spilling a drop, you know she’d been focusing all of her energy reserves, and she had a lot of them, on whatever this family meeting was about. She stood next to Kai in the living room in front of you. They resembled two mini entrepreneurs ready to pitch their ideas on Shark Tank, except Joe was probably a tougher sell than any of the investors on the show.

Kai held a sheet of paper in front of him, covered in drawings of some kind from what you could tell and he’d clearly been rehearsing this speech with Peach and Molly. “Me and Peach have been talking for a while and we have decided on a pet. We should get a cat. Cats are small and don’t have to go on walks. And they can live inside the house.”

“And cats are fluffy and nice.” Peach adds. “They can sleep in our rooms and they have,” she stands on her tip toes to whisper into Kai’s ear. It’s not much of a whisper but the attempt is precious. “Where do they pee and poop again?”

“Litter box,” he whispers back.

“Oh yeah! The cat can have a litter box in a secret spot so it doesn’t get stinky in the house.”

“And me and Peach can learn how to clean it every day.” Kai says, his gaze turned away from the paper, focused on both adults.

Joe makes eye contact with you and then turns to them. “You guys came up with this together?”

They both nod, “we asked Molly for help but me and Kai didn’t even fight. We really want a cat, pretty please?”

“You guys are gonna clean up after the cat?”

Kai nodded as soon as you spoke. “We will. We’ll get a brush for them and give them water and not let them get hurt.”

“I actually don’t think a cat is the worst idea,” you told them, trying to keep your face neutral even though you were immensely proud that they came up with them together.

Peach’s eyes are wide as she moves her head up and down, beyond ecstatic that one parent was getting on board with the plan. But she always knew daddy would be the tougher sell. He always said pets were a lot of work and could be super messy. “We be really nice to them too. And love them, every single day. Please please, dad?”

“Please, dad?” Her brother repeats, blue eyes staring into Joe’s soul.

When he turns his head again, you’re staring at him too, waiting for an answer. Peach was giving him that look, the one she always uses to get him to fold, whether she does it or not is to be determined. The fact that she looks just like you, the tiny micro-expressions she got from you are so ingrained in her DNA it’s impossible for him to not see your face reflected on her small body. It renders him useless almost every time. And Kai, his clone and the reason being a parent has admittedly made him a lot softer. He realizes he doesn’t stand a chance right now. “Fine.” Kai and Peach high five each other and start jumping up and down celebrating their win until he tells them to wait. “Don’t get too excited yet. We can go to an animal shelter and look. No promises.”

“Can we look tomorrow?” Kai asks, his body seemingly vibrating.

You shrugged. “Tomorrow is Sunday, I don’t work.” Peach clapped a few times, checking in with Kai to make sure he was also happy. He definitely was.

“Guess we’re going tomorrow,” Joe relents and the celebration continues as he tries to wrap his head around what the hell just happened.

Before anyone could get out of the car, Joe sat in the parking lot and made an announcement while everyone still had their seatbelts on. “Alright Burrow One and Two, this is how today’s gonna work.”

“Who’s Burrow One?” Peach asks.

Kai stops biting his nails long enough to inform her, “me. I’m older.”

From your view of her in the mirror, Peach looks less than impressed at his reasoning but bites her tongue, not wanting to start a fight with her brother in the parking lot of the animal place. “Fine.” Is all she says to him, then faces forward again. “You can talk now daddy.”

“Thanks Peach, I appreciate it. Here are the rules: cats only. No dogs, no bunnies if they have them. No touching unless you ask first. No screaming,” he stares intently, making eye contact with the little girl behind him. “I’m looking at you specifically,” she nods and he continues. “Absolutely no fighting, if there’s a fight, we’re leaving. Got it?”

“Yes dad,” they responded at the same time. Joe is satisfied with that answer and he opens his door, walking to the back seat to unbuckle Peach as you open Kai’s door and he hops out. As a necessity, Joe called ahead and booked a private appointment for an hour. He did not need a picture looking at pets going viral on Twitter in the morning when he was bamboozled into driving here. And the further along they got in this master plan, the more convinced he was that he’d have a fur ball living in his home.

The staff greeted them and showed them right to the cat area to avoid any distractions. Most of them were asleep, some had toys, others were hiding. Kai had a sense of awe in his face you’d never seen before, too stunned to speak while Peach you could tell was resisting the urge to touch everything. “We actually have a new rescue, he’s pretty young, vaccinated this morning. He hasn’t even like been named yet. Would you like to meet him?”

Peach checks in with you, waiting for the approving nod before saying yes. She and Kai sit quietly as instructed and wait for the animal care employee to come back with this mysterious newcomer. The employee, Ella, sets down a small brown puddle of softness with a white belly, white paws and gentle green eyes. He stretches himself out before staring at both of the children, who seem to be holding their breath they’re so silent. “Wait for him to get comfortable,” you whisper to your daughter who’s itching to reach out her hand, you can tell by how she’s clutching her knee. “You don’t wanna spook him.”

“How long do I have to wait?” She whispers back, clearly this patience thing is a work in progress.

“He’s the color of a coffee bean,” Kai points out.

“Bean,” you say out loud, without meaning to.

Joe moves toward you, arm brushing against yours. “Did you just name him?”

“No I didn’t, I just repeated what Kai said.”

“Bean’s a good name,” Ella proclaims, not realizing she’s just added fuel to a quickly growing wildfire that’s fully spread when the cat paws over and rubs his head against Kai’s leg. Then moves carefully over to Peach who bites back a gasp when she’s close enough to touch him. “Can I pet him?”

“Of course,” Ella tells her, “you can go gently across his back.” She demonstrates the motion and Peach copies to the best of her ability. “Good job, he likes you guys. He’s been pretty shy this morning.”

“How old is he?” Joe asked her, watching Kai get closer so he can pet him too.

“About a year old.”

“He’s one? So he’s a baby?”

Ella smiles, “he is sort of like a baby, yeah.”

“He’s my baby,” Peach decides. “Can he come home with us, please?”

Kai doesn’t even look up, too engrossed in touching the cat to even put in an effort to beg, you and Joe both know he’s gone. And Peach just decided she needs to protect Bean with her life. The quarterback sighs, eyes on the shelter worker. “We’ll take him.”

“Okay great, I’ll get the adoption paperwork ready for you and once he finishes his other initial tests, we’ll give you a call to schedule a pickup.”

The kids are now listening and recognize they’re not taking him home today, an immediate wave of sadness washing over them. “You’ll see Bean in a few days. What do you two say first?”

“Thank you!” Peach says, a bit louder than intended and Bean flinches and scurries off to the corner.

“Thank you for showing him to us, we really like him,” Kai places his hands in his lap, wanting Bean to come back.

“We love him,” Peach stresses, standing and holding up her arms for her dad to grab her. Once she’s settled in his arms and all of you are on your way back to the car she wraps her arms around Joe’s neck and kisses his cheek. “Thanks for bringing us daddy, Bean is fluffy and perfect and he’s gonna live at our house.”

“You’re welcome Peach. And yes he is, you guys better take care of him.”

“We will, we promise,” Kai says instantly, getting in his seat.

“But we left him,” Peach says, sounding horrified. “Who’s gonna take care of him?”

“The people here are going to take really good care of Bean until he’s ready to come home.” You explain as Joe helps her with the seatbelt.

She doesn’t appear to buy that answer completely. “He has food?”

“Yes.”

“What about water? He has some?”

Joe laughs. “Yup. And he even has a bed. We don’t have those things at our house right now so it’s a good thing he’s staying here so we can go get everything Bean needs, right?”

“Right.”

As you watched Morgan make breakfast the next morning, you made a mental note to talk to Joe about getting the man a raise. He’d somehow managed to sneak in 3 vegetables in an egg muffin so that the kids would eat it with minimal complaints. The man was the closest person you knew to a magician and was the only reason Kai and Peach knew what chia pudding was. Not that you were a health nut, you just wanted to give them a variety and introduce fiber and other carbs in a way that was productive.

You heard gentle footsteps coming down and got a little excited. “Mom?”

“Good morning, angel boy. How was your sleep?”

He looked totally lost, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. “It was good. But why are you here?”

“Mommy’s here?” Peach’s voice bellowed from the top floor. This was a new volume she’d recently unlocked, which was great news for everyone else. She ran down to the kitchen and you caught her just in time before she hit the counter.

“Hi to you too,” you laughed into her hair, moving it out of her face.

Kai was still standing by the steps. “You’re not at work.”

“I am not. Took the day off to hang out with two of the coolest kids ever, is that okay?”

You watched his face light us as he walked towards you and into your arms, even though his sister made no attempts to move. “Yeah it’s okay.”

While they ate their food, you gave them the rundown for the day. They’d inherited this innate need to have a daily plan and to know what was going on at all times, courtesy of their father, so you provided the to-do list. “After breakfast we need to get Bean his stuff so the house is ready for him to come home. We’re gonna sit here, grab the computer and order everything so it’ll be here later in the afternoon, while we wait, I was thinking…we build a fort and watch a movie?”

“Oh, we should watch Inside Out!” Kai exclaims, “I love that one.”

“Yeah, yeah Inside Out,” Peach gives her vote of support.

“Fort, Inside Out, lunch. Morgan’s gonna get stuff from the Sugar and Spice diner so you can think about what you guys want and let him—”

“I want a grilled cheese,” Peach says, raising her hand. “Please.”

Kai puts a finger on his chin. “I want chicken tenders and fries please. Thanks Momo.”

“Thanks Momo, you’re the best.” Morgan fist bumps Peach as she takes a bite of her chia pudding. “And this is yummy, I love mango.”

“I know you do,” Morgan tells her, giving her a wink.

“Alright orders are in. After lunch, hopefully our stuff will be here and we can open everything, get it clean for Bean and then dad will be home, sound good?” You got two nodding heads and thanked Morgan for his services as he started cleaning up.

Peach sat on the counter next to the computer because apparently she couldn’t see, but she was close enough to you and far enough away from anything dangerous that you let her sit there for 20 minutes while you added things to your online shopping cart. “Okay, what does our cat need?”

“Food.” Peach says first. The shelter had already texted Joe the brand of food Bean had been eating, so you added both the wet and dry versions to the cart. “And a bed.”

“Water?” Kai suggests.

“We have water, baby.”

“Water bowl,” he corrects himself and you scroll through, letting him choose a stainless steel water fountain. Along with a food bowl. Peach chose a few toys for him, Kai remembered cats need brushes and beds to which his sister then decided they needed to get Bean a blanket for his bed in case he gets chilly at night.

Then she gasped. “Mommy, he needs his poop place. The—what’s it called again?”

“Litter box. He needs a one of those for sure. And litter.” You added both, grabbing two litter boxes just in case. “He also needs a scratching post.”

They both looked at you with wide eyes until Kai asked, “why?”

“Because cats scratch.”

Peach looks concerned. “People?”

“No. Hopefully his scratching post.”

“Oh.” She looked relieved and that was the end of that. You got a cat tree because it looked fun and easy to put together, a stuffed fish Kai thought looked cool, treats, a personalized collar, a litter mat and a scooper.

You purchased the cart and shut the laptop. “Ready for our fort and movie?”

Kai took the fort building seriously, taking the lead on how many pillows and blankets were needed for this to be executed correctly. Peach surprisingly listened to his instructions, grabbed all the pillows and blankets he asked for and only called him a meanie when he told you that your side was crooked. Seeing him take on this leadership role was adorable, and a little scary to see your own traits reflected in your child but you focused on the good. Kai was so much like Joe in so many ways, the obvious being that they physically looked pretty identical, still. But the more he grew the more he developed his own interests, golf, magna-tiles, art. And once he was satisfied with the construction of the fort, his smile reached his eyes and you couldn’t help but hug him. “Proud of you.”

“For my fort?”

“For a lot of stuff,” you clarified. “You’re just so grown up sometimes.”

“Okay mom, can we watch the movie now?”

“Yeah,” you grabbed the remote, shaking your head at how unfazed he was at your attempt to make this an emotional moment. He sat in the fort, with you in the middle and allowed you to hold both of them as the opening credits flashed across the screen. Peach was in and out of sleep halfway through even though she hadn’t been awake for more than a couple hours and Kai moved to the back of the fort to enjoy the fruits of his labor in solitude. But no matter what, you still got to spend time with them instead of being in Dayton coming up with designs for the up and coming Life Time Fitness they were planning to open.

Peach gave Kai half of her grilled cheese at lunch time which was surprising and he responded by giving her some of his fries. Yesterday they fought because she got her hair caught on something and thought he pulled it so she smacked him. Today, they were sharing food. Incredible.

By the time Joe came home with a cat carrier in hand, the house was cat ready. Water bowls, fountains, beds and blankets had been cleaned and cat trees with scratching posts were set up. And the litter box was in it’s super secret spot. You hadn’t told them when exactly Bean would be here because they’d spend days asking exactly what time, so this was a much safer way to go about it. “Guys, remember, quiet voices, let him come to you.”

Joe set the carrier down and opened it and Peach walked over to him. “Is Bean in there?”

“He is, we’re gonna give him a minute. We don’t wanna scare him.”

“Why is he not coming out?”

Kai sits on the floor. “Because he doesn’t know us. Or our house, right?” He looks toward his dad who nods.

“Oh,” is all Peach says before she sits down, right at her dad’s feet. Bean pops his head out of the carrier and takes a few steps back before deciding he’s ready to come out. “Hi Bean,” Peach whispers, not reaching for him yet. He looks startled and doesn’t move toward her. “My name is Layla, everybody calls me Peach. I’m two so I’m bigger than you. And that’s Kai, he’s five and he’s my brother. And that’s mommy, she’s really nice and pretty. And this is daddy, he’s a prince.”

“I’m not a prince.”

“Yes you are. People ask you for pictures and smile when you talk to them. Even grown-ups. And you have pretty eyes and hair, like a prince.”

He chuckles, bending down to kiss the top of her head. “Thanks, Peach.”

“You’re welcome, daddy. See, now Bean knows us.”

Bean starts sniffing around, having ignored that entire interaction. He gets to Kai and brushes up against him and Kai gently scratches under Bean’s chin. “I think he remembers me, from yesterday.”

“He might,” you tell him, looking on fondly. Bean moves on to Peach who looks at her dad, eyes big and he matches her gaze, letting her have her time.

“Bean’s so soft,” she coos, petting him slowly. “Hey mommy?”

“Yes Peach?”

“You said we couldn’t have another baby, but we have one. We have a baby cat.”

Joe laughs under his breath and you give her an airy chuckle. “I guess we do.”

“Does that make Bean, Burrow Three, dad?” Kai asks.

“Uh—yeah.” He’s smiling again. “Guess it does, buddy.”

starsinthesky5

this is my family i can’t