Chapter Thirty-Four Charlie
Chapter Thirty-Four
Charlie
The three of us had fallen back into a rhythm.
Most nights Violet stayed at my place, but she’d also redecorated the guest room at her house and made it a Pinkalicious room, so Harper loved when we’d all stay over there as well.
Today was Harper’s last day of school, which meant field day and a family picnic.
My daughter wanted us both there. She’d said it like it was just the norm now.
Because we were a family, and I felt it every single day.
In the simple things like making breakfast together and helping Harper with her school projects, to the more difficult things like the night my daughter had the stomach flu, and Violet and I stayed up with her all night trying to comfort her.
Things had calmed down with Denise Quigley after I’d met with both her teacher and an administrator about the bullying.
Turned out other parents had made many complaints about her behavior, and Denise and her mother were brought in to discuss the situation.
I wasn’t privy to what those details were, but she’d left Harper alone ever since, which was all I cared about.
I drove the truck over to pick up Violet before we headed to Rosewood River Elementary for the big day.
“I see we’ve got a special outfit on today,” I said, raising a brow as I opened the passenger door for her outside her office.
“It’s field day, right?” She glanced down at her pink tennis skirt and white tee that read Team Harper Huxley in large pink letters.
I leaned forward and kissed her before helping her into the truck.
Her hair was in a high ponytail with a pink ribbon, and her white sneakers had pink laces.
She was clearly going all out for field day.
Once I got into the driver’s seat, I pulled away from the curb.
“We’re going for the picnic. I don’t usually participate in the ridiculous grown-up water balloon fight. I save that for the overzealous parents who are too competitive for their own good.” I turned down the street where the school sat by an enormous green field.
“Charles, I’m the overzealous, competitive grown-up currently wearing a themed outfit.
Harper said the water balloon contest is like dodgeball, and the last man or woman standing gets the prize, which happens to be a rainbow unicorn stuffed animal.
And our girl wants it. So guess who is playing dodgeball with water balloons?
This girl right here. And I am not above kicking and scratching if it means I get the gold. ”
I barked out a laugh as I pulled into the parking lot. “God damn, I love you, Firefly.”
“You’re going to love me more when I walk off the field carrying that unicorn. Buckle up, Charlie Huxley—you haven’t seen me in competition mode yet.”
I came around and opened her door and helped her out of the truck, interlacing our fingers as we walked toward the field.
Harper waved us over to where the kids were all sitting on the lawn. She came running toward us, her nose and cheeks a little red from all the activity.
“Wow! Vi, I like your outfit.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle, seeing as they were dressed the same, but Harper’s tee said Rosewood River Field Day, which all the kids were wearing. But she had on the skirt and the sneakers, and her hair was in the same high ponytail.
“We’re twins,” Violet said. “How did it go?”
“My class got first in the tug-of-war and second in the water balloon challenge,” my daughter said, beaming.
“A gold and a silver, that’s impressive,” Violet said.
I didn’t have the heart to point out that there were only two classes in the competition, so the only options were gold and silver.
“Yes!” Harper exclaimed. Her cast would finally be coming off in two weeks. “I didn’t get to do the tug-of-war, but Mrs. Wharton let me run up and down and cheer for my class.”
“Of course you did,” my girlfriend said.
Mrs. Wharton walked over with a smile on her face, and I didn’t even know the woman was capable of smiling. “Charlie, Violet, nice to see you both.”
“Nice to see you,” we said at the same time.
“I hope you’ll both be staying for the picnic and award ceremony after.” The elderly woman smiled down at my daughter.
“We wouldn’t miss it,” Violet said as she grabbed her foot. She was bending one leg behind her to stretch when she noticed other parents heading out to the field.
“Violet is going to do the water balloon challenge, and me and Daddy will be cheering her on,” Harper said.
“Good luck. The competition is steep this year.” She chuckled.
Mr. Zambo blew his whistle before shouting for all parents participating in the water balloon competition to make their way over.
Violet high-fived Harper and me before jogging out to the field.
“She’s the best, isn’t she, Daddy?” my daughter said as we found a good spot to cheer.
“She is. And so are you.” I rumpled the top of her hair.
The whistle blew, and the next fifteen minutes were the most entertaining of my entire life.
At least thirty parents were out on the field.
Half were taken out in the first two minutes of the competition.
Violet stood out as she ducked and jived, like dodgeball was her day job.
The next group was out fairly quickly as well, as most of the parents just sort of stood there throwing balloons before getting pelted and taken out.
Five people were left standing, and of course, Violet was one of them.
I wasn’t the least bit surprised. She was determined and driven, and I fucking loved it.
The four men competing against her didn’t stand a chance.
The kids were all cheering, and most of them were shouting Violet’s name.
They now called her the “demon slayer” in Harper’s class.
Violet ran all over the field, with water balloons being hurled in her direction, and she looked like a rock star out there.
The last two men on her team got nailed back to back, and they sulked off the field.
It was down to three. Two against one, and my girl was the only one left on her team.
They were firing off shots, and Violet took her time. She jumped over a balloon that had been launched at her ankle, just as she spiraled one at Steve Peterson, hitting him right in the chest. He chuckled and high-fived her as he jogged off the field.
It was just Violet and Josh Jones. The whistle blew, and Josh rifled a green balloon at Violet, who appeared to be running firefighter-style drills on the field as she zigzagged all over the place.
Harper was squeezing my hand, and Josh chucked his last balloon at her and missed again. Violet caught him as he turned to go get more and nailed him in the back.
The crowd roared, and my daughter and Lily took off running on the field as the three of them celebrated like they’d just won the Super Bowl.
Everyone was smiling as they watched, and Jeanne and Tim stood beside me, laughing hysterically.
“You better put a ring on that one soon,” Tim said teasingly.
“Did you just quote Beyoncé?” Jeanne said with a laugh.
And I just smiled.
Because it wasn’t the first time the thought had crossed my mind.
The family picnic was a lot better this year from having Violet with me.
She was social and funny, and I wasn’t in any hurry for it to end.
Mrs. Wharton gave all the students an award, and Harper received the best reader award for all the books she’d read this year.
I’d thought the party was over when Mrs. Wharton took the microphone to speak again.
“Okay, we finished all the awards, but we have one last one that we always save. It’s the most special award I give out each year.
It’s the citizenship award. This award is for the student who is kind and compassionate to everyone in the classroom.
This award is voted on by all the teachers who work with our class, including me, Mr. Zambo in PE, Mrs. Clark in art, and Ms. Scott in music.
This year was a unanimous decision, and the citizenship award goes to Miss Harper Huxley.
She has a heart of gold, and when I asked her classmates about her, every single one of them said she’d always been kind to them.
In this crazy world, it’s important to be kind, and I’m proud to give this award to you, Harper Huxley. ”
My daughter’s eyes were wide as she jogged up to the front to get her trophy from Mrs. Wharton. I glanced over at Violet. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she clutched the rainbow unicorn stuffed animal she’d won for Harper and watched with pride.
I guess kindness is contagious.
Because both of my girls have it in spades.
“This was really sweet of you,” I said as I took in the tent in the middle of her living room.
There were twinkle lights strung across the ceiling, a blanket on the floor, and a pizza on a little tray table sitting on the blanket.
She had a bottle of wine and two glasses, along with candles lit on every surface nearby. Violet didn’t do anything half assed.
“I like our new plan of surprising one another with date nights each week,” she said, leading me over to the tent. “So this is dinner and a movie, and maybe you’ll get lucky before we go home.”
Abigail had agreed to babysit once a week so we could make this time for one another, and Harper was fine with it. If we did it on a weekend, she’d invite Lily over, and if it was a weeknight, she and Abigail would do her homework and watch a show together.
“This is really great. What are we watching?” I settled on the blanket as she reached for the remote.
“Well, I thought we could watch The Proposal. It’s one of my favorite movies, and it takes place in Alaska.”
“Never heard of it.” I placed a slice of pizza on each of our plates and opened the bottle of wine.
“It’s a rom-com, Charles.”
I groaned. “Nobody gets shot or killed?”
“Nope,” she chuckled. “You’ll love it, though. They bicker a lot, just like we do.”
“Maybe we like bickering.” I handed her a glass of wine.