21. #2
I pulled Leo’s blanket up, and he snuggled into his pillow before he smiled at me.
I walked over to the other bed, sort of glad I’d caved and let the boys convince me, with Zane’s help, to buy them raised beds with a play area and a desk underneath.
It was so much easier to give them kisses since they were eye level with me.
Beau was waiting for me, ready for our nightly routine that was much calmer than the one Leo and I shared. He leaned forward to rub his nose against mine before he said, “Love you, Mama.”
“I love you, too, my Beau,” I whispered before I kissed his forehead. “Sleep tight, baby.”
“Can you ask Zane to come and tell us goodnight?” Leo asked.
My heart swelled to know that Zane was that important to them, but I warned, “I will, but you better not get riled up like you did last night.”
“We won’t, I promise,” Beau assured me.
“I’ll send him up in a few minutes, okay? Let me get your sister to bed first.” I walked over to the door and turned off the light before I said, “Love you!”
The boys told me the same, and I smiled as I pulled the door shut. I wasn’t more than three steps away when I heard them start talking, and even though that meant it would take longer for them to get to sleep, I knew that sleeping in the same room was best for them right now.
In the two weeks since we’d officially moved in with Zane, our lives had changed drastically.
John and Mattie had gone over to the house the day after the wall collapsed and found that the clumps of insulation in the walls had a high percentage of asbestos, and since almost everything in the house had a fine coating of it by the time the dust settled that night, it meant that we needed new bedding at the very least.
Since I had to purchase new furniture, I decided to size up for each of the kids, moving the boys from toddler beds to twins, and Alana from a twin to a full. And, of course, the new beds had to have new bedding, which meant that they each got to choose the decor for their rooms.
Leo and Beau’s room was a mishmash of superheroes, which wasn’t a surprise since that was what they wanted to be when they grew up, while Alana’s room had turned into an explosion of pink with fairies and flowers everywhere.
I smiled when I walked into her room and found her curled up in bed with a book she’d gotten when Zane took her and her new friend Opehila to the bookstore while I was at an optometrist appointment with Dawson.
Beau and Leo spent that time with Sam at the garage, which taught me a valuable lesson about having boys in Zane’s family. I was going to need to purchase a lot more clothes for them. They came home absolutely covered in motor oil and dirt but happier than I’d ever seen them.
“Mom, can I have a wardrobe?” Alana asked.
“Honey, you’ve already got more clothes than you need. If Yaya keeps buying you stuff, we’re going to have to build a shed to hold it all.”
“No, Mom. I don’t need more clothes, I want a wardrobe!” When I tilted my head, she held her book up and said, “So I can find my way to a secret land.”
“Hmm. My guess is that we won’t be able to find a magic wardrobe locally, so you’re probably gonna have to limit your visits to secret lands through your reading for now.
” I sat down on the edge of her bed and reminded her, “You need to get to sleep soon, baby. Don’t forget, we’ve got a big day tomorrow that includes one of your favorite hobbies. ”
“It’s not really shopping if we’re just buying school supplies,” Alana complained.
“What if I throw in a visit to the shoe store when we’re finished buying supplies?”
Alana’s eyes lit up, and she snapped her book shut and set it on the nightstand before she scooted down beneath the covers. I knew the way to my girl’s heart, but it unfortunately included my credit card.
Now that it was Alana’s turn, I started our nightly routine by asking, “What made you happy today?”
She thought about it for a minute before she said, “I liked that I got extra crispies with my chicken at lunch, that I got to hang out with Zoey and plant seeds with her, and that . . . um . . . that Zane taught me how to use a nail gun.”
My heart leapt up into my throat before I asked, “He let you use a nail gun?”
“Yeah. It was really cool. I put those things all over the place!”
“Sounds great,” I lied.
“What made you happy today?”
“That I woke up and got to my coffee while I sat around the breakfast table with my favorite people, that you shared a bite of your extra crispies at lunch, and that I got kisses from all of my kids before they went to sleep.”
And then she said the same thing she said every night when I ended my good things list. “You haven’t gotten a kiss from me yet.”
I leaned forward to give her a smacking kiss before I said, “And now my good things for the day are complete.”
“Love you, Mom.”
“Love you, too, baby. Have sweet dreams tonight, okay?”
I flipped on her nightlight, a little fairy house that was lit from within, and then turned her bedside lamp off and found that her eyes were already closed.
I pulled the door shut and made my way across the house to the garage where a new staircase led up to the attic where Zane was still working.
I was shocked to see how much progress they’d made today.
There was already drywall over most of the plastic film they’d used to cover the spray foam insulation they’d blown in a few days ago.
They had also put up the framing that would separate the space into sections: one for Zane’s workout equipment, another for his office, and another for my office. I was extremely excited about it.
No more working at the kitchen table when the kids were at school or sleeping before I had to pick everything up and store it away until the next time I had a chance to work. I was going to have a real desk with a comfortable chair and silence whenever I needed it.
Just that was enough to make me giddy.
Zane looked over his shoulder and said, “Hey, babe.”
“So, I hear Alana had a blast working up here with you today,” I said as I walked closer to him. “You let the girl use a nail gun?”
“It was a staple gun, and it isn’t even electric.”
“Thank God,” I whispered. In a louder voice, I said, “I thought I might have to kill you.”
Zane laughed before he asked, “Are the kids already in bed?”
“They are, but the boys asked for you to come say goodnight before they go to sleep.”
“I won’t rile them up again,” Zane grumbled before I could even say anything. “Are Day and Daw home yet?”
“Dawson is staying over at Remi’s, and Dayton is at Jewel’s with Max.”
Zane frowned before he said, “I was hoping they’d come home and help me out. I’m not sure I can get that drywall up by myself.”
“I’ll help.” He smirked, and I said, “I can do it! I’ve got skills!”
“You’ve got all the skills, but I’m not sure hanging drywall is one of them.”
“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”
“It’s worth a try,” Zane agreed. He gave me a kiss and then walked toward the stairs before he said, “I’ll be back after I say goodnight to the kids and grab some water.”
“I’ll be here waiting,” I assured him as I watched him walk away.
When I heard the door downstairs open and then close again, I got to work - and not the kind of work Zane had mentioned. Once I was naked, I unplugged the table saw and hopped up to sit on the cold metal.
It was time to give my man one more good thing before he finished his day and christen another room in our house.