40. Chapter 40
Chapter 40
Lennox
I watch Pixie from the doorway. She’s holding a monster truck race in the corner, and she’s so damn happy. Was it a hell of a lot of work to make this happen? Absolutely. But it was beyond worth it. Now, she doesn’t just have a spare room; she has her room.
“Hey, Lenny. Thanks for my new room.” She looks up at me.
“I’m glad you like it, Pix. You wanna help me make family dinner tonight?”
“Yes!” She jumps up and runs to me, holding her arms up for me to hold her. We have a strong connection, but this is the first time she’s wanted me to carry her. She always goes to Roxie if she wants to be held. As I lift her up, she curls around me, wrapping her arms around my neck and resting her head on my shoulder with a content sigh.
I walk out to the living room, and Roxie immediately spots us. Her eyebrows rise as I shrug in reply. I don’t know what I did to have this little girl trust me, but I’m holding on tight for as long as she’ll let me.
I tip Ledger out of the chair he’s leaning back in, laughing as he stumbles forward to catch himself.
“Dick,” he mutters under his breath.
“Thanks, big bro.” I chuckle, picking it up with my free hand and taking it with me to the kitchen .
“Alright, you can sit here while I grab everything.” I place Ivy down onto the stolen chair.
“No! I want to help.” She hops down and runs to her stool, putting it in front of the refrigerator. “What do you need, Lenny?”
I fucking love her and her independent spirit.
“I need all the fixin’s for stir fry. Snow peas, carrots, onion, mushrooms, and the chicken.”
“I don’t think I like stir fry,” she says as she grabs all the ingredients and places them on the counter.
“Have you ever had it before?” I ask.
“Umm, nope.” She grabs the mushrooms last then sits in the chair next to me.
“Well, how do you know you don’t like it if you haven’t tried it?” I ask as I start slicing up the vegetables.
“Do you make it good, though? I guess I can try it, but only if you make it extra good.”
My lips roll inward at her question. I’m trying hard to not laugh at her. “I will try my hardest to make it the best stir fry ever.”
She’s quiet for a little while before she asks me a question I wasn’t prepared for. “Do you love Mommy?”
I almost slice my finger open cutting the damn onion, but I should have seen this coming. She’s a perceptive little thing, and if Roxie started hinting at things, I’m sure she picked up on it.
I’ve always tried my hardest to be honest with her, and this is no different. “Yeah, Pix, I do.”
“Oh, good. She loves you too, I think. So that would be bad if you didn’t,” she muses. “I asked if you were girlfwiend and boyfwiend. Is that what you are? ”
“Uh.” I’m not sure what I should say here. My answer is a hell yes, but Roxie is much more than a girlfriend. She’s the woman I plan to marry as soon as she feels comfortable enough to take that step. But telling a five-year-old that doesn’t seem like a good idea. Especially this one, with no filter and my heart in the palm of her hand.
“You should be.” She shrugs before struggling to open the bag of carrots.
“Would you be okay with your mom and me together?” I grab the bag from her and cut the top with my knife. I know she said we should be, but that doesn’t mean she’s okay with it.
“I think it would be the bestest thing ever. You make Mommy happy. Before here, she was never happy. And this is the first time she’s wanted to stay somewhere. It’s so good we’re staying here.” She lets out a happy sigh.
“I’m happy you’re staying too, Pix,” I whisper before pressing a kiss to the crown of her head.
“So, do you guys kiss?” She gives me a disgusted look that makes me laugh.
“I think maybe we shouldn’t talk about things that make your face look like that.” I tap her nose before finishing up the vegetables.
It takes no time at all to finish our prep and heat up the pan.
“Hey, Pix, can you go tell everyone dinner will be ready in ten minutes and ask if they’ll set the table?”
She nods and jumps down, and I set her up so she can throw all the ingredients in and cook it with me. When she comes back, her eyes light up.
“I get to throw stuff in?” she asks with awe in her voice .
“Totally.” I tell her when to add stuff to the pan, careful to watch that her arm doesn’t get too close. She’s a total pro, though, and in a matter of minutes, we’re throwing the whole thing into a bowl. I made some microwave rice. We all know I’m not a chef, so they’ll just have to deal with it. And we bring it all to the table. Ivy is holding the big bowl of stir fry with the proudest look on her face.
“Today for family dinner, we made stir fry,” she announces as she sets the bowl down on the table next to Ledger.
“Looks delicious, Ivy; thank you so much for cooking,” Ledger says in a tone I’ve never heard come from his mouth. Yeah, that little girl has everyone wrapped around her finger.
She beams at his words as she takes her seat in between Roxie and me.
“Okay, favorite things of the week are taking longer and longer these days, so start eating as we go around so it doesn’t get cold,” Ledger says.
Everyone starts passing the bowls of food as he starts our ritual. “My favorite thing this week was playing hooky today.” He winks at me, letting me know he’s not taking any credit for Ivy’s room.
“Mine was getting a load of daffodils in at the nursery,” Ainsley follows his lead.
“Mine was having coffee with you two.” Oakley nods to Arlo and me.
“I think my favorite part was getting to see my girl Ivy today,” Willow says with a smile to Ivy.
“I’ll go with family dinner today. I’m starving, and this is surprisingly good, Lenny,” Arlo says before he shoves a huge bite in his mouth. Rina elbows him, making him smile.
“My favorite was making the monster truck bed.” Rina winks at Ivy. She knew immediately Rina made it when she walked in today .
“Mine was getting answers,” Roxie says softly. The tone turns a little solemn, but we’re all thankful for the answers.
“Mine was my new bedroom!” Ivy says before taking a tentative bite of the stir fry. “Oh! That’s good. Maybe this is my favowite thing this week.” She says it like she just figured out the world’s hardest problem.
Internally, I boast as if I just won an Olympic medal.
“My favorite thing was making Ivy’s room her own. And that you both have decided to stay,” I add, looking over Ivy’s head at Roxie.
“Woohoo! Mine too. Can I change mine?” Ivy asks, looking around.
We all chuckle at her attention span, but there are lots of things to be thankful for this week. As hard as it’s been, a lot of positivity has come out of it.
“You can do whatever you want, Ivy,” Ledger says. Roxie kicks him under the table, giving him a stern glare and making everyone laugh harder.
Yeah, things may be hard and mostly unknown, but we’ll be okay.