Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
LARS
The pounding in Lars’s head increased with each passing minute. He closed his eyes for a second in the chaos, willing the piercing pain to go away. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he took a deep breath.
“Allie, Chloe, please,” he mumbled, his words barely audible over their fighting. He didn’t even know what they were arguing about this time.
But of course, that was when Maddie decided to join in and start screaming. Lars clenched his teeth. He was about four seconds from losing his mind. Running his fingers through his hair, he walked over to her Pack ’n Play.
“Hey…” He lifted her and began swaying, trying to soothe her. “Shh… It’s all right.”
Allie shouted and pushed Chloe, and he quickly ran to them.
“What are you doing?” He crouched, gently grabbing her while balancing Maddie in his other arm. “We don’t push.”
“She bit me!” Allie held up her hand to show little red marks.
Maddie continued wailing. Chloe continued screaming. Allie continued yelling. How in the hell was he supposed to handle this chaos by himself all week? He was tempted to call his mom and beg for help, but he shouldn’t need help with his own kids, dammit.
Releasing Allie, he focused on his middle child. “Chloe, why did you bite her?”
“She won’t—”
Whatever she’d been about to say was cut off by the fire alarm. He jumped up and ran to the kitchen to find water boiling over the stove and smoke coming from the oven.
“Shit,” he hissed, quickly rushing over to turn off the heat on both.
He went to put Maddie in her high chair so he could take care of the mess when the doorbell rang. Because of course it did. He was going to have a fucking aneurysm.
“I’ll get it!” Chloe yelled.
“No!” Keeping Maddie in his arms, he raced back to the living room just as Chloe reached for the doorknob. “Chloe Elizabeth, what did I say about opening the door without a grown-up?”
It was locked, but that wasn’t the point.
She shrugged, tears still rolling down her cheeks as she looked at him over her shoulder. “You here now.”
“You’re not supposed to!” Allie shouted.
Chloe spun and started fighting with her sister again. Trying not to snap, he reached past her and opened the door, praying it was someone he knew. The second he saw Aaron waiting on the other side, he almost cried in relief. “Oh thank God.”
“What is…” Aaron’s eyes widened as he took in the mayhem that was three screaming little girls, dinner burning, and a fire alarm.
“Daddy, the kitchen’s on fire!” Allie said from the doorway connecting the two rooms.
“Here,” Aaron took Maddie from Lars. “Go. I’ve got them.”
“Thank you,” Lars said while racing to the kitchen. “Allie, out. Go stay by Aaron and stop fighting with your sister.”
“But she started it!”
Lars opened the sliding back door and the window above the sink before snatching up the dish towel to open the oven. It wasn’t on fire, but smoke poured out. “I don’t care,” he told Allie as he took out the tray of blackened garlic bread and tossed it in the sink. “Go. Now.”
He looked into the pot of spaghetti noodles that were ruined too. Throwing the towel onto the counter, he grabbed a chair from the table and used it as a stool to turn off the alarm. The second it stopped, the last of his patience faded too.
Needing a moment, he went out to the deck and sat on the top step, trying to cool down before facing everything again. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before Aaron appeared beside him. His best friend didn’t speak; he simply took a seat and handed over a now-calm Maddie.
Lars took her with a smile. “Thank you.”
“I made the other two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and told them they could have ice cream for dessert if they stop fighting.”
With a breathy, exhausted laugh, Lars got to his feet and kissed Maddie’s temple when she rested her head on his shoulder. “You bribed my daughters to behave?”
“Should I not have done that?”
“Are you kidding? I wish I’d thought of that before this headache.”
Aaron laughed and patted him on the arm. “Come on, I made you a sandwich too. You eat while I clean the failed spaghetti disaster.”
“In case I haven’t said it in a while, you’re my favorite friend.
” Lars followed him inside. Placing Maddie on his lap, he took a seat at the table where a plate sat with a sandwich and a half, as well as a sliced-up banana.
Like Aaron had known he would want to hold Maddie—needed to hold her.
They always joked that she was his emotional support baby.
But just holding her truly calmed his nerves most of the time.
He tore off a little piece of the half sandwich and handed it to her.
“Girls, didn’t you have something to tell your dad?” Aaron said from near the stove.
“Sorry,” both Allie and Chloe mumbled at the same time.
Lars’s eyebrows rose before he quickly hid his surprise. “Thank you.”
He took a bite of his own peanut butter and jelly. The next several minutes passed by in silence, with them eating and Aaron cleaning up. Once done, Aaron joined them, leaning down to kiss the top of Allie and Chloe’s head then sitting next to Lars.
“Bribe them for the apologies too?” Lars whispered.
Aaron shrugged with a smirk. It amazed Lars just how much more at ease he felt with his friend here.
He could handle the girls on his own, he did it all the time, but it was nice having another person here who knew exactly how to handle them and did so without worrying about overstepping.
Aaron wasn’t a parent, but he’d been here for these three since their births.
And when he’d moved in for a few months earlier this year, they’d loved having him here as much as Lars and Mel did.
It honestly felt strange when he wasn’t here.
“Ice cream?” Chloe said, pushing her empty plate away.
Allie finished everything but her crust, which Lars didn’t argue with tonight, and slid hers forward too. Aaron started to get up, but Lars shook his head. He handed Maddie over. “I’ll get it.”
Aaron took the toddler and balanced her on his lap to keep feeding her. Lars stood and gathered the other plates to throw away—because Aaron, bless him, had used paper plates—he then pulled out a few bowls and grabbed the Neapolitan ice cream from the freezer.
He scooped just the strawberry for Allie before the other bowls got a variety. When he took them to the table, each little girl thanked him with a big grin.
Lars set the third bowl in front of Aaron, who chuckled.
“Thanks.”
“Extra chocolate, like you prefer,” Lars said, reaching out to wipe away some smushed banana from Maddie’s cheek.
“In case I haven’t said it in a while, you’re my favorite friend,” Aaron echoed.
“Yeah, well, I owe you.” He took a deep breath. “What are you doing here anyway? Not that I’m not super grateful. Your timing could not have been better.”
Aaron ate a bite of ice cream, as if hesitating to explain. “Um… so… I talked to Mel. I called her to ask about Halloween costumes because Vi and I had an idea, and she told me about London. Why didn’t you tell me she was leaving? She was worried about you and asked if I’d check on things.”
Sighing, Lars leaned back in his seat. Of course she sent someone to babysit. He guaranteed that if Aaron hadn’t called her first, she probably would have had Lars’s mom come over. “We would’ve been fine… eventually.”
“I know,” Aaron said without hesitation.
“But thank you.” Regardless, Lars appreciated him.
Maddie held her arms out, opening and closing her hands in the universal sign for uppies. “Dada.”
With a smile, he lifted her from Aaron’s lap and held her to his chest, standing her on top of his legs. She was a much happier little girl than earlier. They were all happier, and he knew it was because of the man sitting next to him.
But the ice cream definitely helped.
Lars reached for Aaron’s spoon to take a bite himself, then he offered a small one to Maddie.
She clapped her hands and jumped more. “More!”
“Please, take it,” Aaron said. “I had like half a pint of ice cream with Vi before I came over.”
Laughing, Lars gave her another bite, grinning when she made an exaggerated “yum” noise.
It was adorable. He looked at the other two, who were now talking and laughing, getting along like nothing had happened.
Shaking his head, he wondered how he got so lucky to have Aaron in his life.
How he got so lucky to have all of them in his life…
Two hours later, when the girls were finally asleep, he stepped out into the hallway and leaned against the wall with a sigh. Aaron chuckled and took the spot beside him. “They were extra gremlin-y today, huh?”
Lars laughed quietly. “Extremely.” Turning his head to look at his best friend, he added, “Thank you for coming and stepping in without hesitation. I was about three seconds from having a full-blown anxiety attack.”
“Oh, I know. I saw it as soon as the door opened.” For a moment, they stood in silence, appreciating the calm house. “Seriously though, are you okay? Why didn’t you tell me Mel decided to go?”
“Because I didn’t want to need help.” Pushing off the wall, Lars headed to the living room and collapsed onto the couch. Aaron followed, dropping into the adjacent chair.
“I can’t believe you told her to go to the interview,” he said quietly.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I know she’d regret it if she didn’t and she’d end up resenting me.” Lars had thought about that a lot the past several days. Even before their conversation, he’d been considering that possibility. “I can’t be the reason she doesn’t even try, you know?”
“Yeah… I just hate this. If she gets it, what if you all go with her? I know I joked about it the other day, but I genuinely don’t know what I’ll do if you leave too.”
For years, they’d lived in different towns, but they were such a permanent feature in each other’s lives that the thought of being an ocean apart was unimaginable.
“This isn’t fair,” Aaron whispered, mirroring his own feelings.
Yet, at the same time, he knew just how much this opportunity meant to Mel. And despite everything, he still loved her, still wanted her to be happy. She deserved this job.
But why did it have to mean either splitting up the family or him uprooting his whole life to move with her?
He hated it. Thinking about her taking his girls from him…
Even after insane days like tonight, the idea of not having them made him sick.
He would rip apart this world if it meant protecting his babies, if it meant staying in their lives.
Which meant he didn’t really have a choice. If she got the job and tried to take them with her, he would either have to move there too or fight her for custody.
He really hoped it didn’t come to that.
“When will she know?” Aaron asked.
“She’s gone until next week. There are a couple rounds of interviews, and then she’s visiting Carla for a few days.” Lars crossed his arms. “So, hopefully, once she gets back, she’ll at least have an idea of how it went. And hopefully, she’ll have some sort of plan that doesn’t involve me losing…”
He couldn’t even say the words out loud. But he didn’t need to. Apart from Mel, no one in the world knew him better than Aaron.
With a sigh, his best friend moved to sit next to him and patted his arm. “Like you said, we’ll figure it out. And in the meantime, you’re not doing this alone. I’ll help however you need. Actually…”
Lars looked over to find Aaron smiling. “What?”
“I’ve got an idea.”