Chapter 15
EJ
Life is like Lego; build it piece by piece,
and it comes together beautifully.
~ Liam Johnson
Angie’s door swings open and she stares at me, wide-eyed and obviously in shock.
I guess her mom didn’t tell her I was coming over.
“EJ?” she finally says after a few beats of silence. “What are you doing here?”
Jack shouts, “Hi! Mister EJ!” and Levi says, “We had our bath already!”
I smile at them and then look back at Angie. “I’m the sitter.”
“You’re the …” She turns and puts a hand on her hip. “Mom!”
“Sorry!” her mom shouts from somewhere at the back of the house. “I’m heading out. See you when I get back!”
“Mom!” Angie shouts again.
The sound of the back door falling shut is her answer.
“You’re the sitter?” Jack asks.
Then he looks at Levi and they exchange some sort of unspoken communication and burst into spontaneous cheers, running around and jumping and saying, “Yay! Yay! Yay!”
“I’m going to kill her.” Angie mutters so only I can hear.
“It’s fine,” I assure her. “I’m here. I’m ready.” I hold up my duffel bag.
“What is that?” She points to my bag
“It’s my duffel.”
“Your duffel? You’re not staying the night.”
I chuckle. “I know that. It doesn’t have my clothes.”
“Sorry,” she shakes her head, holding the door open a little wider so I can step in past her. “What’s in it?”
“I picked up a few toys, a new LEGO set, and some books.”
“You …” Angie’s brow scrunches. “EJ. Are you sure?” Her voice drops to nearly a whisper. “This is a lot. They're a lot.”
“Toys!” Levi shouts.
“You bringed LEGOS?” Jack asks.
“I did.”
The boys dart past us, running in a circle around me changing their chant to “LEGOs! LEGOs!”
“I can cancel my plans,” Angie offers.
“If you want to cancel you can, but I promise you I’ve got this.”
“They already ate and took their baths. As you can see, they’re in their pjs.”
“See, you did all the hard stuff.”
She sighs. “There’s a snack in the fridge. Just applesauce. And then they have to brush their teeth. And we read a story. I sing them a song. You know what? I can just go for an hour.”
“Go as long as you want. I can read and sing.” I smile at her. “You might not have known that about me.”
She laughs lightly. “A man of many talents.”
Angie crouches down. “Boys?”
“Yeah?” They say in unison, practically screeching to a stop in front of Angie.
“Mr. EJ wants to share his new LEGO set with you and then you can eat applesauce with him and show him how you brush teeth. Then he’s going to read you stories and sing you a song.
” She looks from one boy to the other. “Sound good?”
“What kind are the LEGOs?” Levi asks.
“Did you bring other toys?” Jack asks.
“I’ll be back right after you fall asleep, okay?” Angie asks.
“Okay, Mommy,” Levi says.
“I want to sing the spider song,” Jack says. “Do you know the spider song?” He looks up at me with wide, expectant eyes.
“Is it the one with the hand motions?” I ask, singing a bar and moving my fingers so they touch like a spider climbing a wall. “The itsy bitsy spider went up …”
I haven’t even finished the line before both boys join in, making the movements with their hands and singing along.
“I know it,” I confirm.
“That’s the one I sing in bed,” Jack tells me.
“Okay. Got it.” I look down at Angie, she’s still squatting at eye level with the boys.
“Okay,” she says, standing. “You three have fun.”
“Boys’ night!” Levi says out of the blue.
“Yeah! Boys’ night!” Jack says.
I wish I had a camera to capture the look on Angie’s face. But I don’t need a photo. I’ll never forget the way apprehension melts away and the sweetness of her trust in me takes its place.
“Call if you start to worry,” I tell her.
“And you call if things get … over your head.”
“We’ve got this,” I say. “Right boys?”
“Yeah! Boys’ night!” Levi says.
“Yeah! We got this!” Jack adds.
They give Angie hugs and then she shuts the door. As soon as the sound of the lock snicking shut carries through the room, the two of them turn toward me, talking excitedly over one another about LEGOs and stories and toys.
I sit on the floor, unzip my duffel and let them tear into the contents.
I brought a LEGO city fire and rescue set.
The boys grow still and focused when we get busy building.
Levi opens the directions and the three of us confer on which pieces to assemble.
A half-hour later, we’ve finished building and the boys are rolling the fire truck and police car around the room, making vrroooming and beeping noises with a few siren wails in the mix.
“Okay,” I say. “Let’s get our snack and then you can show me what your toothbrushes look like.”
“Mine’s the blue one,” Jack says.
“I can’t wait to see it.”
Instead of volunteering his toothbrush color, Levi asks, “You like my mommy?”
I smile because thinking of her always makes me smile. “I do like her. A lot.”
“She’s your best friend?” Jack asks.
“She’s a special friend, yes.”
“Because you fix her car?” Levi asks.
“I fixed her car because I care about her, and people should help the people they care about.”
“I help Mommy,” Jack says.
“Me too,” Levi says.
“You two help her a lot,” I say. “That makes her proud of you.”
“Because she loves us,” Levi says.
“We’re her favorite boys,” Jack says, nodding along with his brother.
“You are. Now, who’s going to show me where the applesauce is?”
“I am!” Levi says, running out of the room ahead of me and Jack.
“This way,” Jack says, sticking his hand out.
I take his hand and we walk down the hallway toward the kitchen.
I’m under no delusion that parenting would always be this fun or easy. I know how much Angie pours into being a mom. I’ve seen my friends who have kids of all ages. And I’m a novelty to the twins right now.
Still, as I hold Jack’s hand, walking into the kitchen, the thought crosses my mind that I could get used to this.
The boys eat their applesauce, then they pull out a stool so they can reach the sink to rinse their bowls. After their teeth are brushed and they’ve used the restroom, they walk me through their bedtime routine, explaining each step.
“Now you read this book to us.” and “You have to do all the voices.”
We sing the itsy bitsy spider song and then I tuck them into their beds.
“You have to turn on that night-light,” Levi tells me.
“That keeps monsters out of our room,” Jack explains with an earnest face.
“Out of the whole house,” Levi adds.
I smile and turn on the light.
“Goodnight, boys,” I say, turning around in the doorway and looking at both of them tucked into their twin beds.
Levi yawns. “G’night, Mister EJ.”
Jack yawns too. “Thank you for the LEGOs.”
“You’re welcome,” I say, and then I step into the hallway, pulling the door mostly shut behind me until it rests on the jamb.
The house is quiet. I could turn on the TV, but I’m tired after a long day, so I just lie on the couch for a minute, closing my eyes to relax.
The next thing I know, Angie’s hand is on my arm and her voice is calling my name.
“EJ?”
I roll over and stare up at her.
“Hi,” I smile and sit up. She sits next to me, setting her purse on the coffee table and tucking her legs up on the couch.
“They wiped you out, huh?” she asks.
“In the best of ways.” My voice is slightly groggy.
I stretch my arms overhead. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I was just closing my eyes for a minute.”
“It’s okay. The boys are sound asleep in their room.” Her smile is soft—content. “Did they give you any trouble?”
“They went down without a fight. If they had tested the limits, I’d have handled it or called you. Playing with them was actually the best time I've had in a long time—the whole night was. How was girls’ night?”
“Weird, fun, delightful …”
“Are you glad you went?”
“I am.”
She reaches over, lifting my hand off my knee and placing her palm in mine. “This was really sweet of you.”
“Watching the boys?”
“Yes. It was not expected.”
“Maybe you should start getting used to things like this,” I suggest.
“Maybe I will.”
“I’d like that a lot, Angie.”
“You know, caring for the boys isn’t always fun when it's a daily responsibility.”
I lean a little closer to her, lifting her hand to my lips and placing a soft kiss on her palm.
“You're not going to scare me off. You know I run into burning buildings for a living, right?”
She smiles. “I don't want to scare you off, EJ.”
I run my thumb along the back of her hand. “Good. Because I don’t plan on going anywhere.”
I cup her jaw. Her eyes soften and she breathes out the word, “Good.”
I move slowly, my eyes roving over Angie’s face, taking in the silkiness of her skin, the crinkling next to her eyes when she smiles back at me.
The air between us is sweet with a hint of her perfume.
Angie’s breath fans across my face. My heart beats in a steady thrum, calm like the feeling of coming home after a long trip, but eager like we’re on the precipice of a new beginning.
The rest of the world fades away. Angie is everything—warmth, kindness, beauty, longing—mine.
I bend toward her. Even though we’ve kissed almost every day since she first said yes to me, this kiss feels like our first. We’ve crossed an invisible line. She’s allowing me into her life now—here, in her home—and into our shared future.
When our lips meet, warmth spreads through me. Angie lifts her hands, running them through my hair. Tingles travel across my skin. I hum into our kiss, wrapping my arms around her and holding her close. She melts into me, giving up any resistance, showing me she’s as all in as I am.
I run my hand in gentle strokes down her arm. Angie pulls back, looking up into my eyes.
“You did it,” she says, quietly.
“What did I do?” I ask her.
“You proved Bordeaux wrong.”
Our laughter mingles and I pull her closer, tucking her head under my chin. We sit there in the quiet stillness of the night, holding on to one another. And I imagine a time when I won’t have to pack up my duffel and head out the door—a time when every night can end with her in my arms.