“Addie,” I gasped as I fixed up my grip and moved to stand. At the sight of Ivy coming down the hall, I quickly adjusted my expectations. I looked to the woman who was responsible for my current train of thought, which had just been derailed. “Sorry,” I mouthed toward her.
Jules gave a wicked smile like she knew how much I was being tugged in two opposite directions here. Did I want togo upstairs with her and have a fabulous afternoon between the sheets? Hell, yeah. Did I also relish any time I got with my daughter,especiallywhen I wasn’t expecting it? Absolutely. Pitfalls of parenting—things don’t always work out according to your plans.
“This is a surprise, peanut,” I said as I squeezed Addie to me for a tight hug, then let her down.
“Momma said we had to come over and stock you up. I asked if I could stay, but she said we’ll see.” Addie’s face indicated her displeasure at that answer.
“Why the frown?” I asked as my mind tried to figure out several things at once.
“We’ll see means no,” Addie said, her face scrunched up to show her thoughts on that.
I laughed at that because she was likely right on the money there, at least typically. I glanced over at Ivy, who was leaning against the wall and watching the scene unfold.
“Stock me up?” I repeated to her.
She shrugged. “You mentioned your fridge was bare. Thought I’d take care of that so it was one thing less for you to have to do when you got back down here.” She raised her eyebrows and tipped her head toward Jules. “Figured you might have more important things on your mind.”
I glanced at Jules and… Yep. She was flushed, but she was also smiling at Ivy. It was a shared look between them that I didn’t understand but also didn’t need to. Ignoring that, I turned back to Ivy. “Thanks for the stock up—you really didn’t have to do that. Now…” I nodded to Addie. “What’s this frown aboutwe’ll see?”
Ivy shook her head in clear amusement at our daughter. “You know Ads has a highlighted calendar of the month with different colors for which house she’s at. She was confused because sheshould have been with you starting yesterday and wasn’t getting why we moved Switch Day to Monday.”
“Switch Day?” Jules murmured with a confused look.
“When Addie makes the move from one of our houses to the other,” I answered.
Addie’s adorable face looked up at us with a look of determination. “I know because of the sad day with Daddy’s parents I stayed with Mommy and Daddy Two, but you’re home.” She stared at me with a look I could only describe as WTF.
Glancing at Ivy, I shrugged. She and Jake hadn’t shared their weekend plans with Addie when we were in Madison because time is fuzzy to kids and she would have lost her mind.
Ivy apparently decided now was the time because she spilled some of the plans. “Addie, we have you staying with us this weekend because tonight Steph and Theo are coming and…”
That was all Ivy got out before Addie started bouncing up and down with shining eyes. “Emily and Jennie are coming!” Her screech could rattle the glass in the windows.
I looked to Jules, who was covering her mouth, and it looked like she was attempting not to laugh. I began to explain. “Steph is Drew and Jake’s sister. Theo is her husband, and Emily and Jennie are?—”
“My cousins!” Addie interrupted with another yell.
Jules’s eyes danced with merriment. “So this is why you didn’t give her a heads-up. Got it.”
Ivy nodded and laughed. “Yep, it’s pretty obvious now, right?” She shook her head, then glanced to our girl, who was positively vibrating with excitement. “Addie, can you go count how many peaches we brought your dad? And check to see what other fruits he has.”
Addie immediately calmed down as her eyes sparkled and she rubbed her hands together like she was a mastermind. “Is this a job?”
“Sure is.”
Addie turned to Jules. “If I show Momma I’m real responsible with jobs, I can get a cat like Malley.”
Jules tilted her head, and then recognition dawned. “You mean O’Malley? My cat?”
Addie nodded. “That’s what I said.” Then she looked to me. “Time me. I’m superfast.”
“Not too fast,” Ivy cautioned. “You don’t want to forget anything.”
Addie gave that some thought and then slowly nodded. “Okay, but I still want to be timed.”
I pulled my phone out and opened the app. “No problem. I’ll time you.”
With that, she took off. Ivy immediately joined Jules and me and said, “Okay, so for the party tomorrow?—”
