“Then let’s let them in and show them to the trampoline.”
Jules and I follow the girls into the house and I feel a tug on my hand. I look down and Luna is gesturing for me to come in more closely.
I comply and kneel, smiling. “Yes, sweetie?”
“You promith to thow me how to do a flip, too, Roly? I’m a big girl.”
Ay, qué chula.Her earnest look steals my entire heart.
“Tell you what, I’ll show you first and then you’ll help me to teach your sisters. Sound good?”
Her smile is big and bright, and a familiar pang of longing lances through my chest.
“Yeth!” She nearly knocks me over with a hug and I am agoner.
I stand and hold my hand out to her, which she takes immediately. “All right, Luna. Let’s show ‘em how it’s done.”
She nods her head in a most determined fashion and leads us all outside.
* * *
Heath
I crack open the eye that is less swollen to see Ashley, scanning my face with concern. It’s dark outside, and I have no idea how much time has passed. I know that I’m in the hospital, because I remember being dragged naked onto a gurney with the help of my most fit friends. Nothing like having a dude with 3 percent body fat get a good look at my big hairy belly and shrinkage to fortify the self-confidence. I’m probably going to have to move again and start over with a new name. Bet my brother could use his connections to help me out.
“Now, I know that you’re considering moving and starting over with a new name, but you’re recovering from a major anaphylactic episode, and may I suggest you recover a bit more before you have Ronan put you into witness protection.”
I love my ex-wife, and I’m so glad that I’m not married to her anymore.
“I thought the perk of divorcing you is that I could have these embarrassing little hospital stays without your commentary.”
“You’d think that, but then you went and signed a document that put me in charge of your medical decisions should you find yourself incapacitated.” She grins down at me and moves the hair off my forehead.
“That is true, I do trust you more than most. I’d forgotten about the constant joking. Which, in my current state, is my very favorite thing about you. Not.” I aim for a grin, but my face is so tight from the swelling I may have to settle for a grimace.
“No, your very favorite thing about me is that we are no longer married, and that you can love me without having to live with me. And vice versa, may I say?” Ashley says on a smirk.
Look, I know that I’m lucky as far as ex-wives go. Some of my friends have gotten divorced, and it brought out a side of their former spouse that they’d never seen before. But my ex-wife is exactly the person she’s always been. We’d been best friends in high school, and fell in physical affection with one another during college because we couldn’t find anyone else that had met the bar we’d set for each other. Lily was the unexpected result, and we decided to marry and have two more. Turns out we were better as friends.
“Where are the kids?”
“Well, Roly felt really bad about that and said he’d take care of them while the guys finish getting you moved in. So, they’re at my place, jumping on the trampoline, drinking lots of soda, and no doubt eating their weight in candy bars.”
“Oh god, I don’t want our children around him. That guy is afucking menace.Especially Lily, because you know how sensitive she is about her weight. You remember how he was in high school.”
Ashley’s mouth opens in protest. “He’s sodifferentnow.”
“Is he?Is he, really?”
Her jaw hardens from clenched teeth. “Well, he’d better be. He says anything to our daughter and I’ll kick his ass.”
“Get in line.”
Ashley lets out a long breath, and then another. After thinking on it a moment, she scratches her chin. “Though… I just can’t picture it. He’s this ball of happy, funny energy; he’s definitely grown as a person, and I can’t imagine this version of him being unkind. I mean… he’s wearing a pink T-shirt that says ‘Be Nice’ in Barbie font.”
I will my shoulders to relax down out of my ears. “I’m sure you’re right; I just… he was the perfect complement to my stepdad’s mean streak. You know, I saw him the other day at the pizza shop, and I’ve never been that angry before. It’d all come back to me as if no time had passed.”
“Was he… did he say anything to you?”
