Chapter Twenty-Five
Patience
“Kyle and Kennedy, you two go wash your hands for dinner,” I stated, standing at the doorway of the children’s playroom. “Hey, you two, you hear me?” I questioned with a little more force in my voice when neither one of them moved from the children’s table that sat in the center of the room.
I walked over to the table, and wasn’t surprised to find Kennedy with her head in a book. She, like myself, could become so completely absorbed in a book that the people around us disappeared.
“Ken,” I brushed a hand over her shoulder, “go wash your hands for dinner,” I said again, pulling the book from her hands.
“Kyle, you–” I stopped when I realized that he was just as intent on what he’d been doing at the table as Kennedy had been. However, instead of reading, he was actually writing. “What are you making?” I questioned, stooping low next to Kyle.
He looked up at me with the biggest smile on his face. “I’m making Daddy a card for his birthday!” His hazel eyes shone bright with excitement, the type that only occurs when you get to be the one to do something special for your real life superhero.
I wrinkled my brows. “Kyle, it’s not…” I trailed off, trying to remember today’s date in my head.
“November thirteenth,” Kyle and I said together.
I squeezed my eyes tightly, slapping my hand against my forehead. “I’m an idiot!” I gritted out.
“Don’t say that, Mommy! It’s not nice.”
I blinked my eyes open to see a frowning Kennedy standing over me.
I grabbed her hand. “I’m sorry, baby. You’re right. I shouldn’t have called myself that. Mommy just made a mistake.”
“I make mistakes during my studies, too, but Daddy says everyone makes mistakes and that as long as I learn from them, it’s okay,” Kyle informed me.
I tweaked his nose. “Your daddy’s a smart man.”
Kyle nodded in agreement. “That’s why I’m making him the bestest birthday card ever! You like it, Mommy?” He held up the colorful card he’d designed by himself. My heart melted at the sight of the first card my son had ever made. He’d hated writing anything that wasn’t completely pictures.
I went to stand, but something made me stop. “Kyle, how did you know November thirteenth was Daddy’s birthday?” I knew Aaron hadn’t told him.
Kyle shrugged with one shoulder. “A lady told me,” he answered, casually.
“What lady? Your teacher?”
He shook his head. “No. She’s invisible. Only I can see her.”
“Ky–”
“Mooommy, I’m hungry!” Kennedy began whining before I could question her brother any further. I stood, still staring at Kyle finishing up his birthday card.
“Okay, sweetie, give me a minute,” I told Kennedy, who was tugging my hand.
I went to my room to grab my cell phone. I needed to leave the house, but also had to find a sitter for the children. Carter and Michelle were at her mother’s for the evening. Aaron’s parents were out of town, as was Joshua. That left me with only one person left to call.
“Hey, Ty.”
“Patience? What’s up?” my youngest brother-in-law asked.
“Listen, I need you to babysit for a few hours.”
“Woohoo!” I heard his clap through the phone. “’Bout time that brother of mine got off his high horse about me watching the kids.”
“Aaron’s not exactly here right now,” I explained, while bringing the children’s plates to the table.
“Where is he?”
