Hazel stops before she climbs out and whispers, “PMS.”
I chuckle to myself as I get out of the truck, rounding the front before Hazel has a chance to hop down. I help her out of the truck, earning myself a light kiss to the cheek. “Thanks, Daddy.”
“Welcome, baby.”
She holds my hand as we walk up to the front door, seeing Tate moving around the living room at a frantic pace. As soon as Maddy opens the door, Tate plops down on the couch, pretending she was relaxing.
“Hey, you,” Tate says, breathing heavily. “I’ve missed you two.”
Maddy runs to Tate, throwing herself against her on the couch. “It was soooo awful,” she whines.
Tate wraps her arms around Maddy and laughs. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”
Maddy pulls away and stares at Tate. “Worse than you could ever imagine.”
“Hey,” Hazel says, drawing Tate’s attention away from Maddy. “I’m the one who’s hurt here.”
Tate chuckles as Maddy groans and climbs to the other side of the couch, making a spot for Hazel. Not a moment later, Hazel crashes into Tate, nearly knocking her in the jaw with her giant cast.
“Oh my goodness,” Tate says, giving Hazel a bear hug. “Are you okay, baby?”
“It hurt,” Hazel tells her, eating up the attention.
The girl was a trooper, though. I’ve broken shit and it hurts like a motherfucker, but this kid acted like it wasn’t nearly as painful as I knew it had to be.
“What on earth happened?” Tate asks her as she settles Hazel in her lap.
I collapse into the chair next to the couch, watching my three girls. This is how life should be. They need a tender touch sometimes, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t always be that for them. There’s nothing like the tenderness of a female, and Tate gives it to them, no matter that she didn’t birth the girls herself.
“I was running through the woods, and I don’t know…” Hazel shrugs. “The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, skidding across the grass, and in so much pain.”
Tate cups Hazel’s face and kisses her cheek gently. “Poor baby.”
“I know,” Hazel says with a pout. “I think I need ice cream to make me feel better or one of your Shirley Temples.”
“We have ice cream in the freezer,” I tell her.
Tate glances over at Maddy. “I need to talk to your dad for a minute. Can you get her the ice cream?”
This isn’t good. No good conversation starts with needing to speak away from the kids. Something happened, and I have a feeling I’m not going to be happy about it.
“We can grab their stuff out of the truck.”
“Fine,” Maddy says, like we’re somehow putting her out. “Do you two want any?”
“No,” I reply as Tate shakes her head in response.
“We won’t be long,” Tate tells her as Hazel climbs off Tate’s lap and makes a beeline for the kitchen.
We stay where we are until the girls are out of the room. “What’s wrong?” I ask.
She ticks her head toward the door. “Out there.”
I push myself up and head toward the door, wanting to know what happened. Tate hadn’t acted any differently since we walked through the door. Whatever it is, she has been good at masking that something is wrong.
As soon as we’re outside, she throws herself into my arms. “Oh my God. It was so horrible,” she cries, curling her fingers into my T-shirt.
I grab her arms and hold her. “What happened?”
