“Bye.”
I dialed my mother’s number and she answered immediately. “Hi, baby.”
“Hi, Mama. How are you?”
“I’m good, sweetheart, you?”
“Good. I was wondering if you could take Fox overnight tomorrow, please. Vivi and I were hoping to grab dinner and get a girls’ night on.”
“Of course.”
I sighed. “Thank you. I’ll drop him by after school.”
“Okay, darling, we’ll see you then.”
“Okay.”
We hung up and I focused on my accounts for the next two hours, getting so far ahead, I could actually leave a little early tomorrow. So far, the weekend was looking promising, indeed.
* * *
Stoney brought Felixhome just after eight, and he was jumping off the walls, happy and chatty, and all things that made Fox lovable. “Sounds like you had an amazing night.”
“It was so cool, Auntie. We played three games of laser tag. Three!” he exclaimed. “And I had four pieces of pizza and didn’t even feel sick.”
“Wow, that’s amazing,” I said, with a chuckle.
Stoney just stood watching the exchange looking pleased as punch that his kid had a good time.
“Then Stoney said I could have ice cream or a milkshake, so I had a milkshake. Chocolate mint.”
“No way, you had chocolate mint? You usually just have chocolate.”
“I know! It was amazing.”
“Well, I think it’s time for you to take a bath and get ready for bed. It’s a school night, after all.”
Felix grabbed Stoney’s hand. “Can you stay and read me Monster at the End of the Book, please?”
“Yeah, bud. Sure.”
“Go ahead and start the bath, but don’t get in until I check the water,” I instructed.
“Okay, Auntie,” Felix said, and ran up the stairs.
I smiled up at Stoney. “Sounds like it was a raving success.”
“We had a great time.” He grinned. “He even called me Dad once before correcting himself.”
“Aw, he did?” I blinked back tears. “That’s really great.”
“Don’t cry, baby.”
“I’m not,” I lied.
He chuckled. “You interested in the three of us doin’ something tomorrow night?”
“I would love to, but I have a girls’ night out planned with Vivi. Mom’s going to watch Felix.”
