Today was hard.
Brianna received word two nights ago that she’d gotten the Household Chef job. She started immediately. As we’d packed her apartment over the past forty-eight hours, she’d fired off a barrage of instructions on child-rearing, clearly overwhelmed by her sudden departure. Bri acted tough, but she was struggling to leave the kids behind. Mom, as luck would have it, was in Atlanta for work.
Brianna blubbered as she leaned out of the U-haul window hugging Theo and Charlie, who stood on therunning board, sobbing. I’d held back, letting them have their moment.
“Hey,” she said softly. “This isn’t goodbye forever. Aunt Tally is so excited to have you live with her. In a couple of weeks, you guys will be full-time Seddledowne residents.”
At least she was saying all the right things. Theo and Charlie loved Seddledowne and cried every time they had to leave. They prayed every night that they’d get to live there someday. Their prayers were being realized. I had no idea how the four of us were fitting in Mom’s tiny two-bedroom house but we’d figure it out.
Theo and Charlie both turned, whimpering, snot running out of their noses, watching me as if to make sure she was telling the truth.
It was time to do what needed to be done.
I stood, brushed the dirt off my pants, and stepped forward, opening my arms for them. I smiled. “It’s gonna be so fun.” It would be. That was the one thing I didn’t doubt.
They reluctantly let go of Brianna and fell into my arms.
She gave us a hearty wave and pulled away from the curb. “Love you, guys! I can’t wait for you to come see me in New York.”
“Bye Mom!” Theo said in his best brave voice.
“Love you, Mom!” Charlie followed his example.
We stood, huddled together, as she disappeared around the corner. Thank goodness I was done with my thesis. I only had two weeks of classes and then I’d be a free woman. A free woman with a full-time online writing job. But at least I’d be home with them. I was excited for that. These two had my whole heart.
“Well, this is going to be an adventure, isn't it?” I said, rubbing their backs. “What do you say we head to Dairy Queen and get Blizzards?”
“Yay!” They squealed. It was way out of my budget.McDonald’s ninety-nine-cent cones were more on point, but today we needed something a little extra. “Do we have everything from the apartment?” I asked them.
Charlie’s long brown hair fell to the side as she cocked her hip. “You know we do, Aunt Tally. The apartment is empty.”
I laughed at her attitude. Then I looked at Theo. “You have everything?”
He rolled his bloodshot eyes, wiped his nose on his sleeve, and smiled. “You know it’s all in the trunk of your car.”
I scruffed them on their adorable heads. “Then let’s do this thing.” I clicked the unlock button on the fob. We climbed inside and strapped in. I turned the key and it cranked to life.
But when I shifted into reverse the car wouldn’t move. I put it back into park, gunned the engine, and tried reverse again. It sat completely still, like the gas pedal had lost all its power.
“What’s going on?” Theo asked.
“I’m dying for a blizzard,” Charlie said.
“It’s not going into reverse.” I jammed the gear shift again. Still nothing. I tried putting it in drive and going up over the sidewalk to turn around in the grass. It wouldn’t go forward either. My head fell against the steering wheel.
“Is it broken?” Theo asked.
“Yeah.”
“Can we fix it?” Charlie asked.
I blew out my breath. “Let’s give it a shot.”
We climbed out of the car and lifted the hood. The three of us, Charlie standing on the bumper, peered into the engine looking for the problem. But I knew nothing about cars and had no idea what I was looking at. I rubbed my cheeks, warding off the helplessness that was settling in. Brianna was gone and late for her first night on the job. Mom was in a meeting seven hours away. And Brooklyn was at Jonah’s in Durham, North Carolina.
“What are we gonna do?” Charlie asked.
“No worries. It’s part of the adventure.” I gazed at the playground on the side of the building. “Why don’t you guys go play while I come up with a plan.”
