I laughed and, still feeling like a winner, finished the little plate of weird food before letting Bryan bring me around to talk to others who wanted to get to his parents through him.
Chapter Eighteen
After the brunch, wewent directly to Seth’s, where Toby was already waiting.He barely gave me time to go to the bathroom before we were out the door again to head to the hospital for some holiday fun with the kid patients there.
When we walked to the entrance of the hospital, Toby’s parents were there with a younger boy in a power wheelchair.The little boy was cute.His hair was a couple shades darker than Toby’s, his eyes a light brown.He watched us through glasses as we approached.
“Cadence, right?”Toby’s mom asked.
“Yes, it’s nice to see you again.I hope you don’t mind that I’m tagging along today with your sons.”
“No.”She chuckled.“Of course not.I’m sure you guys will have fun.Oh, and this is our youngest, Austin.”
I smiled at the little guy, and a nice blush crushed his cheeks.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” I said warmly.
“You too,” he replied, his voice low but steady.
“We need to get going,” Toby’s dad spoke up.“Are you sure you’re okay to take him for a couple of hours?”
“Of course.”Toby grinned big and playfully messed up his brother’s hair.
“Hey, don’t do that,” his little brother cried out, shaking his head in a failed attempt to get his brother to stop.
Their parents relaxed a little as they watched their two sons interact.There was an exhaustion to all three of them that made me feel powerless.And helped me realize why Toby felt the way they did.They were all at their wit’s end.
“Okay.We’ll be back, but if you need us sooner, we’ll come straight here.”
“Nope,” Toby said.“Go out, have fun, be safe.And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“Now who’s the kid and the adult here,” his mom said, laughing lightly.“All right.We’ll get going before your dad freaks out.”
“I started freaking out ten minutes ago.I don’t want to be late.”
“And you won’t be.”
