Opp thumps the kid on the back and mutters, “You’re gonna want to stop talking right there, Roycie. He goes into papa bear mode when you talk about that.”
“Yeah, remember what happened with Morey?” King laughs, shaking his head as he digs into his food.
My jaw clenches and rage fills me all over again at the memory of what one of my douchebag crew members had muttered about Teddy’s anatomy. First, his offhand comment about being licensed to lift her skirt had made me seered. Then, later after several drinks he’d asked whether she’d offered up anything in ‘thanks’ for my services. Now, I’ve never been one to fight, but damn, I’d been seconds away from beating that guy to a pulp. If Opp hadn’t gotten me into a barrel hold, I’d have knocked the fucker’s front teeth out. I’m glad Cal hadn’t been around to hear it, I’m not sure we’d have stopped him from beating the guy’s face in.
The trash had transferred to a crew in Arizona not long after. Good riddance.
“Oh, right,” Royce says, glancing over at me a little warily. Kid’s got heart, if a little wet behind the ears still. King has really taken him under his wing. I think the kid reminds him of Jake, his best friend that we lost on a fire their first season. “I’d have done the same thing if anyone talked about someone I cared about like that, too, Sup. I’m sure Cal appreciates it, too.”
I stay silent, and out of the corner of my eye I can see both King and Cal grinning like idiots. I can’t hide much from them, not that I really ever hide anything from them at all. Cal’s been my best friend for years, which makes this so much worse, and King is like my younger brother, but a whole lot less annoying than Joel is. Well, most of the time, anyway. Right now, I’d like to tip him backwards over that log he’s sitting on.
My com crackles and then the voice of the lead commanding officer comes over the static. “Good job today, boys. Looks like this fire is cooked. You’re all set to head home.”
“Copy that,” I respond, clicking off the com. “Looks like we’re heading home, boys. Congratulations on another successful fire.”
There are whoops of excitement through the spike camp at my announcement and a shuffle of activity as they all start breaking down camp. We’ll head over to the nearest tarmac and load up onto a shitty little plane that will haul us and our gear back north. And then an hour drive to Sky Ridge. But we should be home by morning.
“Oh, my babies!”
I smile as Colleen sinks to her knees on the front porch, arms flung open wide as Dalton and Penny vault into her waiting arms. She kisses them a dozen times each on the cheeks and forehead, making them both giggle. Dalton makes a show of wiping her kisses off, grinning from ear to ear. Colleen narrows her eyes at him playfully, then kisses him on both cheeks again, just for good measure.
“Grampa, I swear they’ve grown a foot since we saw them last!” Colleen mumbles over her shoulder to her husband. Dalton and Penny both disengage from Colleen’s arms and fling themselves at Kent, who catches them both as they hug his waist. I offer Colleen a hand and she groans dramatically as she rises from her knees. “I’m getting too old to be getting down on the ground like that.”
I laugh, but then I’m being pulled into her warm embrace, and I sink into it for a long moment. She always smells like peppermint and honey, and I take the moment to just breathe her in. Colleen has been my pillar in the last year. I don’t know what I would do without her.
“Thank you for coming to see us,” I whisper, squeezing her tighter for a heartbeat longer before letting her go.
Kent has Penny in his arms, and she’s telling him in great detail about the blanket fort she and Dalton had constructed in the living room yesterday, and how I’d been a ‘mean mom’ and made them take it down before bed. Kent chuckles and winks over at me before saying, “We’ll build another one tonight, how about that?”
Penny squeals in excitement and he laughs again. Dalton does a fist pump in the air. “Are we gonna have pizza for dinner tonight?”
“Pizza? What makes you think we would have pizza for dinner tonight?” Colleen asks innocently, though she winks at me, too. Pizza picnics on the floor and a pajama party are what Colleen and Kent are known for. The kids love it. They make stovetop popcorn, and then build a giant blanket bed in the very center of the living room to watch movies before they camp out on the floor.
“The sheets are all switched over on my bed, so it’s ready for you guys,” I say, leading the group of us into the house. Bea is zonked out in her bouncy seat on the floor, the automatic bouncing mechanism keeping her slowly in motion. Colleen leans over her, just to lay eyes on her, before moving away to let her keep sleeping. “Are you sure you want me to leave? I can stay?—”
“Absolutely not,” Colleen murmurs, moving into the kitchen. “You get to go have a night to yourself. Like I said, you can’t pour from an empty cup, sweet girl.”
Though I do fully understand the sentiment, and I’m so insanely grateful for the chance to get away and just benot Momfor a night, the guilt and selfishness of the act are making my anxiety soar.
I have a detailed list of Bea’s routine written out on a notebook. Her feeding times, how many ounces she gets, and herdaytime nap schedule as well as her night schedule. The diaper station is fully stocked, and pajamas are laid out for all three kids. Dalton and Penny are easy enough and Colleen and Kent know their routines.
“How was the first week of school?” Colleen asks, and Dalton launches into a tale about his first week in the third grade. Penny then regales her grandparents with how 4’s Preschool is going, and by the time they’re both done telling their stories, Bea is waking from her nap.
Colleen shoos me away and lifts my chonky almost four-month-old into her arms, nuzzling her soft cheek.
“Okay you guys, let's give Mom hugs and kisses, and then she’s going to get out of here,” Colleen says to Dalton and Penny, who rush me like tiny linebackers.
My bag is ready, though it had taken me all day to convince myself to pack it at all. Just a pair of my comfiest pjs and a change of clothes for tomorrow, slippers, two smutty romance novels that I’ve been dying to get to, and all the fixings for pedicures and face masks. Also, two bottles of wine and enough snacks to last a weekend.
I give them both tight squeezes and kiss them on the cheeks. Dalton doesn’t wipe my kisses away, which makes me smile, and I ruffle his sandy brown hair. “Help Gramma and Grampa with Penny and Bea tonight, please? And be good. Brush your teeth before bed.” I look over at Colleen then, adding, “And please, no ice cream after nine o’clock. They’ll never go to sleep for you if they have that much sugar that late.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she teases, but I know she’ll listen. She may be the best Gramma ever and they both spoil my kids absolutely rotten, but they’ve always been respectful of my ‘rules’.
I hug Penny tight then speak directly to her. “Absolutely no running away from Gramma and Grampa, and no playing out inthe backyard without one of them out there with you. What is the big rule?”
Penny looks up at me with her big brown doe eyes and whispers, “No running into the cweek.”
I nod, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. “Right, good job.”
