“I think when someone cuts their finger off, no one should have to take baths,” Avery said sagely.
“Incorrect,” Daisy replied. “Off you go.”
There were two bathrooms with bathtubs, but it still took time to rotate everyone through. They were old enough now to do it themselves, which meant Daisy spent bath time lying face down on her bed trying to recover from the day, which she decided was a futile task around the time Wren was done and ready to have her hair brushed.
Alden scrambled up onto the bed while Daisy brushed his sister’s hair, and he sat down on his knees, chin in his hands, jostling both of them with his movements.
“When are you and Dad moving back in together?” Wren asked.
Daisy paused. “What?”
“You aren’t going to live apart forever, are you?”
She’d made a lot of assumptions about what the kids had seen and observed that seemed stupid now.
Why would kids this age be able to pick up adult dynamics from context? It seemed outrageous that she hadn’t made it clear to them before.
Daisy took a sharp breath. “Dad is with Amberly now. Not me. So he’s going to live with her because she’s ... she’s going to be his wife.”
Had he not even told them that? He didn’t do anything, not a damned thing except cut his own finger off. What a useless asshole.
“They’re getting married?” Avery popped around the corner and into the room.
“Did you even wash anything, A?” Daisy asked.
“Are Dad and Amberly getting married?” He looked at her seriously.
Daisy looked away. “Yes.”
“That means she’s going to be a stepmother!” Alden shouted, with all the horror a child was taught to feel about wicked and evil stepmothers. In this case, Daisy couldn’t ease his concerns.
“Notmine.” Wren’s expression was angry and vicious.
“Unfortunately, that’s not up to you or me.” Daisy heard the doorbell downstairs. “Hey, come on, that’s dinner.”
“I don’t want a stepmom!” Alden said as he hopped off the bed.
Daisy closed her eyes. “If you have to have one, she seems pretty nice.” That was costly to say, but it also seemed true. Amberly didn’t allow Jonathan to talk smack about her, and she would return the favor by defending her now.
Besides, the kids didn’t need to descend into hysterics.
“But what does it mean?” Alden asked.
“Don’t worry about it right now.” Daisy realized you couldn’t tell kids that, though knowing Alden, he would forget as soon as he got his spaghetti. “There are a lot of things that have to happen before then, and who knows what might change.”
Wren was sullen as she went down the stairs behind her brothers, and Daisy paused, pulling her back for a hug. “Wrenny, it’s going to be okay.”
“I don’t want divorced parents.” She looked up at Daisy with big tear-filled eyes.
“I didn’t want to be a divorced parent.” Daisy couldn’t protect Jonathan from how the kids felt about this. She wasn’t going to pretend everything was fine. “But whatever I am, I’m your mom. That won’t change.”
Wren nodded, and Daisy hugged her again while they walked down the stairs just as Zach walked through with takeout, and Alden jumped out from behind a potted plant and nearly collided with him.
“Are you going to be our stepdad?” Alden asked, hopping around Zach’s feet.
Daisy’s heart went into a full-on spiral, but Zach didn’t even seem ruffled. “Right now, I’m the guy who got you dinner.”
She could see that put him light-years ahead of Amberly, at least in the present moment.
