“Nope, this one is all Oscar.”
Tae sat in the tiny chair, just big enough for his little tush. His feet touched the ground perfectly. “One, two, three chairs. Perfect for me, Trevor and Brandon. Thank you, Oscar. I love it!”
“The top is chalkboard paint, here are the chalk pens to use on it,” Oscar pulled them from his pocket and handed them over. “They wipe off with a damp rag.”
“This is so freaking cool!” Tae popped up, the chair fell over and Oscar barely had time to react and catch him. “Thanks, big bro.”
“You’re welcome, little bro. Now, where are the paint pens so I can sign my paint splooch.”
“Splotch and hold on.” Tae took off down the hall in search of the right paint pens. That boy had more paint supplies than an art store. A few seconds later he tumbled back in. “Here you go.”
“Alright, go hide somewhere while I do my thing.”
“Let’s go set up your shelf bins.” If I didn’t get Tae out of here, he’d keep peeking. “Okay, where are the new ones you wanted sorted?”
“Um, over here.” He grabbed the package of multi-colored collapsible bins I’d ordered. “Books and stuffies will sit on the shelf. We need one for cars, one for coloring books, one for action figures, and one for blocks.”
“Then why did we order twelve?” I was thankful they were machine washable fabric, but we had far too many. Either that or my boy was hoping for more toys. Another reason to spoil him—there were bins to fill and shopping to be done.
He shrugged. “’Cause you never know. We might get more toys like, um, a Play-Doh set, or castle guys.”
“This sounds more like your Christmas wish list.”
“Mmmm, maybeeee,” he dragged the word out though I knew where he was heading. This Daddy’s Christmas wheels wereturning. I just had to remember to jot his suggestions down or I’d likely forget them by then.
“Alright, Ashwoods I’m out of here.” Tae ran over and hugged Oscar again, “Love you, little man.”
“Love you too, big bro.” Before Oscar was out the door, Tae was down the hall and into his room reading what his brother wrote. When I found him, he was in tears.
“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing Daddy, look,” he pointed to Oscar’s note.
“The moon and the sun hold nothing on your shine. Don’t ever let anyone dull it. I’m proud to be your big brother. Love, Oscar.”
I wasn’t the only one who knew how special my boy was.
9
TAE
OUR WEDDING DAY
“No!” I ran away from Daddy. He wasn’t getting my ring back. I hadn’t taken it off since he proposed to me.
It. Was. Mine!
“Tae, sweetheart, the minister will put it right back on in a few minutes. It’s part of the ceremony, I promise.”
“It’s mine! You gave it to me! No take backsies!”
“Tae, there are people here and you’re naked!”
“Oops.” I skidded to a stop in the kitchen, and there they were. Momma, Oscar, Samian, the poor minister, and all our friends staring at me like I’d lost my mind, and I kinda think I did. “Sorry.” I took off back down the hall to our room and slammed the door shut. Shoot, I hope the photographer didn’t take any pictures of that.
“Tae Saavedra, what in the world has gotten into you?” Daddy scolded.
“Ashwood.”
