We spend several minutes making up our own verses, and I secretly hope I don’t pay for it later when I take the boys home.
When Lucy and Bella show up an hour later, my heart races at the sight of Lucy. Her long blonde hair cascades around hershoulders, and I imagine wrapping it around my hand as I fuck into her from behind.
And then Levi sings “Diarrhea cha-cha-cha!” and the spell is broken.
“Ugh, it took a week to get him to stop singing that song last time,” Lucy groans.
I offer her an apologetic look as she walks into the kitchen.
“How’d it go? I see the house is still standing.” Lucy looks around nervously as if she’s going to find a giant hole in the wall.
“The boys were good. We had fun,” I say.
“We colored. Look at my poops!” Levi adds, holding up a coloring book as Bella looks over her shoulder.
“Okay, but why is that actually good?” Bella asks. “That looks great, Levi. Very detailed.”
“Do you like it, Mama?”
“I love it, buddy,” Lucy says before turning back to us. “I really shouldn’t be encouraging this, but he’s gotten really good at drawing poop. Who knows, maybe he’ll get into art when he’s older?”
“As long as he’s not drawing it with actual poop. They don’t pay teachers enough to deal with all that,” Bella says.
“How’d it go at the school? Did you get everything done for the St. Patrick’s Day program?” Hardy asks.
Bella groans. “If I never see another shamrock again, it’ll be too soon.”
Hardy wraps an arm around her. “That bad, huh? Did Amber put you all to work?”
“She’s going through a lot right now with the divorce. I think it was more about her wanting some friends to vent to than it was about prepping for the assembly. It’s still a week away. We have time.”
“Then she could have found another way to do it without giving us all carpal tunnel from cutting construction paper,” Lucy mutters.
“Everyone deserves a second chance.” Bella smiles, and I notice something pass between her and Lucy, like they’re speaking about more than mean PTO moms.
I come up behind Lucy, wrapping my arms around her as I kiss the side of her head. The move is intimate, claiming, and she melts against me. Bella smiles at us knowingly, whispering something to Hardy, and I wait for Lucy to pull away from me, wait for her nerves to kick in and stop this semi-public declaration. We haven’t officially come out as a couple to any of her friends, and I’ve managed to successfully dodge all talk about it at the firehouse. But to my surprise, she doesn’t pull away. Instead she turns and wraps her arms around my waist, and I can’t help the dopey grin that spreads across my face.
“Micah! Levi!” Bella calls, and the boys come running. “Isaac told me he needs help with a super top-secret project he’s working on. Do you know anyone that can help with that?”
Micah raises his good arm. “I can help.”
“MEEEE!” Levi says as he jumps up and down.
“Perfect. Why don’t you guys head upstairs? And we have to hurry before it explodes. Oops, I’ve said too much.” Bella mimes zipping her lips, and the boys hustle up the stairs.
Isaac saunters over. “What secret project are you talking about?”
“You know, the one where you watch them for an hour so the parents can hang out kid-free.”
“Is that what you guys are calling it nowadays?”
“Thanks, Isaac.” Bella pats him on the shoulder as he trudges over to the stairs.
“You owe me,” he grumbles, but there’s a hint of a smile on his face as he turns to climb toward the chaos I know is waiting for him.
“You kids have fun. We’ll drop them off at eight since it’s a school night. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure they’re fed. Enjoyyour adult time.” Bella winks as Hardy wraps an arm around her.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Hardy adds before kissing the top of Bella’s head.
