“I suggest we go get those chicken tenders you like,” I said. “We can share a pack while we wait to get your sister.”
“Not with the spicy sauce?”
“Obviously. The mild for you, the hot for Daddy.”
He finally cracked a grin. “You’re funny when you eat that. You say hoo, hoo, so hot, hoo, and then you eat lots of ice.”
Well, the place didn’t fucking sell milk. So I had to make do.
“And you laugh at me, you little shit.” I poked him in the side.
“Yeah,” he laughed. “S’funny.”
I grinned and gave him another hug. “You know what’s funny? How insanely much I love you.”
I dreaded the day he stopped being our little cuddler.
“I love you too—can we get chicken now?”
I snorted, figuring the moment was over. “All right, let’s get you strapped in.”
“Daddy, can I paint your nails today?” Lily asked from the back seat.
“Uh, sure thing,” I replied. “Pick a good color for me, all right?”
“The best!”
Mikey poked his head out from between the seats. “What’s for dinner?”
“Hey—seat belt, young sir,” I reminded him.
And he was hungry already? We’d had chicken an hour ago.
“But we’re on our street!”
“And some people still drive like assholes here.”
He sat back with a huff and put on his seat belt again.
“We’re making fish and mashed potatoes for dinner,” I added. “That’s why we stopped to get panko.”
He snickered. “Panko. That’s a funny word.”
I smiled faintly and pulled up our driveway. Then I furrowed my brow when I noticed the furniture in the front yard. The chair from our bedroom, the rug from the living room—what the fuck, Lily’s bed? A dresser, too. And black trash bags that were filled.
“What on earth is Daddy doing?” I asked no one.
Hadn’t he worked today?
“That’s my bed!” Lily exclaimed.
I killed the engine and climbed out of my truck, and Mikey was already darting inside.
Lily was hot on his tail once I’d opened the door for her, and I grabbed their backpacks.
I didn’t like coming over here anymore whatsoever, but we had to keep up appearances a while longer. Mikey’s anxiety attack today had served as a good reminder.
Despite that… Our situation was exhausting. I’d warned Nate that I was looking for a house, and once I’d bought one, I wanted a couple of months to get settled. After that, it was time to break the news to Lily and Mikey. We couldn’t postpone it any longer. I was so fucking done with the charade, and it never stopped being painful. If I wanted to have a shot at any kind of recovery, I needed distance from Nate.
