God, the emotion. I sniffle and cough again, but I don’t fool Braeden.
He smiles up at me and bangs his shoulder against me. “I know I will.”
Chapter 30
Seth
Iopenthedoorto Calvin and Braeden knocking, and my hands rush up to my face as I take in their costumes.
“Oh my god! Cal, I can’t believe you dressed up as the Joker from Batman.”
He holds out his arms and does a quick spin on my porch. “I look hot, right?”
I snort a laugh. “Sohot. That green hair really does it for me.”
Braeden rolls his eyes and pushes past me to walk inside. “Gross.”
“You look amazing, too, Brae!” I yell behind him.
“I did his makeup. He’s the perfect zombie, if I do say so myself.”
“Not bad. Not bad at all.”
“Cal!” Emily yells out.
She and Calvin have become pretty good friends since he and I started dating. The attachment thing makes me a tad nervous, but I’m confident Calvin is here for the long haul.
“Hey, hellcat.”
She bounces up and down with her arms stretched upward, so he sweeps her up. She points at her costume. “Spidey.”
“Spider-Man suits you, my dear,” he says.
He sets her down, and she runs off as I close the door behind us. “How have you been since the funeral?”
“I’m doing okay.I don’t… feel much, and I’m trying to come to terms with that. It is what it is.”
I rub his shoulder. “It’s okay to feel how you do. How about Braeden? Did he do okay during the service?”
“He’s fine, too. He’s just happy that I could bring him along. We stopped by to see his parents, too. It was sad, but he’s bouncing back faster now.”
“What a relief for both of you.”
Calvin leans in and kisses me. “I like your costume, too. Who knew you’d be so sexy as a pirate?”
“Jack Sparrow, thank you very much.”
“Even better. You put Johnny Depp to shame.”
I roll my eyes and shove him inside the house.
“Who’s ready to go trick-or-treating?” I call out to the kids waiting in the living room with their pumpkin buckets.
“Me!” they all call out.
“Let’s get pictures first.”
My kids wanted to be theAvengers. Harrison chose to be Iron Man, and Sawyer decided to be Captain America.
