Zinnia walks over and rubs Tiger’s back. “It’s okay, Lily. We’ll see her a lot, right?”
“Yeah. A lot.”
I pull Tiger into my arms and let her cry against my chest.
Jax suddenly pushes off the counter and heads for the door.
Tiger lifts her head. “What are you going?”
The door shuts behind him without an answer.
Zephyr watches Jax walk outside. “He’s being Jax.”
I shake my head. “He’s always so protective over you.”
She turns her head and rests it back on my chest. “I know.”
We stand there for a moment. Me holding her. Zinnia holding onto both of us. Zephyr standing close.
Through the window, I see Jax jog down the driveway. Like he’s trying to catch Tiger’s mom before she gets too far.
“He’s going to tell her to stay, isn’t he?” Tiger asks.
“Probably,” Zephyr says.
“She won’t listen.”
“He’ll try anyway.”
Ten minutes later, Jax comes back, alone.
“Well?” Tiger asks.
“She said thank you, but she needs to do this her way.” He walks over and tucks her hair behind her ear. “She’ll come over tomorrow for dinner.”
“She will?”
“Yeah. I invited her. She said yes.”
Tiger starts crying again. “Thank you.”
Once Zinnia stops asking a million questions about when she’ll see her again and if they can visit her new place and what she’s going to do for work, we settle into homework time.
Zinnia spreads her books across the kitchen table. Math worksheets. Reading assignment. Spelling words.
Zephyr helps with the math. Jax handles the reading. I’m on spelling duty.
“Okay, Zinni. Next word: necessary.”
She scrunches her face. “N-E-C...”
“Keep going.”
“E-S-A-R-Y.”
“Almost. Try again.”
Tiger’s sitting at the counter watching us. Still quiet. Still processing.
