“Yup!” He skipped in place. “It’s private, like bathroom stuff.”
I cracked a smile. Whatever worked. “Okay, sort of. Yeah.”
He held his hand out. “Can I have the driver’s license back?”
I smiled at him. “Sorry, bud. I’m going to hang onto it and give it back to your dad.”
It was enough to get him to skip over to his chair, which unfortunately was right next to the kids who’d been eavesdropping on us.
“Is Miss Nina your new mommy?” Sienna asked him.
Damn it. I racked my brain to come up with a redirect, but thankfully, Ashley clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention.
“Hey everyone, remember, when you’re finished with your creatures, bring them to me and I’ll help you put popsicle sticks on the back. Because we’re going to do a puppet show at the farewell dinner tonight!”
The room went wild. Thank you for the redirect, Ashley.
It was enough to get the kids refocused on creating their sea creatures, even Noah, so I pulled out my phone and retreated to a quiet corner of the room to text an update to Logan. I noticed that Noah kept his eye on me in between working on his creature.
Noah brought the marriage license to the Club to show me. He’s very excited about it.
The response bubbles popped up immediately.
Fuck. He already found it once and I took it away from him. I guess I didn’t hide it well enough the second time.
I told him that it’s private. Not sure it’s enough to keep him from slipping though.
The bubbles popped up, then disappeared, then began again.
Now that you weighed in I think we’ll be okay. He listens to everything you tell him.
Aw.
We’ve got a busy day today.I replied.I’m hoping he’ll forget about it. I have the license, I can give it to you at the end of the day.
That works. I’ll need it to get the annulment processed once we get back.
Even though it was exactly what needed to happen, a tiny door in my heart slammed shut. I’d always assumed that when I got married, it would be once and forever.
Now, thanks to a drunken night on the town, I was headed to my first failed marriage.
An hour later, we’d finished with our sea creatures, and we began the clean-up process. Ashley and I took care to make sure that each child carried their weight and helped alongside us.
Not that having them “help” made the process go faster.
Sienna knocked over a bottle of green glitter, and I rushed over as quickly as I could, hoping to keep the mess from affecting too many of the other kids. I knew firsthand just how perniciously glitter could spread. I’d occasionally find glitter in my uniform pockets even after two times through the washer.
“Sorry,” she pouted and pointed at the mess. “It was an accident.”
“Oh, I know, sweetheart! It’s okay, I’ll take care of it.”
She watched me grab a piece of cardboard to sweep the sparkles off the table.
“Where’s your ring?” She pointed to my hand. “When Barbie gets married, she always gets a pretty ring.”
I let out a long sigh as I continued cleaning. Our not-so-little lie was going to break out of containment if I didn’t come up with the perfect response. I paused to focus on Sienna.
“You’re right, people do get a ring when they get married. But look.” I held up my bare hands. “Do you see any rings?”
