“Tell me more of your favorite things,” I tell the girls.
“I like macaroni and cheese and rainbows and unicorns and chess and reading,” Sadie rattles off.
“Anything else?” Marcus asks with a grin.
“School. I like school.”
“And puppies!” Sam chimes in, causing Marcus to groan.
“What’s wrong with puppies?” I ask.
“We want a puppy andDadwon’t get us one.”
I try to hide the smile at the way she calls him Dad. Like this is the biggest grievance in their world that Marcus won’t get them a dog.
“Daddoesn’t have enough time for a puppy with hockey.”
“But we’ll take care of her,” Sadie tells him, giving him a stern eye. “Trixie would be the best puppy ever.”
“You already have her name picked out?” I ask the girls, and they both nod.
“From Bluey,” Marcus says. “Always about Bluey.”
“Bluey is not one of Daddy’s favorite things,” Sam says.
“You know what is one of my favorite things?”
Both their faces get excited at this. Clearly they know what one of his favorite things is.
“Ice cream!” they shout at the same time.
“Can we have some?” Sadie asks.
“Of course,” Marcus says. “Harper, you want to help me?”
“Sure.”
Marcus holds out his arm for me to lead the way out of the tent. From here, the girls can’t see the kitchen, but the TV screen casts them in a glow. They’ve turned their attention to the movie playing.
“How are you holding up?” Marcus asks, opening the freezer and pulling out a gallon of strawberry ice cream.
I shrug a shoulder. “I guess spending storms with you isn’t the worst place to be.”
That earns me a laugh. “Do you need to tell me your favorite things?”
Draping my arms over Marcus’s shoulders, I pull him close.
“You.”
“It seems like we have the same favorite things because you’re my favorite thing too.” Marcus buries his face into my neck and I’m swept away in his warmth. In how safe I feel with him.
I don’t know how long we stay like this, just breathing each other in. I always remember passing the storms with Marcus in my apartment. We’d pull the blankets up over our heads and talk for hours.
Those are the things I missed most. Now I’m doing it with Marcus and his girls, which I love.
“Is the ice cream ready yet?” Sam calls out.
“In a minute,” Marcus tells them.
