He went back to the kitchen. “Where is he?”
She smiled over her shoulder. “I sent him to get dressed. I thought we could spend the day together.”
Her announcement gave Ethan pause. “We as in…” he prodded her along.
“We, as in all of us, silly.” She set a plate of burnt pancakes on the table and then went to the fridge for orange juice.
Ethan walked behind her, turning off the stove, closing drawers, and shutting the fridge.
Collin ran out at top speed. “Did you hear?” he asked Ethan as he pulled out his chair. “We’re going sledding, and then we’ll get hot chocolate at that fancy place with the gold letters on the door. Mom said we can go Christmas shopping too if we aren't tired.” He plopped a pancake on his plate–not even noticing the burn marks.
Ethan pulled a protein shake out of the fridge.
Pearl walked by and patted his flat stomach. “Good idea. Too many carbs would destroy that.”
Ethan fought the urge to slap her hand away. She was a flirt. Always had been. It didn’t matter if she was someone’s girlfriend–or wife–she flirted with everyone. He’d thought it was harmless until one day; it wasn’t.
“I have two appointments today.” He guzzled half the drink.
“Change them.” Pearl sipped orange juice while pouring syrup on Collin’s pancakes. “Do you want me to cut them up for you?”
Collin reared back in the offense. “I’m not a baby.”
She blinked. “Last time I was here, I cut them for you.”
“That was two years ago,” Ethan informed her. He threw the shake container in the garbage, noted how full it was, and emptied the bag.
“You’re so domestic.” She winked at him. “Don’t forget to take it to the curb.” She flicked a hand toward the door.
Ethan suddenly wanted to do anything else–including eating brussels sprouts or clipping his toenails–instead of taking out the garbage. Scolding himself for being petulant, he slipped on a pair of runners and took the trash outside. The cold air hit his bare arms with force and raised goosebumps.
The goosebumps reminded him of his conversation with Nick and Lux a couple of days ago when he wished that Collin had a more stable home life with a fatherandmother who were equally involved with him.
He suddenly understood what was going on.
His wish was coming true.
Collin would finally have two parents.
This would be great. Truly. A parent partner was so different from having his mom and dad fill in when he couldn’t be home from work in time to meet the bus. In time, he might trust her enough to have Collin overnight. He would never wish his son away–but a night off every now and again where he could fall asleep without the constant worry in the back of his head that someone would break in and kidnap his kid hanging over him would be nice.
He paused at the door, the cold knob shocking a little bit of reality into his thought process. This performance could also be one of Pearl’s wild hairs. She may need pictures for her social media accounts or some other such nonsense and use him and Collin for her own needs.
He would proceed with caution. If his wish came true, maybe they could make co-parenting work. Maybe. If–and this was a big if–ifPearl decided to grow up and be a mother, she could take some of the load off his shoulders. It would be great to have someone to consult with and talk to. He hated leaving Collin with his parents as often as he did. They were great about it–loved having time with him, and he shouldn’t feel guilty. But he did.
He walked through the hallway and into the laundry room to find Pearl folding Collin’s jeans.
“Look how little they are!” she held them up. “He’s so cute!” She put them on a growing stack of folded clothing and reached into the dryer.
Ethan stared. He rubbed his eyes and then pinched his arm. In the few short years they’d been married, he could count on one hand the number of times she’d folded laundry.
He was awake.
Never, in his wildest dreams, would Pearl have decided to fold laundry on her own. She was obviously bewitched. So… that meant this was his Christmas wish come true. The proof was right in front of him. Nick and Lux had cast some sort of spell that altered the chemicals in Pearl’s brain and made her responsible.
All righty then.
“I’ll get dressed and load the sleds in the truck,” he volunteered.
