She opened them.
Rohan had a gleam of excitement in his expression she hadn’t seen on his face in forever. That one hint made her feel like she wasn’t totally failing as a mother.
As a mother of multiple children, it was a nice feeling to be failing only a little.
She looked from Rohan to the—
Aaaand… She had no idea what she was looking at. None at all.
Her expression must’ve conveyed this, because Rohan’s eyebrows crumpled.
“I think it’s great,” she said in that way moms did that implied while they were proud, they had no clue what they were proud of.
The plastic pool Lola had played in over the summer was filled with soil, and it had wire across the top, tacked down at the edges to hold it in place. Rohan’s plastic frogs sat situated around a terra-cotta plate in the middle.
Ah. She came up blank. Nothing. She had nothing. Of all the things she expected, this was not anywhere near the list. Not even on the paper.
What on earth could they do with this contraption?
“It’s a frog habitat,” Rohan said, thankfully relieving her of her I-have-no-idea-what-this-is stupor. “For the frogs,” he added, helpfully.
Oh. That was…
“Wow.” April slid her gaze to Jack.
He had a look of immense pride in his expression that echoed Rohan’s. It was adorable on them both.
Still, she didn’t get it. She wanted to get it. But she wasn’t there yet.
“This is for frogs?” she confirmed, gesturing a circle in the air over the pool.
Jack nodded. “To keep them safe from Captain Jack.”
Well, that was actually really sweet. She’d been a bit worried about what might happen if Captain Jack actually caught one of Rohan’s garden toads.
“I can come here to be a frog, too.” Rohan beamed up at her with a smile that turned her heart to melted butter. “Whenever I want.”
Oh. Well. That was the most perfect thing Jack had done so far.
“I think the frogs will love it.” She pulled Rohan to her side and hoped she gave the appropriate enthusiasm. Mostly she was trying to figure out how to thank Jack for doing this with her kid. “If you love it, we know they will.”
“Jack has the best ideas.” Rohan knelt by the edge to rearrange his toy frogs.
“Rohan was thinking he might just talk with human words when he’s not here at the habitat,” Jack added, clearing his throat. “We thought you might appreciate having him speak human words in human situations.” He pursed his lips and shifted on his feet. “Keep the frog behavior to here, with the frogs.”
April’s mouth opened the slightest bit. “You’re okay with that, honey?” She kneeled so she was closer to Rohan’s eye level.
He didn’t look away from his toys, but his forehead crinkled like it did when he was deep in thought.
“It makes sense.” He lifted a shoulder. “I don’t want to upset you when I turn frog.”
A wet stinging pricked at the edges of her eyelids.
Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
“I love this.” She wrapped Rohan in a side hug she didn’t want to release.
Rohan was not a show-your-feelings-with-physical-touch kind of kid. He preferred his space. So when he turned in to her embrace and hugged her right back, it meant more than an entire frog habitat. He held onto her as much as she held onto him.
