“Aunt Kitty, you have to have a good amount of followers and views in order to be paid for content. And you know how much I love you, but hobby horses are a niche thing. I’m not sure how much you can make from attempting to be an influencer.”
“That’s because you’re not involved in the process.” She pats my shoulder. “Trust me, Renley, this will be very lucrative for us.”
Then she takes off down the stairs, where Rupert is holding out Marshmallow.
I sigh, knowing very well that this idea of hers will not be lucrative. But I don’t have it within me to fight with her, just like I didn’t have it within me to fight with my dad.
So I grab my travel toolbox and head on my way.
“I had no idea you could just cut a hole out of a wall and then patch it back up,” Theo says, staring at the wall in awe. “We did that.”
I chuckle and say, “We did.”
“I need to take a picture of this wall.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket and then turns the camera to selfie mode. “Come on, get in here, Gossy. This is a momentous occasion that we need to document.”
He loops his arm around my shoulder, pulls me in close, and then squats ever so slightly so you can see the patchwork we did. With both of us smiling, he takes a picture.
He studies the image for a few seconds, a smile plastered on his face, as if he’s truly, genuinely proud.
It’s kind of sweet to see. It’s endearing to watch him puff his chest out while putting his hands to work. I’ve always found comfort in the fact that I can fix things myself, and I guess I’ve taken it for granted up until this point, because the satisfaction he has is just adorable. And it would do me good to remember that feeling.
He sticks his phone back in his pocket and then says, “Okay, should we wallpaper it now?”
Wallpaper it? After we just patched it?
He really is adorable.
“First of all, it has to dry. Second of all, we have to sand it down, and also, we don’t have the wallpaper yet.”
“Did you not order the one that we picked out?”
“I did, but it’s not an overnight delivery.” I laugh. “Takes some time.”
“Okay, so what do we do now?”
“I was going to replace the toilet, as the new one was delivered today. It’s in the main space.”
“Is that what the big box is?” he asks.
“Yes, so we have to remove this old one and then we can get the new one in.”
“What goes into removing it? Are we going to have excrement all over us?”
I lean against the bathroom wall. “How do you think toilets work? Do you think they just maintain all deposits, never pushing them anywhere?”
“Well, no.”
“Then why would we get excrement on us?”
“I don’t know.” He laughs. “All I know is that I’m developing calluses for the first time in my cushy life, but I don’t know if I’m ready for a toilet.”
“You’re ready for a toilet.” I move past him and look at the time on my phone. “Did you happen to run into Rupert and Aunt Kitty before you came here?”
“They were on their way to the beach,” Theo says. “They were practicing out front all morning and I think she pulled something, so they were headed to the ocean to try to ease some of the pain. I’m not sure how the ocean would do that, but I didn’t ask questions.”
My expression falls in disappointment.
“From the look in your eyes, I’m guessing that’s not what you wanted to hear.”
