“Work was normal although everyone is concerned about Mike and how he’s coping with all of this.” Jon was a paralegal at the law office where Mike worked. “I did my best to reassure them that Mike would be fine, thanks to the support of his family.”
“Yeah,” Kyle agreed. “It’s gonna take some time, but we’ll all get through this. I pretty much told my aunt Ellen the same thing today.”
“You three had a nice visit?”
“Yeah, Wyatt seemed really happy to see his gama.”
Upon hearing his name, Wyatt held up a broccoli floret and proudly said, “Tees!”
“I think he means trees.” Jon laughed. “Yes, Wyatt, broccoli trees.”
“Brockee tees,” Wyatt repeated.
“And Aunt Ellen volunteered to sit with Wyatt for two days a week, so our day care problems are solved.”
“She did? Wow, that’s perfect.” Jon paused, thoughts running through his brain. “It’s not gonna be too much for her, is it?”
“That was my first thought, but she said it’ll be fine. We can keep an eye on things, and if it seems to be too much for her, we can make other arrangements.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
While Kyle took Wyatt upstairs to bathe him and get him ready for bed, Jon cleaned up the remains of their dinner and started the dishwasher. When Jon had first moved to DC from Phoenix, he and Kyle had gotten lazy in their domestic duties and often went out for dinner or got takeout, like they had tonight. But now that they were raising Wyatt, they had both agreed that they would do more cooking at home, so Jon started making a shopping list. They could always have groceries delivered since one of them would be home a few days each week.
Kyle’s phone began to ring, and Jon glanced at it. Seeing that it was Kyle’s dad calling, he answered.
“Hey, Ben, how are you doing?”
“Hi, Jon. We’re well, thanks. You’re on speaker, by the way.”
“Hi, Rob,” Jon added.
“How are you and Kyle doing? Wyatt settling in all right?”
“So far. Kyle’s just putting him to bed but should be down shortly,” Jon told them.
“Oh, no problem. I spoke to Mike earlier and wanted to give you guys an update.”
Jon heard footsteps on the stairs and said, “Hold on, I hear Kyle now.”
“Who are you talking to?” Kyle asked when he reached the bottom step.
“Your dad and Rob.” Jon put the phone on speaker.
“Hey, Dad, Rob. How are things?”
“Good, son,” said Ben. “I spoke to Uncle Mike today and wanted to share some info. He’s managed to get almost everything done and should be flying home the day after tomorrow. He’ll have Mike and Becky’s cremains with him.”
“Aunt Ellen was here this morning, and she said Uncle Mike would probably be home in the next day or two.”
“How is she holding up?” Rob asked.
“As well as can be expected, I think. She’s not looking forward to the service.”
“That’s the next thing I wanted to talk about. Mike said they don’t want to wait long to have the service in DC, so he’s already made the arrangements. Since he’ll be home on Friday, they’ll have a small service for family and close friends on Sunday.”
“Wow, that’s quicker than I expected,” said Kyle. “But I guess I understand wanting to take care of it right away.”
“Exactly. Rob, Sam, Matthew, and I are flying down on Saturday. And don’t worry, Matthew will stay with Neil, and Sam’s already booked a hotel for the rest of us.” Ben mentioned the name of a high-end hotel in DC. “You guys have enough on your plate with the newness of caring for Wyatt, and we didn’t want to impose on your aunt and uncle with everything else that they’re dealing with.”
