Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
There were other discoveries as well.
Darwin could not prep meat. He kept gagging and was very concerned about all the diseases one could get from touching anything raw. He suggested we buy lye for the counters. I took him off meat duty and put him in charge of kitchen organization and keeping an inventory. He enjoyed making the charts.
Tatum was good with vegetables. She could slice them, dice them, and wore goggles when doing the onions so there was no crying. Fruit was also something she enjoyed, and she was a big fan of the melon baller. Much like Dar however, she was not touching raw anything, even eggs. They were too runny and she didn’t like the look of them.
Griff was naturally gifted in the cooking department. He combined spices in interesting ways, made marinades, and got interested enough to watch cooking videos on YouTube. I was not unhappy with this. I met his friends too, Benny and Sean, and liked them both. They had no problem staying home with him while he was grounded. There was a Ping-Pong table in the basement, and the three boys played endless games. They even joined us on our nightly walk, which had changed from a ride, which yes, had only started that Sunday, but still, they showed up every day.
The kids had a hard reset, and because they were kids, Benji advised me when I called him, they basically conformed to their new reality, as they had when their mother left.
“You’ve created new habits, better habits, so they’re changing in response. It will continue over time, even after you’ve gone.”
I was happy to hear that.
“The wheels are turning now, and they’re old enough to say yes, I like this or no, I don’t like that. Logical responses are what we want.”
I appreciated him and sent him a fruit basket he gushed over. Shaw called later and ordered me to stop sucking up to his husband. I laughed until he hung up.
On Wednesday, I had all the locks changed. New deadbolts with extra-long screws that would not give if the door was kicked. When I distributed the new keys, Tatum divulged to me that changing them out was a good idea since right after their mother left, a lot of people were coming and going, visiting and dropping off food.
“I think Dad gave out a million keys.”
“Really? You couldn’t have told me that before?”
She giggled and hugged me, which I liked, but I scowled at her instead of smiling.
I put a new deadbolt on the garage door as well. I was taking no chances.
On Thursday, I took the kids to meet their new therapist. Dr. Marlowe was probably in her early forties. She was funny, sarcastic, and best of all, liked the kids. I could tell she cared. She only treated children from five to eighteen but assured me that if Griff still needed help longer than that, she would make excellent recommendations. She was somewhat concerned I wasn’t going to be there long-term, but understood when I disclosed that I was a fixer.
“You certainly are,” she said, smiling.
Early Friday morning, I went running on the treadmill in the basement because I couldn’t leave them alone and unprotected. Plus, it was raining buckets, so it wasn’t an option anyway. When I came into the kitchen, there was a message on the machine. Luke, explaining he had to stay and work through the weekend. He would be there the following Monday for sure, but he had a new phone, in case they needed to reach him. I was beyond caring at that point, but I left the message so the kids could all listen. Surprisingly, they wanted me to summarize.
“He’ll be home Monday,” I said, whisking eggs for breakfast.
“That’s fine,” Dar said, rooting through the refrigerator for the bacon.
“Groovy,” Tatum chimed in with one of my words she’d picked up.
“You know,” Griff began, “if you add ricotta to the eggs, they get fluffy.”
I turned to him. “You come do it, then.”
“Do we even have ricotta?” Dar asked his brother.
“Yeah, I bought some yesterday when I went to the store to get stuff for your lunch.”
“My lunch—oh!” Dar was suddenly excited. “We’re going to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle today!”
Tatum rolled her eyes.
“I can’t believe you forgot,” Griff said, smiling at him.
“I was thinking about Minecraft tonight and how I’m gonna build my aquarium.”
I didn’t want him to become a kid who never left the house, but I also liked him spending time with his brother and sister—though now screen time was limited to two hours and stopped at nine for Darwin and Tatum, and at ten for Griff. He was still battered and bruised on the outside, but his energy had returned by that Tuesday, and when he went back to school on Wednesday, he’d been greeted like a hero by his classmates. That made me happy.