“Naw, sweetheart, the kids and I have this, you just relax,” I reply.
She’s been working her ass off since she moved in, and I know during the day when the kids are in school, she goes and works on her family farmhouse. Plus, of course, what she’s already managed to do around here, so she deserves to rest and relax. I know all of this has to be new to her based on how she grew up. I’m not really used to younger kids being around, of course, but I’m usually surrounded by a lot of noise and chaos when I’m onboard a ship. Most of those assholes act like kids when they’re not on shift, but the minute they clock in, they focus because what they do is probably as dangerous if not more so than what I do.
“Do you want me to place the order for Chinese yet?” she questions, yelling so I can hear her.
“Nope,” I reply. “After we’re done with the yard and we all get cleaned up, I’m going to take all of us down there instead for a change of scenery.”
“Ay yi yi,” Nonna exclaims, wringing her hands. “Such waste when we have food here, Dex.”
“Nonna, please let me do this,” I plead. “I don’t spend my money all that often, and the two of you have been working your fingers to the bone. Don’t you both want to be able to go and play bingo?”
“I do, Josephine, so let’s let him talk,” Abuela says, lightly smacking Nonna’s arm. “We should figure out a schedule.”
“I’ll do it!” Jolie exclaims, pulling her pad of paper off the table while she grabs her pen.
I shake my head but tune into the kids when Anniston whispers, “They both do too much, even when Mommy and Daddy were alive.”
“What do you mean?” I question. I don’t want to get pissed off at my dead parents, but both of my grandmothers have raised their families and households. This is now their time to be able to relax a little bit.
“Well, you know how Abuela and Nonna can be, right?” Anniston asks. At my nod, she says, “I think sometimes it was just easier for Mommy and Daddy to go along with it and not cause an argument. But I’d like to learn how to cook and maybe be responsible for a meal once a week, Dex. And Arya and Thad also want to try their hand at it. We have some wonderful family recipes, but we don’t have a clue how to make them. Plus, the house doesn’t need to be vacuumed, dusted,andmopped every single day. I think if something gets messy, we clean it up then, and then on Friday night or even on Saturday, we all work together to do it. That’s what one of my friends does. I know Abuela can sew and Nonna can crochet, and I want to learn how to do that too.”
I continue to listen as Arya adds her two cents while Thad just nods. I suspect he’s in that weird place I vaguely remember because he keeps twisting away from us and jamming his hands in his pocket. I barely bite back a snicker because if memory serves, every time the wind blew when I was his age, I was getting a stiffy. Fuck, that’s something else I’ll need to talk to himabout, and I know I’m going to want Jolie to talk to both girls because from the men on the ship who have daughters, their periods seem to be coming younger and younger.
“It was a good day,” she whispers as she crawls into bed beside me.
We have a four-page list of shit to get with trips to Costco, Walmart, the fucking pet store, and Home Depot tomorrow. Oh, and if at all possible, Nonna and Abuela want to go by the farmer’s market for some fresh vegetables since they’re ready to start canning. Which reminds me, I have to till up the area they use for the yearly garden.
Turning to face her, I say, “Yeah, it was. I like your idea of a menu of sorts for dinners and how once a week will be leftover night to clear the fridge for groceries, as well as letting the kids take one night and work together. Hopefully, Abuela and Nonna will have backup food just in case.”
She giggles then says, “My cooking was a bit hit or miss at their ages, but the only way they’ll learn is by doing it, Dex. Plus, your grandmothers and I aren’t just going to let them have free rein while we lounge in bed.”
She might be my wife, but we don’t have the kind of relationship that warrants the thoughts zipping through my brain at her words. Mentally picturing Jolie in a silky nightgown, her luscious body warm and willing, has me grateful that the lights are already off and we’re far enough apart that she can’t tell how she’s affecting me.
“Can you help me remember that we need to add seeds to that list for the garden? Also, remind me againwhywe’re going to the pet store?” I ask.
She’s laughing so hard now, she snorts. “Well, let’s see. Thad wants some tropical fish, Arya wants a kitten or two, and Anniston wants a guinea pig.”
“Jesus,” I mutter. “I’d rather adopt a cat through a rescue though.”
“Oh, that’s why the pet store! There’s a local rescue who pulls the kitties and older cats from the shelter, they get them vetted then fixed, then they go up for adoption! Personally, I’d prefer a slightly older cat myself, but at the end of the day, it’ll help all of them become responsible,” she replies.
Chapter Eight
Jolie
Ibite back a sigh as we make oursecondtrip back to the house, and all we’ve managed to do is go to the farmer’s market and the pet store! However, hearing the girls cooing at their new pets while Thad watches the bag he’s holding full of fish has me smiling instead.
“What are you naming your cat?” Dex asks.
“She already has a name from her former owner. It’s Prissy,” I reply. While Arya got a bonded pair of kittens, I fell in love with a ten-year-old Persian whose owner sadly passed away, leaving her alone. Since I know how that feels, I wanted to give her a second chance at a loving home, and when she responded positively to me, I got her, determined to make the remainder of her life memorable for both her and me. With all the supplies we had to buy for the cats, plus the huge tank and stuff that goes inside that Thad needed, Dex’s truck is once again loaded down. Thankfully, both grandmothers elected to stay home to startworking on the vegetables and fruits they bought by the bushel. We’re definitely going to be eating well for quite some time.
“What are you calling your guinea pigs, Anniston?” Dex questions. In a whisper he says to me, “I sure hope like hell the person who helped us gave us two of the same sex. I don’t want to come home and find that we have a family of them.”
I snicker because that thought had crossed my mind, so I searched on my phone and verified that both of the ones Anni got were the same sex. Her habitat is a thing of beauty too, and I’m already mentally thinking about the one I plan to build out of spare wood once they’re a little bit bigger, so they have room to explore and play.
“Mutt and Jeff, I think,” Anniston says. “Those are boy names, right?”
“You should call them Oreo and Cookie,” Thad replies. “They’re black and white.”
