“Watch your stupid sun,” she muttered.
“Hey, don’t call my son stupid,” I teased, reaching out to lay a hand over her stomach.
“Oh, ha-ha,” she grumbled. “It isfreezingout here.”
“Yeah, it is,” I admitted, clearing my throat and trying to rid myself of a persistent, nagging tickle.
“And still, you drag me out here.”
“Because I love being out here with you.”
“Well, since you love being out here so much, why don’t you go salt the front porch?” she asked, reaching out with a gloved hand to poke me in the ribs. “God, I don’t know how you can sit there in just a sweatshirt. You’re such a freak of nature.”
I grinned. “I might be a freak, but you love me anyway.”
“Uh-huh.” She glanced toward the lighthouse and began to stand. “Well, time to start my day and time for you to end yours.”
“Yeah, I’m fucking exhausted,” I said, needing to yawn suddenly.
It ended with a cough, and Laura groaned.
“God, sounds like you’re next to be hit with the affliction,” she muttered, throwing her head back with a groan.
The girls had been sick for the past week with a nasty cold that kept them home from school for four days straight. Laura and I crossed our fingers every day that maybe we had both come away without catching their plague, and I was still holding on to hope, despite the seemingly sudden tickle in my throat.
“Nah, I’m probably just wiped out. I had to chase a homeless junkie out of the cemetery last night.”
Laura turned on her way to the back door, looking surprised. The cemetery saw little action, so when something did happen, it was exciting.
“Really?”
I nodded, standing to stretch my arms overhead with another yawn and a sniffle.Oh no. “Yeah. He had snuck in to sleep in one of the mausoleums. I gave him the cash in my wallet to find somewhere warm and get something to eat,” I said before lowering my gaze to the snow-dusted railing around the deck. “He was wearing a Vietnam veteran hat.”
“Oh,” she replied softly.
“I mean, he probably took my money and went to buy some booze or something, but all I could think was, if you hadn’t found me …”
“We don’t think about that now,” she said, closing the gap between us and leaning her bundled-up body against mine. “I hope he found somewhere warm to go.”
“Me too,” I said, kissing the top of her head.
She stepped away, looked up into my eyes, and said, “Don’t forget to salt the porch.”
I yawned once more, then nodded. “I won’t.”
***
The military had left me with the ability of preparedness and foresight. I could often see the consequences of decisions before they were made, and because of this, Iwas always diligent and timely when it came to getting things done.
Laura said that was what made me such a great husband and father. I did things when I was asked to do them, and often, I did them before she even asked.
But that day, I went to bed, not feeling well. By the time I lay down, I succumbed to the reality that it must’ve been my turn to be hit by Jane and Lizzie’s nasty cold. I took out my hearing aids. Not something I often did, for the sake of preparedness, like I had said, but they needed batteries, and I needed sleep, so I told myself I’d change them when I woke up.
It was fine. Laura was at work. The girls were already at school, and their dad was picking them up afterward. Nobody would be home for at least seven hours, and I fell into what felt like the deepest sleep of my life.
When I cracked my eyes open, it was already growing dark outside. I cursed under my breath—I was going to be late for work—and winced at the pain in my throat.
It was hands down one of the most unpleasant parts of having kids. The amount of times I’d been sick over the past five years was mind-boggling, and I was beginning to consider homeschooling, if only for the fact that my stepdaughters would no longer exist as the human equivalent of a petri dish.
