Luke stayed silent as he sat on his bed, focusing on his shoelaces.
“I miss you, Luke. Miss talking to you. Going fishing and camping.”
Heat filled his blue gaze. “I’m too old for that kid crap.”
Pain dug deep. “It’s notkid crapbecause those are some of my favorite things to do. And you need to watch your language.”
“You curse. I’ve heard you.”
“You’re right, I do. But I’m an adult. And I try not to do it in front of you and your brothers. Do you want to explain to Charlie’s teacher why a first grader is dropping F-bombs left and right?”
I’d hoped the question would get a smile out of Luke, maybe even a laugh. But his mouth didn’t move even slightly.
“Whatever,” he mumbled.
I sighed. “I need your phone, iPad, and laptop.”
Luke’s eyes went wide. “No way.”
I pushed to my feet. “I warned you, Luke. I told you what would happen if you kept using that language.”
“This is bullshit.”
My back molars ground together. “That’s three days now.”
Luke snapped his mouth shut.
I picked up his laptop from the desk. “Phone and iPad.”
Luke stood, yanking his cell out of his pocket and slamming it on the desk. Then he jerked open a drawer and grabbed the iPad.
I hated this. Hated my kid being mad at me. Hated that he wouldn’t have the few things that seemed to make him happy now and then. But letting him get away with murder wouldn’t help either.
I gathered up the electronics and headed for the door. “Dinner should be ready around six.”
Luke didn’t speak at all. It was his form of retaliation. It worked, too. Cut deep.
I slipped out of his room, shutting the door behind me. I walked to my office and deposited his gear in my desk drawer before moving in the direction of the living area.
Charlie’s voice reached my ears before I saw him. “What would you pick, gecko or African bullfrog?”
“Hmm,” Hallie said as I paused at the threshold, taking them in. “Frogs are cool, but geckos have those toes that help them stick to everything. I’m going gecko.”
Charlie beamed at her as he knelt on a stool, stirring my pasta sauce. “Those toes are the coolest. I wish I had them. Then I could walk on the ceiling.”
Drew chuckled from his spot on a stool opposite him. “You’d completely turn into a lizard if you could.”
Charlie’s mouth pressed into a thoughtful line. “Only if I could turn back. I’d miss chocolate too much.”
A laugh escaped Hallie, light and almost musical. It caught on the air, sending a shiver over me.
“I’d miss chocolate, too,” she admitted. “But I do think it would be cool to turn into a bird. Then I could fly wherever I wanted.”
There was a wistfulness to Hallie’s voice. A longing. For what? Flight? Freedom, maybe?
“I’m going monkey,” Drew said. “You could climb trees crazy high and eat bananas all day.”
Hallie grinned at him. “And hang upside down using your tail.”
