I crush everyone at that game, and both Jade and Easton swear that they will never play with me again. I don't believe them for a single second, though.
When I see Jade yawn, I stand up from the couch and open my arms.
“Come on, let's head upstairs. It's time for bed.”
“Aww, man, but we were playing Uno, and it was fun.”
I make a face at Jade, crossing my arms over my chest. “I thought you said you were never going to play with me again?”
She makes a sheepish face. “Okay, okay. I didn't mean it. But do I have to go to bed?”
Easton perks up from the couch and gives her a look. “Yes, you still have to go to bed.”
Jade frowns, but it's all pretend, and I scoop her up into my arms, even though she is nearly the size of me as a ten-year-old, and start up the stairs.
I make it about halfway before I have to put her down.
“Okay, I'm sorry, cutie, you're too heavy.”
She laughs and hurries up the stairs towards her bedroom. It only takes her a few minutes to get her PJs on, and then I shoo her into the bathroom so that she can brush her teeth.
“You had a lot of sugar today. You have to make sure you do a really good job.”
Jade comes out of the bathroom with the toothbrush against her teeth, brushing at top speed.
Chucking, I give her a thumbs up. “Ten out of ten. Excellent job.”
After the two minutes for brushing her teeth and a few extra, because she kept getting distracted by trying to talk, I just grin and then walk her to her room.
The storm is still going strong, and if anything, it's even harder now.
A crack of thunder shakes the entire house, and the lightning that flashes outside lights up Jade's room.
“Ah! Oh, I don't like it. Hazel, can you stay? Stay with me, please?”
She makes that puppy dog face, putting her hands in front of her chest, begging me to stay with her, and I couldn't possibly say no.
“Ah,” I sigh and gesture towards her little bed. “All right, I can stay with you until you fall asleep.”
“Thank you.”
I get in bed alongside her, find a place against the wall, and open up my arms so that she can come lay down. It's a good thing this isn't an actual twin bed but a full one, because there's no way both of us would fit on it if it were.
“Will you read me a story?”
I look at Jade's hopeful face and roll my eyes before gesturing toward her bookshelf. She grabs one of her favorite stories, and I look at her pointedly.
“This is a long one, so we're only doing a few chapters, okay?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “It's notthatlong, but alright.”
Snuggling into my arms, Jade smiles. I hold up the book so that we can both see the pages, even though it's not a picture book, it's just words.
“Alright, here we go. Chapter One.”
I start reading to her. The sound of my voice is a constant drone against the rain outside that batters the windows. I get through the chapter setting up the story about a land that's full of princesses and dragons.
I start into the second one before I notice that I can barely keep my eyes open as I read the words.
