“Yeah. He lived a good life though so I wasn’t tripping. I just hate it happened while I was away.”
“Is this why you’ve decided to get another dog?”
“Yeah. I’m a dog lover, Ever. You won’t ever see me go too long without one.”
“Well, you’d better train this one really good, or he will be packing his things and moving to your parents’ home. I can live my entire life without an animal and I’d be just fine. Now come on. Let me touch you.”
He was too far away. I wanted him close so that I could finally close my eyes and drift into a deep sleep. As he made his way to the bed, he undressed in stride. I watched as he unclothed himself, stripping down to his briefs before climbing in bed and on top of me.
“I’m tired, Ever,” he admitted, leaning down and kissing my lips.
“Then let’s get some rest,” I advised, pulling him in for another kiss.
I turned on my side as he got comfortable behind me. When his hand went around my waist and he pulled me even closer, I knew he was at peace. Bringing peace to Luca’s world was one of my top priorities because he brought so much to mine. I closed my eyes and waited for the lovely sounds that came from his mouth once he drifted off.
“Is that too hot?”I asked as I watched Luca lower his feet into the tub of water that sat in front of him.
“Na. It’s good,” he assured me.
“Me first!” Emorey screamed.
“We can both just do one foot at a time, Emorey. Mommy will help you with yours.”
“No. I want do it,” Emorey sassed, snatching the toenail clippers away from me.
Her little attitude seemed to get a bit fiercer by the day and the fact that Luca had her back every time was making things even worse.
“Hand me the clippers, Emorey. You’ll cut yourself if you do it alone.”
“Emorey, I don’t think you can handle those alone. Let your mom do this part and then you can do everything else by yourself. I’ll make sure. Aight?”
“OK.” Even with sad eyes, you could still see the fight in Em. She wanted to protest, but whatever Luca said she listened to. Hell, he was the only one she’d been listening to for almost three months.
The girls and I had decided to give Luca a pedicure. We all thought he could use one. His toenails had grown much too long, and the bottom of his feet could use a good scrubbing. When he rubbed them against me some nights, I cringed. My baby’s heels were so rough and flakey that they left crumbs on my sheets sometimes.
The most hilarious thing about it all was that he remembered to lotion his feet more than I did for the most part. I got regular pedicures and thought to invite him but then the personal pedicure idea surfaced. He was excited about it, too. We’d been reminding him all week and it was finally time.
“How far down would you like me to cut them?” I asked, wanting to be sure I didn’t cut them too low.
“Cut them motherfuckers off. All the way off. They got me going up a size in my shoes so that my feet are comfortable.”
Though I laughed, I didn’t find a damn thing funny. Had Luca mentioned the issue beforehand, I would’ve clipped his toenails a long time ago. They were so long that it looked as if they hurt.
“Why haven’t you said anything?”
“I’m saying something now.”
“You can be a real a-hole sometimes,” I sneered.
“You love it, Ever.”
“I do.”
There wasn’t any denying it. Though we hadn’t actually said the words to one another, we both knew exactly what it wasbetween us. I was waiting for the perfect moment though I wasn’t exactly sure what Luca was waiting for, but he showed me way better than his words ever could vocalize. It shined through his actions when it came to me andourgirls.
I hadn’t given it much thought but when I did, I was reminded that it was Lyric who always told him and Laike that she loved them. They always replied the same thing. It was never changing.
“Always,” they’d shout back at her after she’d admitted to loving them dearly.
