“I suppose. Just try to get some fruits and vegetables into them the rest of the time they’re with you. Would you?”
“I will do my best. I’ll go to the store tomorrow during school to get some fresh food. They eat lunch meat, right? That makes for easy lunch.”
“Yeah, turkey for all three. Or just PBJ is fine.” The thought occurs to me that I should probably make sure that Trent is actually okay with going Friday too.
He originally wanted to, but I wasn’t okay leaving the kids for two nights. I’m not sure that my stance has changed, but it seems like something we need as a couple and for once I think I have to put us first.
I pull my phone from my back pocket and shoot off a quick text.
Hey baby. Hope your day is going well. Any chance you’d want to head out to Brighton Friday instead of Saturday? Becca’s cool watching the kids.
I slide it back into my pocket not expecting to hear back from him for a while. It’s not always convenient for him to check his phone at work.
But it pings immediately.
Sure.
Well that’s a lot less excitement than I anticipated. He’s certainly making me work for it these days. Not even an acknowledgement about my day or his day. Just a simple one-word answer.
“What’s wrong?” Becca’s voice makes me realize I’m still staring at my phone.
“I just got a simple ‘sure’ from Trent. Nothing else. But if you’re sure you’re cool taking the kids for an extra day then I think I’m going to take you up on it.”
A smile spreads across her face. “Of course, Leslie. I offered because I meant it, and I’m happy to take them for the weekend. Really. I know you don’t go away much and feel like you can’t leave them, but we’ll be just fine. Even Robert is excited.”
While Robert is about a year older than Jessica, they all get along great. And he’s really good with Charlie. He treats him like a baby brother and shows him how to do “boy things” as he likes to say. Really, he just likes to play toys with somebody who’s not his mom and took on Charlie like a brother.
“At least somebody is because Trent doesn’t seem to be.” Frustratedly, I fold a shirt and toss it on the pile of Kendall’s clothes.
“He’s probably just busy. I wouldn’t read too much into it.” She’s right of course but with the way his mood has been lately it’s hard to see he’s not just irritated.
“Yeah.”
Silence takes over as we continue to fold, and I feel her gaze on me every few seconds. She knows I’m in my head about Trent, she can either feel the tension rolling off of me or she just knows me well enough. Maybe both.
“Okay. Enough folding.”
She looks around the piles of clothes that are clean but not yet folded and back at me.
“I know, there’s a lot left. I just can’t anymore.” Trent got to me and now he’s in my head and folding laundry is too menial for me to be out of my thoughts. “Help me figure out what to wear now for Friday night.”
Ugh, another night another outfit. I’m not buying a new one though. I’m sure something that I have will do just fine.
“Dress code?”
“No clue. It’s a meet and greet, so casual I’m sure. Just not sure I want to roll with jeans.” No pun intended for the roll that tends to reside around my midsection.
After trying on what feels like my entire wardrobe, besides the yoga pants of course, we finally agree that another sundress is the best way to go. This one is a light pink with cap sleeves, but it accentuates all the right parts and hides all the wrong ones. It’s the only reason it’s allowed to stay in my closet.
“Coffee?” Becca raises a shoulder and eyebrow.
“Is it too early for wine?”
She giggles but I’m not really joking. It may be one in the afternoon, but I need something to take the edge off and I’m not sure coffee’s going to do the trick this time.
“Oh, come on, Leslie. Nothing about this situation is that dire. You can survive until the kids are at least home to dive into your pinot.” It warms my heart that she knows my favorite wine. Though we drink together enough that I’d be concerned if she didn’t.
“It’s just Trent. He’s gotten into my head with this attitude he suddenly has. I was happy not to go at all and now he seems so down in the dumps about it all.”
