Page 56 of Passing Ships

“I can help,” Leia says.

“You betcha,” Amiya quips. “And then we’ll make Uncle Lennon watch Frozen with us while we have pie and ice cream.”

Leia cheers, and I groan.

“Welcome to being a girl uncle,” Amiya says.

By the time we make it to the cabana, the bottom has fallen out of the sky again, and I have to grab Leia while Amiya sprints to get the back door open.

When we make it inside, the three of us are soaked. Amiya takes Leia to the bathroom to fetch towels while I brave the torrential storm to get her bag, the groceries from the market, and Nana’s cooler.

The girls change into dry clothes and start dinner while my soggy ass heads to the shower.

I can hear them singing as I hurry from the bathroom to my room to pull on a dry pair of sweats.

When I join them, Leia is seated on the island with a juice box in hand as Amiya tops a pepperoni pizza with basil leaves and cheese. For the plain cheese pizza, she only sprinkles on more cheese. Then, she pops them both in the oven.

“Did I hear someone singing?” I ask as I slide onto one of the barstools.

“You have to sing on pizza-and-Frozen date nights. It’s the law,” Amiya informs me.

“Is that right?”

Leia nods.

“I don’t know any Frozen songs,” I tell her.

“It’s okay. We’ll teach you.”

By the end of the night, I’m belting every word of “Let It Go” off-key to their great amusement.

Amiya

I wake up with a pint-sized foot lodged in my back.

I roll over to see Lennon has been pushed to the edge of the blankets with his chest against the hearth and his arm slung over the brick.

Leia talked us into moving the coffee table and making a pallet on the floor so we could all sleep together last night. I know we could have all slept in the king-size bed in my room, but that felt too intimate and extremely inappropriate, so here we are, on the hard floor, between the couch and fireplace. With a tiny human wedged between us.

How she always manages to end up sideways is a mystery, but it’s been the same since she was a baby.

I lean over and inhale the sweet strawberry scent of her hair and kiss her temple before I shimmy from under the covers and stand to stretch my aching back. Then, I tiptoe to the kitchen island to grab my phone and snap a photo of the two of them and shoot it to Avie.

She responds immediately.

Avie: Is Lennon spooning the fireplace?

Me: Yes.

Avie: Why?

Me: Leia kicked him off of her blanket pallet.

Avie: Ah, that makes sense. Poor guy is getting the full uncle-niece experience this trip.

Me: I’d say so. Face masks. Painted nails, Frozen, Frozen II, and a concert.

Avie: He let her paint his nails again?

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