Page 256 of The Bonus

I drop my head to hide my giggles.

She walks into the kitchen and Gabriel frowns and goes to pull the hairbrush out. His eyes widen as he realizes it’s tangled in her hair. “What’s going on here?” he snaps.

“The brush is stuck in her hair,” Dominic replies.

“I can see that. I mean, how the hell did it get there?” He tugs on it and she wails in pain.

“She was brushing her hair, how do you think?” Dominic replies sarcastically.

Gabriel closes his eyes as he tries to control himself. “Dominic, now is not the time for your smart-ass cracks. Go sit on the couch with your mother.”

Dominic skips past me and disappears out the front door.

“Ahhh,” cries Lucia. “You’re pulling it.”

“How else am I getting this out,” Gabriel grumbles. “Hold still.” He struggles and struggles while she wails and yells.

I’m in full giggles on the couch.

“What the hell do you do in your sleep?” He gets the big scissors out of the drawer.

“What are you doing?” she yells.

“There’s no saving this situation, I have to cut the bristles off the brush, what does it look like.” Tongue out, he concentrates. “If this doesn’t work, next I’m cutting your hair off.”

“No.” Lucia half laughs.

The front door opens. “I stepped in dog poo,” Dominic calls.

“Fuck me dead,” Gabriel mutters. “We don’t even have a dog.”

I burst out laughing.

“Glad you find this so amusing, Grace,” he whispers angrily.

“Hilarious, actually.”

“Throw the shoes in the bin,” Gabriel calls. “Go get another pair from upstairs.”

“What?” Dominic calls.

“Do it,” he bellows through the house.

Dominic disappears outside.

“This morning routine is not working,” Gabriel yells. “We need to streamline our behaviors.”

“It runs smooth for me.” I sip my coffee. Gabriel comes barreling out of the kitchen and takes my coffee from me. “No more talking. You’re officially in time-out for being a know-it-all.”

I burst out laughing.

“Don’t, this morning is catastrophic.”

I laugh harder and eventually he breaks into a smile too.

“Dad,” Lucia calls from the kitchen. “Are you fixing my hair or what?”

He pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes and it’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

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