Page 72 of Smitten with the Single Dad

Wyatt shook his head. “No. I’m too sore for that.”

“Is this the first time you’ve taken two days off in a row since Mom died?” Jake asked, getting up from his seat and going to the counter where he grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl.

“Bring me a banana too, please,” Griffon said.

Jake brought his brother back a banana and the boys dove in as Wyatt heated up some of the leftover ravioli.

“I’m sure I’ve taken two days off in a row since then,” Wyatt argued, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized his son was probably right. Jesus, he really did spend way too much time working and not enough time with his kids. He was such a control freak in the kitchen though. It was impossible to completely hand over the reins to Burke.

Once his kids were eating, he and Vica got to work—like a well-oiled machine—making coffee. He loved being in the kitchen with her and that was saying a lot considering he rarely liked anybody in his home kitchen with him. He preferred to just be left alone since he had a process, and it was best to just steer clear. But she anticipated his moves, got out of his way, and didn’t feel like an obstacle he needed to maneuver around at all.

The walkie-talkie plugged in on the credenza near the couch made a static sound, followed by a little voice. “This is Spiderman to Second Sparrow. Come in Second Sparrow. Over.”

Griffon leaped up from his seat and raced over to the table to grab thewalkie-talkie. “Hey Spiderman, this is Second Sparrow,” he glanced at Jake, “and First Sparrow. Over.”

“Are you okay after the car accident? Over.”

It was Silas on the walkie-talkie asking if his cousins were okay. Wyatt and Vica exchanged smiles.

“We’re okay,” Griffon said. “Just sore. Over.”

“Can we play later? Over.”

“For sure. Just having breakfast. Over.”

“Okay. Me too. Over.”

Griffon set the walkie-talkie down and picked up his fork. “Can we play with Silas later?”

Wyatt smirked and sipped his coffee. “Don’t you every day?”

“Yeah, but maybe you wanted us to stay home for some reason after the accident,” Griffon said, shoving way too much ravioli into his mouth that half of it ended back up on his plate.

“Smaller bites, dude,” Wyatt said, shaking his head. “And no. You’re both fine. Enjoy your summer. Play with your cousins. I’ll be fine.” He went to take another sip of his coffee when there was a knock at the door.

Everything ached as he pried his ass out of the seat and went to answer.

“Hey, Justine,” he said, welcoming her inside.

“How are we all feeling?” she asked, bringing her fingers immediately to the inside of his wrist and staring at her watch as she took his pulse.

“Great, thanks. And you?” he said blandly. “Can I get you some coffee? Ravioli perhaps?”

“Shh.”

He rolled his eyes.

“Pulse is good,” she said a moment later, following him into the kitchen. “And no, thank you, on the coffee.” She focused on Vica and the boys. “How are the muscles?”

“Sore,” the boys said at the same time.

“Yeah, that’s to be expected after an accident. You’re taking ibuprofen?”

“I just took more,” Wyatt said.

“Me too,” Vica confirmed.

“Need to given the boys some more now that they’ve eaten.” Wyatt went to the kitchen and brought out the liquid suspension ibuprofen for kids, portioning off the right amount for each boy into the small, plastic measuring cups that came with the medicine.

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