Page 62 of Single All the Way

I’d helped Skyler construct her house with the frosting along the seams, then gathered the M&M’s and kisses as she requested, knowing full well she’d eat at least as many as she used for the house. I couldn’t fault her for that.

Xavier chose red and green gumdrops to start and was building a fence around a white-frosting snow-covered yard. One of Ruby’s walls collapsed, so Ben was rescuing it, while Evelyn used a squeeze tube of blue icing on her roof. All three dogs were at our feet, keeping a vigil for any bits that hit the floor.

“Shoo, you guys,” I said to the canines, snapping my fingers, urging them out of the room. I didn’t want any of them to get chocolate.

“Bed,” Ben said in his stern, dog-master voice. Sprocket and Milo headed to the living room. Nugget circled my chair, then headed into Ben’s room behind me. It wasn’t quite what she was supposed to do, but as long as Ben didn’t mind, I was just glad she’d left the room.

I sat down to start my own construction, eyeing the candy canes and peppermint hard candies for my design. There was no sense in wasting good chocolate on a house.

“Oh, Nugget,” Ruby said, laughing. “What did you find, silly dog?”

I was so focused on getting my walls to stick together that I didn’t immediately register what was going on behind me—not until Xavier said, “That’s Mom’s pajama pants, Nugget! How did you find those?”

I whipped my head around. Sure as shinola, that cretin dog had my flannel pajama shorts in her mouth, as if she’d found a pirate’s booty.

“Nugget!” I called out. “Get those out of your mouth!”

“Which one of you three carried those in there?” Ben scolded. I realized the other two dogs had trotted out to see what their coconspirator had discovered. Then it hit me that he was a genius to come up with that white lie, because I knew just as well as I knew my own name, I’d left those shorts on Ben’s bedroom floor last night after he’d peeled them off me.

The kids thought the theft was hilarious as Nugget took off up the stairs with her treasure. Ruby and Xavier sprinted after her, along with the other two dogs. With my head spinning, I glanced at Ben, then darted my gaze away, afraid I’d reveal our secret if we made eye contact.

I was fully aware of Berty’s attention going from me to Ben and back, but I made a point of avoiding her gaze too. “I guess I’ll go rescue my shorts and make sure I didn’t leave anything else out for the canine thieves,” I said as I stood.

“Dr. Ben, can you help me get these unwrapped?” Skyler asked.

Knowing Ben was on it, I didn’t bother to see what she needed help with. I rushed to the stairs, mainly to get out of Berty’s line of sight and breathe.

One day in and we’d nearly been busted? By the dogs?

The good news was that the kids seemed to believe Ben’s story. They had no reason to wonder why my shorts would be in his bedroom.

Berty, on the other hand…

Nugget had taken her treasure to Skyler and Evelyn’s room and was hiding under the bed with it. When I walked in, three kids were on their bellies on the floor, peering under the bed, trying to reach the dog. I laughed in spite of myself because they were so darn cute with their three little bums in a row.

“You kids go back down and work on your houses. I’ll get the little thief out.”

That was all it took for them to sprint away for more candy.

By the time I made it back to the dining room, the kids and Berty were singing carols as they decorated their houses, laughing when they messed up the words. The moment had been forgotten.

“This calls for cocoa,” I said at the end of “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas.” “Who wants some?”

A chorus ofme’s andI do’s rang out, so I headed to the kitchen to make hot chocolate for everyone.

The kids were belting out the chorus of “Up on the Housetop” as I poured the milk into the mixture on the stove. I sensed someone behind me and turned to find Berty.

“Almost done,” I said, stirring the pan constantly with one hand as I took seven mugs out with the other.

“I’ll get the marshmallows,” she said. She stood next to me, facing the cabinets. “It’s none of my business what goes on between you and my grandson, but Emerson, please be careful with him.”

I frowned, stunned she’d brought the subject up so bluntly, though I shouldn’t have been. The kids’ silliness and singing had me letting my guard down, I guess.

“There’s not anything?—”

“Honey, don’t insult me with a denial. I’m not blind, nor am I stupid just yet, though I might be slower than I used to be. I’m in this house with you two nearly every day of the week. I can sense things.” She took the first mug from me after I filled it and poured a heap of marshmallows in. “And I know that dog of yours didnotdrag your pajamas from your room to Ben’s.”

“I’m sorry,” I said contritely. “I didn’t mean any offense. It’s embarrassing to be outed.”

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