Page 8 of Jersey

"Hey, bud," Jericho says to get Eli's attention. "I shouldn't have said that. Damn it are grown-up words, okay?"

"Okay," Eli quickly agrees as he begins to back the screw out of the pre-drilled hole.

We move on as if nothing happened, working to complete the easel, allowing Eli to do most of the work and use his words toteachus how to do it.

"That's fantastic," I praise once the thing is complete, and we stand it up.

Eli beams as he takes in his hard work. "Do I have to wait to use it?"

"No. Of course, you can use it now," Jericho says as Aspen hands Eli a box of crayons.

We all stand back as Eli gets to work, the child being very methodical in choosing his colors and positioning the drawing.

I tilt my head to the side, trying to figure out the brown blob of color that's taking up the majority of the paper.

"Did you see that bear outside of your window?" I ask. It's not at all uncommon for bears to come sniffing around looking for unlocked trash cans.

Eli frowns as he looks back at me over his shoulder.

"Do you need glasses?" he asks with his little nose scrunched before turning around and jabbing the brown crayon at the paper. "That's a puppy."

"Do you want a puppy?" I ask to take the sting away from getting his drawing wrong.

"Jersey," Aspen snaps under her breath.

"That's actually not a bad idea," Jericho says, looking at his woman. "Caitlyn mentioned a service animal last week."

Aspen glares at him, but she doesn't argue. I can only imagine the conversations they'll have when they're alone.

"This is like the fifth time one of you has mentioned this woman. Is she like a goddess or something?"

The therapist has been the talk of the house and how great she has been with Eli since I got back last night.

"She's my best friend," Eli says, and I can't help but look at Jericho, who doesn't seem all that happy about him, considering Caitlyn a best friend.

I don't know much about attachment theory, but it sounds like this might be a case of it.

"Do you think she has a dog?" Eli asks his mom.

"I don't know," Aspen answers. "We can't even think about getting a dog until we make sure it's okay with Hemlock."

Eli frowns, and I know that look is going to get the child everything he's ever asked for. It's only a matter of time before there's a puppy in the house.

"Some people have allergies," Aspen explains. "And we don't want to make people sick."

Eli's nose scrunches. "Hemlock is my friend. He'll say yes."

"He says let him check with everyone first," Jericho says, holding up his phone.

Eli's smile spreads across his entire face.

"I think that means you're getting a puppy, bud," I say, ignoring the glares his mother is giving both Jericho and me. I point toward the drawing. "If that's a puppy, what's his name?"

Chapter 3

Caitlyn

"The water's great," Casper says, his friend, who was introduced as Lark a few moments ago, nodding in agreement.

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