Page 13 of Broken Chorus

They had, but now they weren’t enough. He clicked the video icon, impatiently awaiting Aaron’s appearance, a sense of relief washing over him when it only took him two rings to answer. Up close, the eyeshadow sparkled more, or maybe it was the fact that he was standing beneath the black iron monstrosity of a chandelier that Hawk was forever tangling his hair in whenever he walked under it.

Because you’re a sasquatch!

Aaron’s voice in his head, animated and laughing, didn’t match the somber, apologetic one that echoed through the device.

“Shit, Hawk, man, I didn’t mean to wake you. I figured you’d have the phone onDo Not Disturb.I just thought I’d leave you something to brighten your morning, ya know, for when you did get up.”

“I wish I’d woken up to those, instead of Dani’s potty drenched Mr. Whiskers.”

“Oh, ouch.”

“Tell me about it,” Hawk grumbled, being sure to keep his voice low and move to the opposite end of the kitchen, where there was less chance of Dani overhearing him.

“Isn’t that her favorite toy, the one she won’t go to sleep without?” Aaron asked, shocking Hawk, who wouldn’t have thought he’d remember.

That he did left Hawk momentarily stunned and fumbling to catch up when Aaron continued rambling.

“I hope you remembered to set the washer to delicate, or you’ll be brushing up on your sewing skills again.”

Delicate?

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!

He raced back to the washer, and no it was not on delicate, but fortunately, the setting could be changed while it was running, though there was no telling how much damage had been done until the cycle ended.

Fuckkkkk!

“Hawk, hey, is it in one piece?”

“Hard to tell when I’m trying to look at it through a soaked window.”

“Okay, look, maybe it’s time to find a backup.”

“I already told you I ain’t bringing a nanny or a fuckin’ maid into my home!” Hawk growled way more harshly then he’d intended.

He watched Aaron flinch, some of the light in his eyes dying, and instantly felt bad.

“I just meant that maybe you could find another Mr. Whiskers,” Aaron commented, voice low and yeah, Hawk could tell he’d hurt him.

Just great, something else to feel bad about this morning.

“You can keep the backup on hand and switch them between washes, so the new one starts to look played with,” Aaron explained. “When something happens to one, you can just swap it for the other and boom, crisis averted.”

“And how the hell am I supposed to do that when she’s hollering at me about pinky promises and sobbing her eyes out?”

“By making the promise and pulling off some slight of hand,” Aaron explained. “Did she ask you to stamp it?”

“What the hell is that?”

“Dude…you gotta stamp it.”

“Aaron, I don’t even know what a pinky promise is supposed to look like,” Hawk explained. “She waved her pinky at me, so I waved mine back and apparently that is not what a pinky promise is supposed to be.”

On the screen Aaron held up both his hands, pinkies extended, then curled them around each other.

“This is a pinky promise,” Aaron explained. “It’s one of the most solemn promises and it is imperative that you seal it with a stamp.”

As Hawk watched, Arron twisted his bottom hand so his thumbs could touch.

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