Page 70 of Broken Chorus

“Anytime.”

They ended the call and Hawk scrubbed a hand on his face, trying to settle his nerves. It wasn’t a long flight from California to Wyoming, but there was no way of knowing when the next flight was set to take off or if there would be a seat available for Kelly so Hawk focused on what he could do at the moment, which was check on the kids, be grateful they were still sleeping, then go stuff things in a bag and put it by the door. Ella was still playing with her Play-Doh, lost in the joy of creating colorfully glittery sundaes, so he went to the kitchen and started getting their after nap snack ready.

Thank the universe that it was Saturday and there was no school in the morning, speaking of which, Kelly would need to know where the school was and when drop off and pickup times were and where to take Ella for Daisy’s on Wednesday if he and Aaron weren’t back by then.

He really hoped they would be. Not just for the kids, but for Aaron, since the longer he was around those people the more damage they had the potential to do.

He’d just put cut up grapes on a plate when Dani wandered in rubbing her eyes, her hair sleep tousled and sticking up in several places. That kid had the worse bed head and usually ended up with snarls. Another note to add to the long list he was writing out for Kelly. The wet-dry comb with the wavy teeth was the only one that could be used on Dani’s hair without resulting in tears and detangler. Leave in conditioner was a must for both girls, who had long, loose curls.

He wrote out their nighttime routine, and made a note of favorite breakfast foods and who wouldn’t or couldn’t eat what. He tried to think of everything Kelly could possibly need, but Aaron was never far from his thoughts and he couldn’t help but feel like he was forgetting something because of it.

“Come here, sweetheart,” Hawk said as he reached out to take Dani’s hand and guide her to her chair, still looking sleepy and a bit pouty too. “Your snack is all ready for you. Is your brother awake?”

“Uh-huh but he playin’ with cars.”

“Alright then, you eat up. Ella, come get your snack and I’ll put your playset away for you.”

“Awe, I wasn’t done playing,” she said, but good girl that she was, she followed his instructions, coming to sit at the table with Dani while Hawk went and cleaned up her Play-Doh.

“Please don’t mix the colors,” she called out as he closed one of the containers, grateful that he’d remembered that himself so she wouldn’t be upset the next time she went to play.

“I won’t,” he called back.

A few minutes later he carried the playset into her room and put it up on a high shelf in her closet with her other playsets so her siblings couldn’t get into them, then he went to find Liam, who was carefully positioning twi cars to race.

“Hey buddy,” Aaron said as he poked his head into the room. “It’s snack time.”

Liam huffed, shoulders slumping. “Can I make them race first?”

“One time,” Hawk replied. “Then get your butt to the kitchen.”

“O-kay.”

Hawk waited until Liam joined them to tell the kids that they were going to take a little ride when they were through. As it always did, the thought of going somewhere motivated them to finish their snacks and get dressed with little prompting and only a slight outfit change when Dani showed up at the door in a pajama top and one of the fairy princess tutus she loved. He let her keep the skirt, but swapped the top for something a little warmed before adding leggings and socks to the ensemble too.

He waited until they were on the road to explain to them that he needed to go away for a few days, but that uncle Kelly was flying in to take care of them and they’d have loads of fun.

“But you’re coming back, right?” Ella asked, voicing the very fear that Aaron had been worried about.

“Of course, sweetheart and I won’t be alone either. Uncle Aaron will be with me.”

In the rearview, Hawk could see the worried look on Ella’s face. “Really?”

“Really, really, I promise.”

“Pinky promise?” Dani asked.

“Yes, but only after we reach the airport where it will be safe for me to take my hands off the wheel.”

“O-kay,” Dani said, but he’d come to know that tone.

For a little kid, she could be awfully skeptical. On one hand, it might keep her from being taken advantage of, but on the other, he hated to think of her mistrusting honest intentions because something had shaken her trust in the people around her. Another thing to work on. Maybe one day the list would get shorter, but for now, he’d focus on what lay in front of him so he could keep the pinky promise he was about to make, along with the rest of them the cheeky little imp had managed to weasel out of him.

Standing in the cemetery behind the church with Hawk’s hand on his shoulder, grounding him and keeping him from glaring at his so-called grieving family several feet away, all Aaron could think about was how grateful he was that Hawk hadn’t listened to him about coming. He’d blown up when he’d seen the bruise on Aaron’s face though and twice more, during the planningprocess, when Aaron had been trying to sort and sign the paperwork he was being handed and one of his relatives made some backhanded comment. At one point they’d even suggested that he sing with the church choir during her funeral, like he’d have been able to choke his way through any song with how frayed his emotions had been ever since that glass had flown his way.

On the other side of the coffin, the preacher was talking about ashes, dust and the peace that was supposed to be waiting on the other side. It didn’t seem fair that a person had to wait for death to feel relief when death was supposed to be the end of all feeling, but then, Aaron never had understood much about the convoluted ways the church explained things. Seemed like there were an awful lot of loopholes too, and things that were open to interpretation and debate.

Rain splattered against his cheek, or maybe he was crying again. When he reached up to rub away the tears, he felt the ache of the bruise the glass had left. It wasn’t near as bad as the bruise on his side from where he’d crashed into the kitchen table after Pop-pop had slammed his wheelchair into him, but at least he’d managed to keep that one concealed from Hawk. That had happened on his second visit to that pale yellow house, when he’d gone to tell them his mother had passed.

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