Page 138 of Behind the Bars

Atlast…

I washome.

* * *

Elliott

Eight YearsLater

“Daddy! Wesley bit me!”a small voice hollered, dashing into the bathroom. I sat beneath the sink, trying to stop the leaking pipe instead of hiring a professional. The little girl standing in front of me was the perfect mix of Jasmine and myself. Luckily, she got most of her mother’s beautifullooks.

“I only bit her a little! She’s being a big baby!” Wesley barked, barging into the room. He too, was a perfect mix of my wife and me. He received mama’s sassiness, and hersmile.

“Amnot!” shecried.

“Aretoo!” heshouted.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, time out.” I placed the wrench down and stood up from beneath the sink. “What’s going on? Katie, Wesley bit you?” I asked my daughter. With tears in her eyes, she nodded. I turned to Wesley. “Why did you biteher?”

“Because she bit me first, Daddy!” he cried, growing equally as dramatic as his twinsister.

I couldn’t help but laugh. Having two four-year-old twins was a lot to handle. “How about you both hug andapologize?”

“But, Daddy, I don’t want to apologize! I don’t wanna be her friend no more,” Wesley explained, crossing his arms with ahuff.

Katie mirrored her brother’s reaction. “Yeah! I don’t want to ap-ap…” She stomped her feet, trying to push the wordout.

I saw the irritation in her eyes and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Take your time,Sweetpea.”

She inhaled deeply and exhaled slow. “I don’t want to a-apologize either,Daddy!”

“Come on, both of you, sit down on the edge of the tub,” I told them, and they did as I said. I kneeled in front of them. “What’s the most important thing in the whole wideworld?”

“Ice cream!” Wesleygiggled.

“Yes, and after that?” Ismirked.

“Family,” Katie chimedin.

“Exactly, and we all know that sometimes we can get a little tired and grumpy, right? And we make mistakes, but when we are family what do wedo?”

“We say sorry,” Wesleygrumbled.

“And love each other,” Katie said rolling her eyes. When did my baby girl become an eye-roller?

“That’s right. Because family is the most important thing, even before ice cream sometimes. So I need you both to hug one another and go back to playing, okay? Also, keep it down so you don’t wake your mom or Leo,okay?”

“Ugh. Okay, Daddy,” they said inunison.

They hugged for half a second before hurrying out of thebathroom.

“Wesley, stop biting me!” Katieshouted.

“You stop pinching me, then!” her brotherreplied.

Well, that lasted longer than Ithought.

Like clockwork, Leo began to cry, and before I could go grab him from his crib, Jasmine was already there, lifting himup.

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