Page 33 of A Very Miller-Cooper Life

I turned around just in time to see Ronan roll his eyes at me. “Yeah, whatever.”

“Did you just roll your eyes at me?” I pointed a finger at him and tried to keep a straight face, but it was no use. He was way too cute with his messy dirty blonde hair and smug grin.

“I sure did.” Ronan crossed his arms in front of his chest, which only added to the cuteness.Damn him.“What’s it to you, poopy butt?” He broke out in a fit of giggles as if he had just said the funniest thing in the whole world, and given that his sisters were laughing along with him, apparently it was.

I rolled my eyes at him this time. “Aren’t you a little old to be making poop jokes? Youaregoing to be starting first grade next year.”

“Youstill make poop jokes and you’re the oldest person I know,” Olivia said in her brother’s defense.

I put my hand on my chest as if I was offended, and I honestly kind of was. “Ido notmake poop jokes.”At least not in front of you. Not intentionally, anyway.“And I am definitely not the oldest person you know.”

Olivia scrunched up her eyes as if she was actually considering what I had just said. “Okay, sure. Nana is older. But she’s like a million, so that doesn’t count.”

“She’s one hundred but good try.”

“I can count to one hundred. Want to hear?” She tilted her head to the side and flashed me her trademark grin.

“No, thank you, but do you know who does want to hear that?” I pointed out the window. “Uncle Jamie. Make sure you count to one hundred for him over and over. Also, definitely sing that song you insisted on singing one million times on the way here.”

Now that they knew what was expected of them, I got them out of the car.

When Jamie reached me, he held open his arms to me. “Look who it is!” He wrapped me up in a tight hug and kissed my temple. “When I first asked you to go to my family reunion with me did you ever think that one day you would be throwing a surprise birthday party for my nana?”

“Absolutely not, but I also didn’t know that your nana was cool as shit and your sister was sexy as hell.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” He playfully pushed me away. “Now leave me alone. I have more important people to greet.”

He squatted down to give hugs to all three kids and when he stood up, Ronan and Olivia each grabbed onto one of his legs. As he jokingly tried to shake them off, Carter held her arms up toward him. “Uncle Jamie, will you please carry me?”

“Of course, sweetie.” Jamie took Carter in his arms and carried her in while dragging the other two on his legs.

I grabbed the two large suitcases and followed behind. “Hey, Jamie, think you could grab these bags too?” I yelled at him. “Thatisa man’s job, right?”

Jamie looked back to glare at me, but the smile on his face gave away that he wasn’t actually angry about my comment. Which was a good thing, since I took any opportunity I could to make fun of the way he acted the first time I went home with him.

When we made it inside of the house, Jamie looked behind me and sighed. “It’s weird not seeing Patch following behind you.”

The sound of my dog’s name was like a stab to the heart. It had been a few months since he passed away, after living a long happy life, and the wound was still fresh. Every time it seemed to be scabbing over, I was reminded of him in one way or another and it was as if it had been picked back open.

I stared down at the floor to try to hide my sadness from the kids. “I still look for him every time I come into the house.”

“I still have my shoe that he chewed up the last time he was here. I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away.” Jamie chuckled softly.

“Why are you both so sad?” Carter asked.

Of course, Carter would notice, because Carter noticedeverything.Her siblings might have too if they slowed down long enough to pay attention to what was happening around them.

I grabbed Carter from Jamie and held her tightly up against me. “We’re okay, sweetie. We just miss Patch.”

Carter’s eyes turned down, and for a moment, I thought she was going to cry, but just a second later a wide grin spread across her face. “But Patch is in Heaven now with all the treats, blankets, and toys in the world. He’s happy so we should be, too. That’s what you told me, remember?”

I hugged Carter even tighter and kissed the top of her head. “You’re exactly right, sweetie. Thank you for reminding me.”

I looked around the hallway and realized that Ronan and Olivia were no longer there. “Shit. Where’d they go?”

“I think they went upstairs,” Carter said with a shrug.

How did she do it? Did she have eyes in the back of her head or what? Wasn’t that supposed to bemysuperpower?

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