Page 122 of Clean Slade
Mac grimaced and shook her head. “I don’t want your cocoa.”
“What’s wrong with my cocoa?”
“No offense, Daddy, but your cocoa is not like Lilian’s cocoa.”
Slade choked on his drink, laughing, and I threw a dishtowel at him.
“Fine. Water for the young meanie it is.” I put the glass in front of her with a bang and huffed.
Mac glanced at Slade, and they sniggered. I would be mad at this alliance they seemed to have built if it wasn’t so endearing.
And then the clucking started. Thelma and Louise strutted into the kitchen as if they were the queens of the world and wanted to make sure we knew it.
They investigated the kitchen for any traces of food they could pick at before they started picking at our feet.
“Mac, do something with your chickens, or they’ll end up in my roasting pan.” I pulled my feet up on the chair and gave Louise a threatening glare.
Not that either of them cared. I kept promising to cook them, but they knew by now that my threats were empty.
As much of a pain in the butt as they were, I had grown fond of them and their antics. Especially when they acted like puppies, cuddling up next to Mac and watching TV.
And their eggs weren’t too shabby either.
Mac pushed her chair back, and the hens followed her to the cabinet and watched her fill their dog bowls.
Of course they had dog bowls. They had dog toys too. And Mac had wanted to get them leashes, so thank God there was nowhere to attach them.
Eventually, we had to take the hens into the coop we’d bought for the backyard so we could start our day.
Somehow, half an hour later, we were all ready to go.
“Okay, see you later.” Slade looked at me as if he wanted to kiss me goodbye.
He always did. But we never did it in front of Mac. It wasn’t even something I’d told him not to do. It was just him respecting boundaries.
He’s so perfect it hurts.
“Bye, Daddy!” Mac started running toward the door, but I stopped her.
“Where’s my kiss?” I asked and leaned down to get my dues. “Love you, honey.”
“Love you too, Daddy.”
“And don’t forget what we said about bullies?”
Mac nodded and smiled.
“They only hurt people because they’re in pain.”
“That’s right.”
Or at least, I hoped it was. I hoped Grace wasn’t one of those cruel kids who did it out of a perverted sense of fun, but you could never be sure.
Slade helped Mac into the car and, as he closed the door, snuck a kiss on my cheek before he got into the driver’s seat and left.
Soon, I was on my way to work too. It was a busy day today. As they all were. Winter was officially over, and the weather was a lot nicer, so naturally, everyone needed their dog to look their best on their walks.
Thankfully, I had a couple extra hands to help with the load, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t booked solid.
