Page 16 of Manny for the Alien
But that thought alone sent me into a weirdly dark zone that was hard to address. Leaving the kids just as I was starting to get to know them... it felt like I was letting them down and that...
A lump formed in my throat at the thought of it and I had to physically shake it off.
No.I could do this. I just had to figure out the rhythm. Azalea up first, then the other two. Then breakfast for all three while they were conveniently strapped into their chairs with toys to distract them, and so on until the day was done.
“Are you okay?”
I started and glanced over, realizing that Azalea had entered the kitchen and was watching me cook with a frown on her face. Her normally big wide eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“I’m fine,” I said. “Are you done your homework?”
“Uhuh.”
I glanced over at the other two.
Iris was still coloring—on the table now, rather than the coloring book, but I would deal with that later. Aster was still chewing on the carrot I had given him.Everything was fine, peaceful, even.
“It’s just that...” Azalea went on, pausing and chewing her lip thoughtfully. “You’re kind of oozing something bad.”
I frowned.
“Bad?” I asked, sniffing myself.
“Well, Mrs. Stanley says that it’s something called stress and anxiety.”
“Delightful,” I sighed. Even the six-year-old could tell I was freaking out. “Wait. What do you meanoozing?”
“Oh, I can just sense peoples’ strong feelings,” she said nonchalantly. “Daddy says that humans can’t smell it, but we can.”
I froze.
“You can smell my feelings? And your dad can too?”
“Not all the time. Only if they’reverystrong. Mrs. Stanley says people need to take a walk when they small like you do right now.”
I shut my eyes and considered for a moment before responding.
“Maybe I will when your dad comes home,” I suggested.
She smiled, looking satisfied by that and before anymore could be said, to my chagrin, the front door opened and Hyacinth’s voice carried into the house.
“I’m home!”
“Daddy!” Azalea cried, running off to greet him.
The other two joined in a chorus ofDaddy, Daddy, Daddy,until he entered the room.
His steps faltered in the doorway and his gaze flew to me. Immediately, I knew that Azalea was right. Hyacinth knew how stressed I was and that wasunnerving.Luckily for me, he didn’t say anything that would make me feel awkward, instead going to greet the little ones with kisses and sweet words.
He spent a few minutes asking them about their day while I attempted to keep my attention on the food.
I was just waiting on the air fryer to finish though so there was nothing to keep me busy except my thoughts.
And that was when Hyacinth slipped up behind me, close enough to give me the wrong idea.
At the feeling of his scrubs brushing against my back, I jumped and turned around, finding myself closer to him than I’d ever been, only inches separating us.
“I’ll take it from here,” he said gently and his breath brushed my cheek.
