Page 9 of Night of the Living Manny
“Girls are weird.” Peter rolled his eyes.
“They so are. Your mom was just as bad.” Liam winked when Brenden glanced at him, then looked at the doorway with raised brows. “Britt. Good morning.”
“Good morning, Daddy! I need to feed Moose.”
“Ah. Well, good deal.” Liam gave Brenden a thumbs-up while Moose came dashing over to lick Brittany’s face like the big lug knew she was going to be doing the feeding. Maybe he did. Moose had a big vocabulary.
“He gets half a can in the morning,” Brenden told her.
“Right. Half a can. Where’s his bowl?”
“I washed it last night. He’s picky about dried food.”
“Like he doesn’t like it?” Brittany concentrated hard, biting her lip.
“Nope. He’ll throw the bowl across the room.” God, what a mess Moose could be.
“Oh wow. Okay. I’ll remember.” Britt’s desperation was written all over her face.
“We’ll go over it a few times, okay? Let’s get him fed so you can have cereal before school.”
“Do I have to go to school, Daddy? Can’t I stay home?”
“Nope.”
Her lip pooched out, but then Moose nudged her, and she got distracted by the big guy. Brenden was so not above using his dog.
Liam looked at him, a half grin on his face.
They fed Moose, and he managed to get Brittany and Peter fed. Susanna’s friend showed up, a tiny beep of a horn the only warning they got before she pelted off.
“Love you, Dad!” She disappeared, and then Liam nodded.
“You two have four minutes before the bus.”
“Come on, Brittany. Peter. Get your packs and show me where the bus stop is?” He could do this. These poor kids had to get on the bus at o’dark thirty, so he would have to adjust his own schedule.
They kissed their dad and then led him out, both of them just chattering away.
Brenden followed, smiling. These were good kids. They really were. Their dad loved them, but he could see why Liam wanted someone to look after them if his hours had gotten long.
By the time he got back to the house, Liam was packing up his laptop and making a cup of coffee in his travel mug.
“Thanks for hanging out this morning. It will make things a lot easier. Anything not in the email I need to know?”
“I put all my contact info—cell, office phone, email. There’s two hundred dollars for groceries in the envelope here. If you need me, I’ll make sure to pick up.”
“Thank you.” This guy was actually a champ. Brenden liked him.
“You’re welcome. I need to head in to the lab.” Liam screwed up his face with regret.
“Okay. Which is the closest grocery store?” He took the key Liam handed him and tucked it in his pocket.
“There’s one just a few miles away. Perfectly serviceable.”
“Oh, cool. I would have thought as far out as you are….” He smiled. “Have a good day at work.”
“Thanks. You too.” Liam took a deep breath. “Okay, then. Off to the trenches.”
