Page 53 of Laws of Love
She took a couple of pictures of them while they were in line. When they got into the go-karts, she knew it would be at least ten minutes before they would come back around to the finish line, and she would be sure to get a picture of each of them when they did.
Her phone pinged with a notification. Aiva thought it might have been Knox or one of her siblings, but after checking it, she found it was a text from Edison. She didn’t bother to open it, knowing that he’d likely found out that she was spending the day with her little brothers and would try to use it to get her to communicate with him. Aiva didn’t feel the need to. Both of her brothers’ moms knew where they were and she would contact them if something happened. She didn’t see a need to play the tired game Edison liked to strike up by using his younger children to get to her.
Aiva moved to the finish line as the last lap was called over the speaker. As her little brothers crossed, one after another, she took pictures, and moved to the exit to wait on them. They spent the next hour and a half there before going to the restaurant Braden had chosen for the day.
“Iwant these three please,” Braden said, holding up the comic books excitedly. Visiting the comic cafe was his favorite part of their outings. Her little brother enjoyed so many different ones that it was hard for her to keep up.
“Okay. Once Kendrick chooses his, we’ll grab smoothies at the counter and you can read for a bit.” Aiva always liked to have them home before dinner if they weren’t having it with her, and there was roughly an hour left before she needed to take them home.
“Braden, you can choose another one. There are only two I want,” Kendrick responded. Unlike Braden, Kendrick only read four comic series currently, and if the store didn’t have the next issue when they came, he’d often allow their younger brother to choose extra since Aiva allowed them to pick three apiece. If she didn’t limit them, she knew Braden would try to walk out with half the store each time.
The eleven-year-old happily thanked Kendrick and bee-lined to a shelf. He picked up another comic book and was back within thirty seconds. Aiva assumed he’d been eyeing it, but left it for the ones he’d initially chosen.
They went to the front counter to have the comics rang up and ordered their smoothies. Five minutes later, they were sitting at a table by the window. Her brother’s reading as Aiva did some online shopping. Having a plethora of siblings meant there was always a birthday around the corner. Anytime she found something, she thought one of them would enjoy she would buy it, and hang on to it until their birthdays or Christmas.
“Aiva, what does sanc…ti..monus mean?” Braden asked, then turned the book to her.
“Sanctimonious,” Aiva supplied, the correction. “It’s when someone tries to show off that they’re morally better than someone else.”
“Oh, okay. That makes sense because the villain said it to the hero,” Braden replied.
“Is that the one where you don’t like the hero?” Kendrick asked, glancing up from his own comic.
“Yeah. I want the villain to win. The hero’s unbearable,” Braden responded.
After that, they fell silent and Aiva went back to her shopping for the next forty minutes before ushering her brothers out of the cafe.
She dropped Kendrick off first, waiting for him to enter the house and waving at Cedella before pulling away. The ride to take Braden home was quiet except for the soft music from the radio, and glancing in the rearview, she found her little brother reading a second comic book. He was so engrossed in it he didn’t seem to notice when she pulled up to his house.
“We’re here, buddy.”
He looked up and then out of the window as the front door opened and Kandice approached the car. Braden slipped the comic back into his bag and exited the backseat as Aiva rolled the window down.
“Did you have fun with your sister?” Kandice asked.
“Yeah. I’ll tell you about it during dinner,” Braden responded, and Aiva knew he was eager to get inside and continue his comic. “Thanks, Aiva. See you later.” He was then bounding into the house.
“New comic?” Kandice asked.
“Four of them,” Aiva responded.
“His stacks are going to start falling over before long. I need to get him another bookshelf for them.” Kandice passed a container through the window. “These are for you. Strawberry crunch squares.”
Aiva smiled at her. “Have I told you recently you’re my favorite? Thank you.”
Kandice laughed. “It never hurts to hear it. Thanks for taking him out. With Kayley spending the weekend with your grandmother, it gave me some quiet time.”
“You know you don’t have to thank me.”
“I know, I know. I probably should be apologizing. Edison called while you were out and I let it slip that you were spending the day with the boys. I’m sure he called you.”
“It’s fine,” Aiva responded. “He sent a text.”That I didn’t open.
While the mothers of her siblings had a strange relationship with Edison, they each respected that Aiva wanted to deal with him as little as possible.
“I’ll let you go,” Kandice said, stepping away from the car.
Aiva waved to the other woman, pulled away from the curb, and headed home. She knew she wouldn’t feel like cooking and decided to order in and catch up on the episodes she’d missed during the week of some of her favorite shows before choosing an outfit for her lunch date tomorrow with Knox.
