Page 21 of Who's Your Daddy
He glances at Brian and they share a knowing look before he turns to me. “I guess we need to find the local school so I can register for first grade?”
I nod, stabbing at the meat crumbles on my plate. Why didn’t I think of that? “Makes sense. But I thought we might do something fun. Since it’s still summer, we probably have time?—”
Brian clears his throat. “School starts on Monday.”
I reel back. “But it’s not even Labor Day?”
Americans celebrate all sorts of frivolous holidays. Some might be absurd but I won’t complain about a day off work. I like the Monday ones best because who doesn’t enjoy a long weekend?
Brian shrugs. “School starts earlier these days.”
“Ah. Then where should he go?” I look at Brian this time. Murphy’s smart, but I can’t imagine he knows anything about local schools.
Brian shrugs. “Guess you’ll have to figure that out tomorrow.”
I toss down my napkin with a huff. That’s not an answer.
I have access to a better resource, and I’ll take full advantage. Istand and march into Sully’s room. Before he can react, I snatch the phone from his hand. My nephew is still talking when I bring it to my ear, so I wait patiently for him to finish the stream of consciousness thoughts he’s spewing.
Growling, Sully lunges for the phone, but I dance around the room, ducking and spinning out of his reach.
“What are you doing?” he growls.
“Hey Teej,” I say when my nephew stops to take a breath. “Can you put your mum on the phone? I need to ask her a question.”
“Hi, Uncle Cal,” my nephew chirps. “I’ll get her.”
Without hesitation, he’s yelling for his mum. He’s probably dying to get off the phone. The kid is rambunctious. He’d rather be goofing off than chatting every night. He’s six—just like Murphy; bonus—and doesn’t understand why his father suddenly wants to talk to him so much.
It's been hard on Sully, but he made this bed and now he’s got to lie in it.
“Hello?” My sister-in-law’s tone is laced with confusion when she answers.
“Hi Sloaney, how’s my favorite sister?”
Sully scowls at me. I return the expression with a grin. I’ve always been Sloane’s favorite and now that she hates her husband, I’ve climbed even higher on the list.
“I’m fine,” she says. Her tone is a little short, but I swear there’s a little affection there too. “What’s going on, Cal?”
“I’m not sure if you’ve heard but I’m a dad now.”
She lets out a long sigh. “Lo filled me in. Congrats.”
“So, you see…” I drag out the last word. “I need some advice and since you’re the responsible one when it comes to your kid?—”
“What the?” Sully, who’s given up trying to take possession of his phone, pulls at his hair, glaring at me.
I hold up my hand. “Don’t interrupt me, I’m asking dad questions.”
“I’m a dad,” he grinds out.
“I’m asking Sloane.” I turn away from my brother and pace to the doorway, which takes one entire step.
“What do you need, Cal?” Sloane says, suddenly sounding exhausted.
My heart clenches. Damn. She used to be the fun one, but in the last few years her attitude has transformed. These days it’s reminiscent of my brother’s.
“Here’s the thing. Brian just informed me that school starts on Monday, and I haven’t the first clue where to enroll Murphy. Though it occurred to me only a moment ago that since he and T.J. are the same age, they could go to school together. Wouldn’t that be fun? So what’s your plan now that we’re all moving to Jersey?”
