Page 110 of Living for Truth
“Pops put oatmeal in her hair, but other than that, we’re good,” Aly answers, coming to hug Morgan from the side. I love that the girls hug him when he gets home, even if he’s only been gone for an hour.
“Poppy, oatmeal is for eating, not for your hair,” Morgan teases, and Poppy gives him a toothy grin.
I finish up Poppy’s bath and help her get dressed for the day while Morgan loads up the suitcases into the van. We upgraded my small sedan for a minivan when we realized how hard it was for Aly to climb in between the girls and how uncomfortable it was to be squished between two bulky car seats.
Once everything is loaded into the car, we put the girls in their seats and head over to Iris and Axel’s. The twins make us playB-I-N-G-Oon repeat the entire way there and sing along the whole time.
Thank God the drive is less than ten minutes.
“Oh, it looks like Uncle Kenny is here too, girlies,” Morgan says as we pull into the driveway.
“Uncky Kenny!” Poppy and Violet shout in unison.
The girls love their aunts and uncles, but Uncle Kenny and Uncle Jake hold special places in their hearts. They come over to play almost every week, and they take Aly out for ice cream or other special treats pretty often. Jakeand Aly play video games together, and he helps her with the math homework Morgan and I don’t understand.
Jake ended up coming home from his mission two months after the twins were born because he was being so badly beaten by his companion. He won’t give me many details about how bad things were, even now. I know he’s in therapy for it, and is working through the trauma he endured. The best I can do is hope he comes to me in time.
When he got home, we went to lunch to catch up, and he told me he was questioning things about the church. We spent over four hours talking, with him asking me about things he was questioning and me answering them as neutrally as I could. In the end, he decided to leave, too.
My mom blamed me, of course, but Jake stood up for me and told her he came to the decision on his own. He told her if she wanted to be involved in our lives, she should rethink the way she treated us growing up.
We haven’t really heard from her since. The only time I saw her was at my grandpa’s funeral the October after the girls were born.
Kendall, Axel, and Iris come out the front door to help us unload the girls and their luggage, and the twins squeal as Kendall takes turns tossing them up in the air like they don’t weigh anything.
“Hey, Han, how’s Sage?” Kendall’s body language is nonchalant, but his voice sounds eager.
Interesting.
“Hi, Kenny, I’m good, thanks. Super excited for the trip. How are you?” I tease, watching his cheeks stain pink.
He huffs. “I’m good…?”
I roll my eyes but decide to put him out of his misery. “Sage is doing well, I think. We haven’t had a chance to hang out as much because she’s been busy with her new boyfriend.”
Kendall’s jaw clenches at the mention of Sage’s new boyfriend. Dale is… well, he’s a douchebag. I don’t like him very much, but Sage seems… kind of happy. I think she just wants to be done dating, so she settled for Dale. She hasn’t asked for my opinion on him, and I haven’t given it unsolicited.
Dale works for Kendall’s rugby team, but I’m not sure what he does. I know he doesn’tplaythe sport, just works in the office.
Kendall and Sage have been acting weird toward each other ever since our small courthouse ceremony where they served as witnesses. Sage acts like she doesn’t even know Kendall exists, but Kendall asks about Sage whenever I see him—which is a lot.
I don’t know what’s going on there, but if Kendall’s interested in Sage, he’s kind of shit out of luck. She knows his reputation and doesn’t want anything to do with it. Sage doesn’t do no-strings-attached sex like Kendall. He’d have to work really hard in order to even get her to give him the time of day.
“Good for her,” he grunts before his demeanor changes to the happy-go-lucky guy we all know and love. He takes off in a gallop, making Violet giggle.
“He asked about Sage again, didn’t he?” Iris asks as soon as I’ve breached the doorway.
“How did you know?”
She shakes her head. “That boy hasn’t stopped talking about her since your wedding. I don’t know why he’s still denying he likes her. Did you know he’s over here most weekends when he doesn’t have a game? I don’t think he’s been out with a girl in over a year. Odd behavior for him.”
My eyebrows shoot into my hairline. “That can’t be true. Kendall doesn’t want to settle down.”
Iris shrugs. “Sometimes when the right person comes along your whole perspective changes.”
“That’s true. I guess stranger things have happened.”
I give Iris and Axel a rundown of the girls’ schedule, even though they’re very familiar with it. I tear up a bit when Morgan reminds me it’s time to say goodbye and get to the airport.
