Page 76 of Fight For Us
“Maybe I couldn’t wait to do this,” I murmured into her ear. “And lots of other things later tonight.” She swatted my ass, which thankfully was facing away from the kids. I growled into her ear. “Tiger, save it for later.”
“You’re the worst,” she said, laughing.
“Eww, guys,” Lilly said. “No PDA.”
“How do you know what that is?” I asked.
“Duh, I’m in fifth grade. I know a lot, Dad.” Olivia and I gave each other mortified looks and she shrugged.
“Okay, fifth grader,” I said. “You too old to give your dad a hug, too?”
She laughed. I hugged her and ruffled Alex’s head of curls, which had him rolling his eyes.
Olivia finished passing out the sandwiches her and the kids picked up at the deli while I opened containers of potato saladand sliced fruit. We chatted about our day in between bites and the kids showed each other memes on their phones, laughing.
A heavy weight rested on our shoulders since it was the last day before school picked back up. I didn’t know how I felt about sending them back to the place that failed to protect Alex twice. He still had two more weeks in his cast, and we could only hope that his X-ray results would be positive at his next appointment. The kids had finally started being themselves again, and we were about to reset any progress we’d made during their break.
“So guys, how are you feeling about tomorrow?” I asked.
They looked up from Alex’s phone screen and I’d never seen faces morph so quickly from happy to morose.
“Awful,” Lilly said.
“Same,” Alex echoed.
Olivia sighed. I knew she’d been trying to figure out a work around for weeks but the private schools in the area were full, and homeschooling wasn’t an option since we both worked. Between them failing subjects and getting bullied, we had to find a solution. Even a temporary one. Regina and her spying on Lilly’s grades was an added issue.
“We’ll figure something out,” Olivia said. “But I want you both to tell a teacher if anyone messes with you. Don’t try to take matters into your own hands, okay?”
They nodded. “Not like I could fight them, even if I wanted to,” Alex said.
“No fighting!” Olivia chided.
“I feel like such a loser in this cast. Stupid crutches and not being able to run around. I just want it to be over.” Alex physically sagged as he grabbed his bottle of lemonade and chugged.
“I know how you feel, buddy. It’s hard not being able to do all the things we want to do.” I rubbed my palms together and rested them on the table. “Crutches suck but hey, at least they let people get around easier, right?”
He nodded and I noticed his eyes ping downward toward my legs.
“Trust me, when I had my accident and the doctors told me that they couldn’t save my leg, I thought it was the end of the world. And in a way it was… It was the end of the way I’d lived for twenty years. But it got easier and before long, I was grateful for crutches and wheelchairs.” I stretched my leg out and tapped my prosthesis. “And my badass metal leg.”
The kids giggled and I apologized for saying “ass.” Olivia shot me a grateful smile as their conversation switched to video games. She shimmied closer to me on the bench and whispered, “Thank you.”
“Of course. I understand how hard it is for him. He’s a kid with a shit ton of energy. Being in a cast for as long as he has is hard. No one likes feeling limited, but especially a kid his age.”
I felt the comforting warmth of her palm on my thigh under the table as she leaned her head on my shoulder. “Will you tell me more about your accident?”
“I want to,” I said, taking a moment to think. “But—”
“It’s fine,” she interrupted. “Maybe oneday?”
I could agree to that. “One day.”
After the kids finished eating, they decided we were being too gross with our hand holding and went over by the swing set. Alex perched precariously on a swing, swaying it back and forth, while Lilly sat on the other drawing in her sketchbook.
We basked in the peaceful moment, side by side, watching our kids enjoy being young. The weather was a perfect seventy degrees but started to get chilly in the shade of the oak, so I pulled Oliva to my side and wrapped my palms around her shoulders.
“You’re getting goosebumps,” I said. “Want to go home?”
