Page 12 of Painting Together a Family
Bryan grinned. If she was interviewing for the babysitting job, she was doing a good job.
Juniper came over. “They can make all sorts of things. Daddy likes making things.”
“They like making things, too. What about you, are you not going to make art too?” She and her sister seemed so different. It was neat.
“I am, but it’s rude to leave a guest alone, so I’ll go when Daddy comes in.” So confident.
He was charmed. “Well aren’t you a very polite young lady! Thank you very much, I appreciate that.”
“You’re welcome. Would you like a drink? We have water and juice and soda, or there’s a kettle for tea.”
“I’m good for now, thanks.” He was about to ask how her day at school had been but stopped himself. He’d already committed some weird faux pas with her yesterday, asking about homework, which apparently was a teachers-only domain. “Are you looking forward to the weekend?” That should be neutral enough and not teacher-like.
“Yep! We’re going to the zoo tomorrow. Daddy has a new painting there.”
“A painting at the zoo? That’s pretty cool.” His boys loved the zoo.
“Yeah. At the penguin house. Would you all like to come? We have special tickets, and we get to stay after the zoo closes!”
“Oh wow! Well, we should maybe check with your dad, huh?” That sounded like so much fun, but he didn’t know how many special tickets Dev had, or if he’d even want them to come.
“Daddy says he’s going to ask, because it’s so much fun. I’m bringing my best friend Victor, and Marley is bringing Hannah. Three and three and two is eight!”
“It is indeed. It sounds like fun,” he admitted. And it was Saturday and they hadn’t done something fun like the zoo in far too long.
“Cool.” A door opened, and Juniper jumped up. “Daddy! He says yes about the zoo!”
“Does he? Excellent!”
“If you’re sure it’s all right, we’d love to go.” He didn’t want to push Dev into it just because Juniper had asked.
“Oh, we wanted to invite you. We have eight tickets. It’s a whole day thing—we get to stay after the zoo closes and see the animals as it gets dark.”
“That sounds really cool. The boys will be excited, I’m sure.” He’d pack them sandwiches and juice boxes and snacks. Hopefully, they had what they needed. Maybe they would stop at the corner store on the way home and get bread.
“It should be. We’ll have food passes, drink passes, and amusement passes. It’ll be a perfect day of exhausted children.”
“Oh, wow, that’s very generous of you.” He wouldn’t have to say no to the boys when they asked for stuff. That never happened anymore.
“I have eight passes. It’s my pleasure. I can’t guarantee babysitting—Marley and Hannah tend to be somehow more teenaged together than they do apart.”
“Hannah?” Bryan figured babysitting wasn’t even a consideration—he’d be there with his boys after all andconsidering they were getting a lovely outing for free, they totally didn’t need babysitting on top of that.
“Her best friend on earth. They met in kindergarten. They are deep in each other’s pockets.”
“Ah. And they get up to no good together, eh?” That’s what best friends were for, right? Egg you on and have your back no matter what. Miller had been his best friend as well as his lover. Grant had never been a best friend. That should have been his first red flag.
“They do, and they are starting to pay attention to fashion and experiment with makeup and being on their phones. It’s… different.”
“I bet. Having boys has its own challenges, but it doesn’t sound like having girls is easy at all!” He knew he’d learn—the internet could be his best friend too—if he had girls, but it still seemed harder than boys.
“They’re unicorns, that’s for sure.”
Bryan laughed at that. “And boys are…? Rhinos?” They both had single horns, after all.
Dev’s laughter filled the living room, the sound bright and happy.
He loved that, almost as much as he loved hearing kids laugh. Joy was a good thing. He just grinned, pleased he’d amused Dev.
