Page 54 of Painting Together a Family
“I am. I like math a lot. I like things that make sense.”
That was his practical baby.
Bryan nodded. “Yes. Yes, exactly. I know exactly what you mean.”
“Bryan is a math whiz. Finally, there will be help with your math questions!” He cheered and winked. “I can help with color theory.”
“I don’t know if I’m a whiz, but I get numbers. They make sense.”
Marley grinned and rolled her eyes. “See, Daddy? They make sense.”
Bryan laughed and held his fist out to Marley. Still grinning, she bumped it with her own.
“Okay, do I need to do anything, or can I go video chat with Kari?” Marley asked.
“School’s still in, goofy girl. Come watch a movie with me.”
“Movie!” Juni called out, and the boys took up the call, the three of them chanting the word over and over.
They all settled on the biggest couch, cuddling together with blankets and pillows. “Despicable Me?”
“There’s a new one we haven’t seen yet,” Bryan noted. “Number 4, I think?”
“Let’s do it. I’m sure we can download it somewhere.”
“All right guys, we’re gonna watchDespicable Me 4!” Bryan laughed as his boys jumped on him and he started tickling them.
“This is the best day, Daddy! The best day!” Dylan called out.
“I’m glad you think so.” Bryan gave them both kisses and hugs, and then they settled in, the boys curled up against Bryan while he and the girls sat close, next to them.
It was, weirdly, a quite good day, after a terrible day.
Hopefully, each one would just get better and better.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It didn’t take long to get settled into a routine at Dev’s. Bryan would get the kids breakfast and take them to school. Then he’d come back and spend a few hours working. He loved his new setup. Having a dedicated place to work and only work was awesome. It was so nice to shut the door to the office and leave work behind at the end of the day. And it hadn’t even been a week before he and the boys were all moved in. He thought they could live here happily. Even if there wasn’t anything between him and Dev. But he thought just maybe there was. Maybe more than just ‘thought it.’
Not that they’d done anything about it. Dev was still healing, taking the good stuff for the pain, and he didn’t feel right starting something under those circumstances. They had time, right?
Dev watched him, though, and kept wandering around the house, because he couldn’t paint without his dominant hand. Bryan knew it had to be driving him nuts not to be able to do any painting.
He finished up for the day, early because he’d been able to dedicate so much time to it over the last few days. Having that designated office space really made things easier. It was a couple hours before he had to go get the kids, so he sought out Dev.Maybe they could start the cooking lessons he was going to give Dev before all hell broke loose. It would be an excuse to spend some time together, anyway.
Dev was wandering around the house, two televisions on, watching a minute of one, another minute of the other. Oh yeah, not being able to paint was definitely affecting Dev.
“Hey. How about we turn off the TVs and go learn how to make pizza?” They had the dough in the fridge and all the fixings; he knew this because he’d been the one to put in the grocery order. He knew how to make the dough from scratch, but it was more time-consuming and he’d thought having the ready-made dough in the fridge meant they could make pizza on a whim. And he’d been right, hadn’t he, because here they were, about to make pizza.
“Do you want to?” Dev gave him a desperate look. “I’m so fucking bored.”
“Oh, you should have said something. Yes, I’d love to. And the kids will be pleased with homemade pizza for supper tonight, I bet.” Bryan gave Dev a grin. “Come on, let’s go explore the kitchen.” He wanted this to be enjoyable for Dev as he hoped to make homemade meals the norm over ordering. He just thought it was a waste of money, and it didn’t taste as good and there was less fat and salt if they made it themselves.
Not that Dev had to be involved. Bryan was perfectly capable of making homemade meals; he and the boys had rarely ordered or eaten out and upping the quantities to making meals for six instead of three was mostly a matter of making sure they had the extra ingredients to start with. Still, he thought it would be nice if Dev knew how to make stuff so he had the option, and as he’d thought earlier, it was an excuse for them to spend time together.
“So we’ve got store-bought dough, but you can even make it yourself. Getting a bread machine would make that easier.We could make all sorts of bread, really.” He actually liked making bread. Occasionally he’d do it all on his own—there was something meditative about kneading dough—but he’d splurged on a bread machine and that made things so easy, and as a result, he didn’t often have to buy bread. “Anyway. That’s for another day. Today, we’re using the ready-made dough.” He put it on the counter and pulled it out of the plastic bag.
“If you want a bread machine, you just pick one. I love bread, and Juni would be over the moon.” Dev poked the dough gingerly. “Cool.”
