Page 25 of All Twisted Up
“You going to get them?”
“Yeah.”
“Take an umbrella. According to the weather channel, it might rain.”
I grinned. “Thanks, future climate scientist.” I grabbed the umbrella by the door and headed out. The elementary school was only a few blocks away. Though I generally walked over, I never questioned my sister on the topic of weather because she was never wrong about it.
I smiled as I got back in the car, looking forward to seeing the kids. My family was the most important thing in my life, keeping me grounded and away from the temptations many of my friends indulged in. The responsibility of raising them rested solely on my shoulders. I’d vetoed Barbie’s suggestion to be allowed to get a job to help out with finances; she had fantastic grades and really did have big dreams of becoming a climate scientist. I wanted her to keep her focus there.
Surrounded by moms, dads, and caregivers, I waited for the kids to appear at the school gate. When the bell rang, the soundof happy little voices and running feet soon filled the air. I caught sight of Pete’s light blond hair in the crowd of kids. He was grinning as he ran right at me when I waved. I scooped him up the second he got to me.
“Joshua!”
I wrapped my arms around him and accepted the tight hug. “Love you, Pete.” He smelled like kindergarten sweat and the Oreos Barbie always packed for afternoon snack time. It didn’t bother me. The boy was special. When he wiggled, I set him on the ground, taking hold of his hand to wait for Meggie. She walked toward me with a group of girls her age and the second she saw us standing together, she raised her hand and waved.
“Hi, Joshua!” When I waved, she said something to her friends, and broke away from the group.
“Hello, love,” I said, scooping her up. At age six, she was getting heavy. “Oh, my God! You weigh like five-hundred pounds!” I exclaimed.
She giggled into the side of my neck, her soft braids pressing into my skin. Meggie held on tight, and I understood why. She’d spent nearly two months in foster care while I fought to get her back. I hugged her tightly, loving the feel of the little girl in my arms. She was my heart.
Pete and Meggie looked nothing alike. They had different fathers, neither of whom had come forward when my mother went to prison in Texas. Pete was small for his age, fair-skinned, and blue-eyed. Meggie was of mixed race, dark and beautiful with big brown eyes and kinky, curly hair that Barbie had learned how to braid tightly to her head every day. I told her how much I loved her every day because she needed to hear it. The two little people meant the world to me.
I set her down and took their hands as we walked to the car. “I have a huge surprise for you.”
“Oh, Joshua, what is it?” Pete asked.
I grinned at him as I fastened his seatbelt. “I’m not going to tell you now, because that would ruin the surprise, but we have to stop at the store before we go home because we need stuff.”
“Why weren’t you home for breakfast?” Meggie asked, snapping her seat belt in place as she abruptly changed the subject. She did that a lot. The girl missed nothing.
I shut the back door of the car and slid behind the wheel. “I’m sorry, kiddo. I had something to do this morning but trust me, I was with you in spirit.”
Pete giggled. “What’s that mean?”
I glanced at him in the rearview mirror and smiled, dragging my gaze away quickly to watch the road. “It just means I wish I was there to have breakfast with you this morning…but Iwasthinking about you while I was out.” I never lied to them, so this was tricky territory. And it wasn’t like I could tell them I’d been in a situation where I could’ve been shot. I headed for the grocery store and pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later. When we headed down the pet food aisle, the expression on both little faces was priceless.
“What are we getting here, Joshua?” Meggie asked, lifting an eyebrow and staring into my eyes as if to divine the truth.
I looked down at her and smiled. “We’re getting some puppy food.”
Her little brows creased. “Why? We don’t have a puppy.”
“Joshua! Did you buy a puppy?” Pete asked, jumping up and down beside me. I had to stop walking when he wrapped aroundmy leg. I looked down at his little upturned face, so filled with hope. “Did you?”
I glanced at Meggie who’d moved around to my front and smiled. “I didn’t buy a puppy.” When Meggie opened her mouth to say something, I held up my hand. “But, I did promise to do my friend a favor for a while.”
Meggie frowned and put her little hands on her hips. “Is it a puppy or not, Joshua?”
I laughed, unwinding Pete so that I could squat in front of both kids. “Yes, it’s a puppy but we’re only borrowing him for a while. We can’t keep him.”
Pete started jumping up and down, doing a cheer that rivaled the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders on their best day. “Yay! That’s the best thing I ever heard, Joshua!”
Meggie looked at him like he was crazy. “The best thing you ever heard? That we can’t keep him?”
Pete stopped jumping. “No, silly, that we have a puppy.”
I straightened and ruffled his soft hair. “Just for a while, kiddo.”
