Page 38 of 7+Us Makes Nine

“How was work?” I asked.

“I thought about you the entire time,” Jace said.

“Already trying to butter me up, huh?”

“I may or may not have a nice little surprise in mind that may or may not require your permission.”

“Oh, I like those kinds of surprises,” I said with a grin.

“Daddy?”

Jace and I hopped apart from one another as Michaela came running down the hallway.

“What is it, princess?” Jace asked.

“Eat now? I’m hungwy.”

“Once we get the food on the table, we’ll all sit down to eat. Now, let’s help Miss Cathy with this food. Because it smells like she slaved away on it all day,” he said.

I smiled as I handed him the pot roast and he tossed me a little wink.

We all sat down to eat dinner together and it felt like a great family dynamic. The boys always wanted me sitting in between them, so Michaela always claimed Jace for herself. We passed around the mashed potatoes and I helped the boys with their portions. They always grabbed so much more than they could eat. Dmitri turned his nose up at the cooked onions and Ivan didn’t like how orange the carrots were, but the deal was always this: if they ate one bite of something they didn’t like, they got to pick their dessert. It was the only way I could get them to expand their horizons with food. Michaela was a very stubborn one when it came to that rule. Many nights she went without a dessert because she was so strong-willed.

But sometimes I won. And with a three-year old like her, ‘sometimes’ was enough to make the rule stick.

“Can we watch a movie?” Dmitri asked.

“Yeah! Ratatouille!” Ivan exclaimed.

“Rat movie,” Michaela said with a smile.

“Of course the kids would want to watch a movie about food after eating food,” Jace said.

“If you guys want to stay up and watch a movie, I’m all for it,” I said. “But Michaela, you know what that means.”

“Dishes!” she yelled.

“That’s right. Boys, finish up your dinner. Then bring your emptied plates over to the sink so Michaela and I can wash them,” I said.

“Can we have seconds?” Jace asked with a playful grin.

“I’m pretty sure it’s thirds on your part, but yes,” I said.

I set Michaela up onto the counter and plugged up the sink. I turned on the hot water and diluted it with some cold, then handed her the soap to squeeze in. She always used too much and giggled when the bubbles toppled over the sink. She’d stick her hands in and blow them around, and it would always make a bigger mess for me to clean up.

But I didn’t mind.

Seeing the smile on her face while doing dishes was worth it.

One by one, the boys came and plopped their dishes into the sink. I held Michaela and let her stand on my knee so she could dunk them in the water to wash them off. Then she’d put them in the dry sink so I could load them into the dishwasher. She dunked and swirled. Squealed and giggled. The bubbles tickled her nose and a smile so big it closed her eyes would crawl across her cheeks.

It was my favorite part of the day with her.

“Miss Cathy?” Ivan asked.

“Yes sweetheart?”

“Can I have a popsicle?”

---