Page 32 of Nightingale

8

Amber yelled up the stairs. “Come on Maisie, Callum you have to eat breakfast before school. Come on, move it, move it, move it.”

Both kids ran down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“I like to move it, move it,” Maisie sang as she slid across the linoleum in her stocking feet and caught the table with one hand before plopping in the chair.

Callum had tucked half of his shirt into his pants.

“Come here Callum.” Amber helped him with his pants then picked him up and set him on the chair. Each time she did that, she prayed he’d be heavier, not lighter than the day before. “Here is your cereal. Eat.”

Maisie had already started eating her food. The independent streak came naturally to her, or maybe it was the focus having to be on Callum. Monitoring so much of what he did to make sure he was okay, stealing what would have been the split attention the kids should enjoy. Either way, Maisie was a little easier to get ready in the morning then her son was.

Grabbing a cup from the cupboard, she poured herself some coffee. Sitting down at the table, she pulled up her laptop and found a job site then started going through the ads. Clicking the boxes of a few homecare jobs, she didn’t want to work in the homecare industry, but would if it was the only thing she could find.

Wondering about the job Mountain had mentioned and if he had a chance to speak with Red. He’d asked for a few days and she’d given it. Now was time for action because the last thing she wanted to do was use the money her kids raised. Pride be damned, their life had been upended a few too many times. They deserved to reap the fruits of their labor.

The alarm on her phone went off and she yelled out, “It’s time to go. Come on kids, let’s get you in the van. We don’t want to be late for school.”

Both kids got their backpacks and headed out the door.

Amber pulled her keys from the hook by the door. Making the trip to her van, she realized it was a little cooler this morning. She quickly made her way back inside and found both kids’ jackets from their hooks. “Here you two put these on. It’s a little chilly out this morning.”

Maisie pulled hers on and the end of the arms were two inches up her wrist. “Mom.” She held her hands up and flipped them back and forth to show the coat no longer fit.

“Well, who told you to keep growing? I knew I shouldn’t have watered you last month,” she teased and shooed her into the van. “Can’t do anything right now.”

Amber quickly drove them to school and got them to their designated classrooms. Sliding back into the van, she laid her head back on the headrest. Closing her eyes for a moment to block out the world.

Worry about groceries, her utility bills and now a coat for Maisie crept in and took away the moment of Zen she couldn’t find. At some point, she knew she would have to ask Kevin to send her a little more money this month on top of child support. She hated the fact that she would have to beg for help from him. Him or her children who would she be taking money from?

Her phone rang and she looked down and saw that in fact it was Kevin calling her. As much as she didn’t believe in harmonies and ties to other people, she couldn’t help feeling he must have felt something to know to call her when she was in trouble. “Hello,” she said as she pulled away from the school and headed home.

“Amber, I was wondering if I could not take the kids next weekend. I have to work.”

Weekend work wasn’t really a thing with his job, it happened a time or two, but most times, it was just an excuse. Either way, it gave her an extra two weeks before she’d need to get a full tank of gas. “Okay. I don’t mind. I’ll figure out something to do with the kids so they don’t get too bummed out.”

“They’ll be fine. I’ll take them the next weekend though.”

Sometimes, they would switch up weekends and it was usually okay with her, but she would need to double check the soccer schedule now. It wasn’t like before when the kids were little and not in activities. “I’ll see if that works for them,” she replied. “Soccer is a factor.”

“You don’t have the next Beckham and Hamm in the house, if they have a game they can skip it,” he reasoned. “Do they even keep score?”

“They might not, but trust me the kids do,” she said and held in theyou would know that ifshe’d wanted to let out. But with the thought she would be asking him if she could borrow money or better yet? just have him contribute a bit more to the kitty?now wasn’t the time.

“Well, let me know. I do want my second weekend, but this one would have them entertaining themselves if they came up.”

“Okay Kevin, I’ll talk to you later.” Amber hung up and put her van in park.

Throwing her keys on the counter when she got home, she made her way into the kitchen and sat down at the table. What the hell was she going to do without any money coming in? Would it be a game of robbing Peter to pay Paul or half payments? Due date payments were on deck for sure, no getting stuff in early.

When her phone rang again, it was Mountain. Was it wrong she had his number saved asBig Sexy? Only if he saw it she supposed. She wondered if he had some good news for her. “Hello.”

“Morning Nightingale. How are you?”

“Um, I’m fine. How are you?” Did he just call her Nightingale? It was a cute nickname. Lord knows it was better than poor Nova being called Roadkill.

“I’m doing well. I was wondering if you would like to go for dinner tonight? I mean all of you, the kids can come too.”

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