Page 31 of Make Me Whole

Both kids clapped and cheered. To my surprise, so did Sky.

Laughing, I continued, “The two of you are on cabinet duty while Sky and I tackle the walls and tiles.” Sky bit her lip as her eyes darted from me to the two sledgehammers I had propped against the wall. I wondered what that was about, but not wanting to lose momentum with the kids, I continued with my instructions.

“We have a lot of crappy old cabinets in this bathroom. I want to see them in pieces before dinnertime, but there are some ground rules. Pay attention, because if you break one of my rules, you’re out, okay?” The kids nodded solemnly. “Number one: do not remove any of the safety gear. Number two: do not touch wires, pipes, and tools without me present. Three: you can break stuff with your hands, your feet, and even your butts if you want to, but you cannot, under any circumstances, use each other. Rough play is okay with the cabinets. And fourth: if I tell you to stop what you’re doing, you stop what you’re doing. No questions asked. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir!” they shouted in unison.

Holding back a smile, I gave my final instruction. “There’s one last thing. If you do a good job, I’ll let the two of you pick whatever you want for dinner.”

Their greedy eyes grew with excitement, and I knew I had them right where I wanted them. I released them to go to work and chuckled as they descended on the sink cabinet like a pack of hungry wolves. I chuckled as I got up to my feet.

Sky leaned against the back wall, looking freaking gorgeous in her pink hardhat, a long braid draped over her shoulder and her pink gloves tucked on the front pocket of some deliciously tight denim shorts. My whole body twitched with delight at the sight of her. I ran a hand through my hair as I walked toward her.

“That was pretty cute.”

I groaned. “Just what a man likes to hear from a beautiful woman. That he’s cute.”

She threw her head back and laughed. It was so good to hear that sound after witnessing her tears earlier. “Fine, it was super hot. I just went with cute because it felt safer after . . .” She stole a glance at our children and blushed a little. In a lower tone, she finished, “Yesterday.”

A desperate need to wrap her in my arms and kiss her took over me. But we weren't alone. And she wasn’t allowed. And we had a job to do.

“You were right. Cute works better,” I agreed.

She giggled again.

I shook my head and ran a hand through my hair once more before putting on my plain yellow hardhat. “Let’s get to work. You and I have tiles and walls to break.”

Sky’s golden eyes dropped to the sledgehammer. Her expression changed from amused to embarrassed. She brought her hand to massage her injured wrist. “I don’t think I can swing one of those.”

A fresh wave of anger hit me at the reminder of her abuse.But I can. Especially if I imagine the wall is Eli.

“Don’t blame you. Some guys in the crew can’t either. They’re for manly men like me.” Her embarrassment eased, and the lightness returned. I picked up a normal hammer and offered it to her. “Can you handle this one?”

“I think so,” she replied with a nod as she took the tool from me. Our fingers brushed, and I felt the warmth of her skin inallmy extremities. “What do I do with it?”

I cleared my throat. “You imagine that prick’s face on the wall and hammer the shit out of it. Once he’s good and dead, you can tear up his pieces with your bare hands. I’ll dispose of the remains tomorrow.”

A wicked, excited smile spread across Sky’s lips as she turned to face the wall. I grabbed the sledgehammer I needed for the tiles, propped it over my shoulder, and took a step back as she adjusted her stance. I watched as she raised the hammer above her head and in a fluid, unskilled motion, brought it to the drywall.

The first hole Sky made was more like a dent than an actual hole, but you’d never know it just by looking at her face. Light sparked in her eyes as she hammered the wall again. And again. And once more. Each time the hammer whacked the wall, it dug a little deeper until she was groaning with all the anguish she needed to expel.

I carried my sledgehammer to the tub area and started working. Having a lot of practice in demos, I did quick work of breaking the tiles. I put the sledgehammer down and turned to grab the crowbar to pop the shattered pieces from the wall. When I turned around, the state of the demo surprised me.

Except for my part, the demo was at a virtual standstill. The cabinets were missing most of the doors and the wall had a bunch of small holes, but they were as solid as ever. Still, the kids were laughing as normal, untraumatized children and Sky looked relaxed as she swung her hammer against the plaster.

Feeling wonderfully accomplished, I picked up my crowbar and went back to work.

* * *

After about two hours,we called it quits despite our pathetic progress. I still praised the kids for their good work, and as promised, I allowed them to choose whatever they wanted for dinner. They went with Mexican food, which I ordered before we all went upstairs to shower and get ready to eat.

The girls headed to Sky’s room, and Aiden and I used the Jack and Jill bathroom attached to Ella’s room. I showered first since I was faster, then he headed in while I changed and got ready. The whole time, Aiden babbled about how much fun the demo had been and how much he had enjoyed our day with Sky and Ella.

Somewhere in his excited rant, he said, “I’m happy I came here instead of going to Jason’s party.”

Jason and Aiden had been best friends since the age of five, and the fact that he had skipped—without even telling me—his friend’s birthday for the first time in five years gave me pause. I opened the shower curtain a little to look at my son. “I’m happy that you enjoyed a day with me, Sky, and Ella, but why didn’t you even tell me about Jason’s party? Aren’t you friends anymore?”

Aiden shrugged and dropped his head backward to rinse the shampoo from his hair. “I don’t know.”

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