Page 40 of Sliding into Home

“Alright, let’s see what this Junie B is all about.”

As they read through the first several pages, he laughed along with Max. Kia was right, this kid was sassy. He figured they’d been reading for about twenty minutes when his front doorbell rang.

“Mom?” Max sat up straight.

“I think so. You want to come with me to check?”

Max hopped off his lap and held out his hand. The fact he wanted to hold hands to go to the front door spoke volumes about how insecure Max was still feeling. It broke his heart. When they’d planned this night, he’d expected it to be a piece of cake. Why wouldn’t Max be stoked to stay at his dad’s house? His place was cool. They had fun together. It’d be great. He never factored in that Max was five, sleeping in a strange house, without the one person who made him feel safest in the world. He’d been an idiot to think it would run smoothly.

He peeked through the peephole and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Kia on the other side of the door. Pulling it open, he stepped back.

The second Max saw his mom, he burst into tears.

“Hey sweetie.” She crouched and wrapped him up in a warm embrace.

What the hell? The kid had been fine two minutes ago. The way he was sobbing, Jeff would be lucky if Kia ever let him look after Max again. Dragging his hand through his hair, he looked down at the pair.

Kia glanced up at him and gave him a reassuring smile. “Can I come in for a minute?”

“Of course.” He waved his arm to the side, gesturing for her to follow him into the main living area.

With Max’s legs wrapped around her waist, Kia walked over to the sofa and sat. “So how was your night with your dad?”

Max mumbled against her neck, but Jeff couldn’t make out what he said.

“I bet you guys had fun. It sure sounded like you did when we talked earlier.”

“Yeah, we made homemade pizza.”

“You did? That sounds cool. Did you get to choose your own toppings?”

“Yeah, we had meat bombs?” Max leaned back so he could look at her. His fingers absently twisted in his mom’s hair while he talked.

“Meat bombs? What’s that?”

“It’s all the meats in one.”

Kia’s nose wrinkled. “Mmm, did any veggies make it into the mix?”

“Mo-om, it wouldn’t be a meat bomb then.”

“Right, gotcha.” She pressed a kiss against Max’s forehead. “So how you feeling now?”

Jeff’s chest knotted as he waited for Max to talk. He expected Max to say he wanted to go home. Why that made him feel like a complete failure as a dad he couldn’t say, but it did.

Max shrugged.

Kia turned to Jeff. “You mind grabbing Pickles out of my bag?”

He eyed the big brown purse she’d set by the front door. Afraid to look inside, he picked it up and carried it over to the couch. “Do you?” He held the purse out toward her.

“You can just grab him. He’s right on top.”

Taking a deep breath, he unzipped the purse and spotted the stuffed animal right on top. He pulled it out and held it out toward Max.

The boy squeezed the weird green stuffed lizard tightly against his chest. After several minutes, Max yawned.

“Let’s get you back to bed.” She wrapped her arms around the boy and hoisted him up.

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