Page 15 of Everything For Love

“Hey, Mack. What day is it there?”

“Christmas,” he tells her. “So, Merry Christmas.”

“You, too. They don’t really celebrate it here. Dad and I did presents by ourselves.”

“Do you like it there?”

“Oh yes, there’s lots to do. Guess what!”

“What?”

“I don’t have to go to real school. I’m going to learn with the locals.”

“That’s cool. I’m jealous.”

Amelie giggles. She’s definitely going to school at the American International School. This is one thing I won’t give in on. Amelie needs an education.

“One of my friends is coming. Here’s Dad.” Amelie waves and then brings the phone over to me.

“She’s already popular,” I tell Mack. “But she misses you.”

He laughs. “I’m sure she doesn’t. At least not yet. It’s like she’s on vacation.”

“That’s true.”

“I should probably go,” he tells me. I want to ask him what he’s doing or why he has to get off the phone, but I don’t. I have to trust that Liam and Josie are treating him as their own and have set some rules down for him.

“All right, well tell everyone I said hi. I’ll call you in a couple of days.”

“Okay. Hey, Dad?”

“Yeah, bud?”

“When are you coming back?”

“In a couple of weeks. I need to get your sister registered in school and make sure she has a nanny available.”

“How come Mom doesn’t take care of her?”

Good question. “Mom’s going to be busy working. There will be times when she can’t come back to where they’ll be living right away. Besides, whoever we hire will be able to help with your sister’s homework and dinner.”

“Then why doesn’t she just come back with you?”

I do my best to keep my expression neutral. “She wants to try living here with your mom. We’ll come visit though. Once baseball season’s over.”

“Okay.”

“Is Noah around?”

“Yeah, one second.” Mack drops his phone and then yells for Noah. “Dad wants to talk to you.”

I smile at Mack’s use of the word “dad” when he talks to Noah. When Liam returned, I thought I’d lose the boy I had raised. I wish Aubrey could see how much she was a part of bridging the gap between Josie and me, when it came to Noah. He taught me how to be the father I am today. His face and torso appear on the screen and Peyton waves behind him.

“Merry Christmas, Nick.”

“Merry Christmas,” I tell her. She steps out of the frame, but I can hear her talking to Mack. She’s so loving and caring, treating him like he’s part of her family. I suppose with Mack’s connection to Noah, he is.

“Merry Christmas, Noah.”

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