“Yay!” Lanie and Noah said in unison.
Terra looked at me like she didn’t know me. That made me sad. There was a time when something spontaneous wouldn’t have been so strange. Granted, my spontaneity rarely had to do with taking a day off, but it wasn’t so out of the realm of possibility was it?
“We’re going to spend the day as a family. Kids are staying home too.”
“Double yay!” Lanie said gleefully.
“Miss school?” Terra asked, still studying me like she wasn’t sure what was going on.
“Yep.” I put her omelet on a plate and handed it to her. “One ham and cheese omelet.”
Her lips quirked up slightly. It was a small smile, but I took it as a victory. I hoped I’d score more throughout the day.
I pulled out the pancakes and served the kids. “I thought we’d go to MoPop today,” I said of the pop culture museum in Seattle.
“Do you think the kids are old enough for that,” Terra said.
“Absolutely. And if they get bored, we’ll do something else.”
Terra sat at the table, helping the kids with syrup. When my omelet finished, I sat with them.
“So, what do you say? Burrow family holiday today?” I looked around the table at my family.
“Yay. What’s at MoPop, daddy?” Lanie asked with a mouthful of pancake.
“Fun stuff about music and movies and more. You’ll love it.” I held up my class of orange juice like I was making a toast. “To the first annual Burrow Family Holiday.”
“Annual?” Terra asked. I studied her as her expression appeared sad at the idea.
“Do you think we should do it quarterly? Monthly?”
Again, her lips quirked up slightly and then she looked down at her breakfast. Irritation flared that she wasn’t meeting me half-way on this.
“Daddy? Can we go to the zoo?” Noah asked.
“Maybe.”
“Can we get a shrimp?” Lanie asked.
“That’s a lot for one day,” Terra said.
I frowned. Was she trying to rain on my parade?
“Let’s see how things play out,” I said.
After breakfast, I helped get the kids ready and then took my own shower. As I came out of the bathroom in my towel, Terra was sitting on the bed, several of her clothes strewn on the bed. Her eyes appeared to be staring off into space.
“You okay?” I asked.
She flinched as if I startled her. “Yes.” She stood and started looking at her clothes. “I don’t know what to wear. Nothing really fits me anymore.”
“Whatever is comfortable,” I said, watch
ing her. I had a sense that she thought she was too heavy, but I liked the curves. I wanted to tell her that, but for some reason, I didn’t. Maybe she’d think I was just giving her a line. Or just wanted sex. There was once a time I was open about everything, and it felt like she was open with me. But now, even when she spoke to me, I often felt like I didn't understand her.
We spent the morning moving through the museum. The kids were fascinated by the science fiction fantasy and gaming exhibits, but once I got them into a sound lab where they could play a guitar and bang on drums, I was sure I’d won dad of the year in their eyes.
For lunch we picked up sandwiches and headed to a local park for a picnic. Once the kids finished eating, they ran off to play on the equipment.