“Ethan?” she called again. “What do we call whiners?”
“Still losers,” he replied, the smirk on his face now a full-blown smile.
“You guys are…” When Dona saw her mother’s glare she shut up and got on her knees to gather up the feathers.
“This is going to take all day,” Wyatt grumped, getting down beside her.
“What is this?”
All four of their heads rose to see their father, still in his pajamas, his brown hair an epic mess.
“Victory,” Melody and Ethan said at the same time.
Liam glanced down at his two other children and shook his head. “You do not surrender.”
“They took all the pillows,” Wyatt said, looking up at him.
Liam sighed, walking over to his wife and kissing her cheek. “What are we going to do with these brats?”
“Hey!” Ethan snapped. “I was on the winning team.”
Liam raised his eyebrow, bent down, and took the pillow, smacking him upside the face so hard he landed on his ass next to Wyatt. Then he stepped in the same spot he once stood.
“That’s your team.” He pointed to his brother and sister. “The only team your mother is on is mine.”
Melody laughed, shaking her head. “So immature.”
“Try and deny it,” he said, waiting for her to speak, and she didn’t, rolling her eyes at him. But he ignored it and looked down at his kids. “Enjoy cleaning. Your mother and I are going to—have adult time.”
“URGH!”
“SERIOUSLY?”
“JUST GO.”
The three of them yelled, completely grossed out.
Their mother bent down to Ethan, picking a feather out of his hair. “Thanks for having my back, little man.”
“I’m taller than you,” he said back, sulking.
“Want me to cut you down to size?” She tilted her head to the side.
“I mean, no problem,” Ethan said quickly, causing both his siblings to snicker.
As Melody kissed her other children, Liam bent down in front of Ethan, smirking, the one Ethan had yet to master. “No hard feelings, kids. One day when you get married you’ll understand.”
Ethan didn’t say anything to him.
Rising back to his feet, he ruffled both Dona’s and Wyatt’s hair before he and his wife left.
That is how the Callahan family spent today.
I’d gotten to her last words, the date today’s date. When I glanced up, she had tears she wouldn’t let fall built up in her eyes. She snatched the book from me and walked back to the window.
Rubbing the back of my head, my chest burned…I’d smiled. I’d wanted to laugh. It felt so real. Like a memory I’d forgotten. I could feel the pillows. I could see her…our mother. But it wasn’t a memory. There were no pillows and I couldn’t just see her. She was gone. She’d never have that moment.
That’s what she’s doing. I realized. Every year she’d taken out that same book and she must have made a story, an alternate ending.