“Okay! Legos!”
“Uh-huh. Legos.”
Then they both squealed as another voice said, “Who are you talking—is that my phone? Lily, I told you that you can’t just take it and call whoever you want! Last time you did that, you ordered sixteen pizzas!”
“The seagulls were hungry!” I heard Lily exclaim before the phone was wrestled away from her. “And I needed to feed them!”
“Who is this?” Ty demanded into the phone.
“Hi, Ty,” I said dryly. “Babysitting sounds like it’s going well.”
“Kori,” Ty said, sighing in relief. “Jesus, I’m sorry. Certain someones are going to have to hear again about respecting the belongings of others—and they’re already gone. Dom. Dom! Incoming children! It’s your turn to deal with them!”
“Where are Bear and Otter?” I asked, glancing back at my laptop before closing it. I’d had enough for the day.
“Date night,” Ty muttered. “They do it once a month now. Stupid, right?”
“Eh. Jeremy and I do the same thing.”
“Yeah, but you don’t have any kids to pawn off before you go. Especially when you’re getting married in two weeks.”
“Right,” I said. “Because I would know nothing about having to take care of a bunch of kids.”
I could hear him scowling through the phone. “That’s not the same thing.” He paused, considering. “Actually, now that I think about it, it’s probably worse for you. I only have two four-year-olds to worry about. You have… what. A dozen teenagers?”
I snorted. “On a slow day. And we don’t really have those anymore. We had at least thirty here today.”
“Christ, man. You and Bear. I don’t know how you do it.”
“He’s a teacher,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, but you’re the director.”
I laughed at how proud he sounded. “I guess I am.” I looked around my office at Phoenix House. It hadn’t changed much over the past five years, but since I’d moved into it eight months ago, it’d become my home away from home. I reached out and straightened one of the photographs on the desk, the one of Jeremy and me holding a SOLD! sign in front of our new house. That had been a good day.
“Sunk in yet?”
“Not really,” I said quietly. “I’ve been too busy to even really think about it. I don’t know how Sienna or Jeremy did it.” Sienna had been the previous director, coming on in the fall after Jeremy left. When she announced she had taken a position elsewhere last year, Marina told me I needed to apply for the position, and she wouldn’t take no for an answer. I’d come back here after I graduated, much to her delight. Sienna had agreed, saying that I was perfect for the job and that no one had more passion for our work than me.
I’d gone home that night and talked it over with Jeremy, even though I already knew what he was going to say. It didn’t take much convincing. I only found out later that they didn’t even consider anyone else.
“Well, you earned it, Kori,” Ty said in my ear. “I was impressed when I saw it last summer. I don’t think they’d survive without you. All those kids adore
you.”
I snorted. “Most of them.”
“Couple of troublemakers, huh?”
“A few. Nothing I can’t handle. Now what’s this about you panicking?”
He sighed. “It’s… ugh. I’m not panicking.”
“Prewedding jitters?”
“Yeah, but I think it’s a good thing, you know? I’m not having second thoughts or anything,” he added quickly.
“I know. You’re inevitable.”