“Dis?” Piper asks. She pulls out construction paper, then markers, along with a bin of other things.
“Hmm, that will work, but we need a different kind of paper and pencils. How about I help you?” She nods her head in response. Catherine and Hendrix let me know Piper was talking more at one point, then the two of them looked at one another and didn’t say a word to me, speaking without speaking, and said that it wasn’t a story they could tell. She went from talking a lot to talking much less. Cammy was the resilient one, the protector of the family. Naturally, being the oldest of the two girls would have that effect. My oldest brother, Luke, is much the same. I’m the second child, or that well-versed middle child who they say goes with the flow, is easy to get along with. My younger brother, Evan, is the wild child. He ran our parents through a lot of sleepless nights, which resulted in a cop bringing their son home one Friday night for streaking at a football game his senior year. Luckily, his birthday wasn’t one that fell during the fall months, so he was still seventeen, didn’t end up with an arrest record, and he wore the tiniest G-string ever. My dad asked where he got it from. That’s when Evan looked at me, throwing me under the bus like I gave it to him when in fact, the savage obviously had no problem snatching them when I wasn’t around.
“O-kayyyy,” she drags out the end of the word. I’m not going to press her to say more. Instead, today we’ll work on a few things, like writing her name, coloring a few pages, and maybe going for a walk.
“Alright, how about you let me look for everything?” My eyes pop out of me head when I continue making my way through the cabinets. The organizational freak in me is itching to get these cabinets cleaned, maybe add a few bins so the girls and I can find everything we need easily. “Found it!” I tell Piper. She thinks it’s funny when I pull out the paper and pencils, holding them over my head in victory.
“Hey, Bailey, I’m going to run to the store for a few things. Are you and Piper okay for a little while?” Catherine pokes her head into the room. One thing I have to give this floor plan is that it’s not open. It’s a breath of fresh air. Most people who live in houses of this style and size want everything open and stark white. The Hughes’ home is not like that, older yet remodeled in a way that keeps the house’s history.
“Hi. Yep. We’re going to hang out in here for a little bit, then do lunch and a n-a-p.” I’m unsure if Piper is against them, not wanting to ruin her day if it isn’t a favorite of hers.
“Sounds good. I’ll be back shortly.” Catherine heads out the door. I return my focus to Piper, and the two of us work on her writing. It’s not perfect, and that’s okay. Practice makes perfect.
FOUR
Forest
“Tell me the truth. What do you think of the nanny?” I ask my brother Madden on the other end of the line. I’ve gotten the normal updates from my mom and Hendrix. The girls seem to love her, but my brother knows me the best, understands what I’d look for when it comes to someone watching after Cammy and Piper.
“I like her. She’s younger, younger than Hendrix, probably mid-twenties. If she’s not with the girls, her nose is in a book, which I’m sure is why Cammy took to her so fast. There was a teacher workday today. The minute Piper was down for her nap, the two of them got on the couch and read the entire time.” What I wouldn’t give to see the woman who’s helping raise my girls. I’m currently sitting at the airport going on five hours, after one weather delay after another. The most recent announcement was they were trying to find a pilot.
“And Piper?” Cammy is the hardest nut to crack. Her instincts to take care of everyone around her comes first. It’s nice to hear that she’s let her guard down.
“Same way. Hangs out with Bailey as much as she can. You know her, brother. I’m pretty sure she’s unfazed by most as long as Krissy isn’t around.” It’s been so long since Krissy has shown her face. A restraining order was necessary, as well as a protective order for myself and the girls. It wasn’t an easy divorce. She fought me every step of the way, which was weird considering Krissy had no problem telling me what she thought of me as a man and a father. It ended with me out of more money than I was hoping to lose. Hush money is what I like to call it, but at least alimony wasn’t involved. What hurt worse than anything she ever did to me, verbally or physically, was that Krissy fought to the bitter end for the kids, to have some kind of rights to them, until it came down to money. A certain dollar figure, and she was happily signing her rights away as a parent. It sucks for my girls not to have their mother in their life.