Hard Fall (St. Louis Mavericks 1)

“Morning,” he said, scratching his ass as he opened the refrigerator and looked inside.

Cringing, I said, “It’s basically everything that is the opposite of Uncle Wes.”

“What?” he asked, looking from me to Annalise.

“Nothing,” I muttered. “And can you please put on some clothes?”

He looked down and then back up at me. “I’ve got underwear on. I’m just grabbing something quick for breakfast before I get in the shower and leave for my road trip.”

His road trip. I was still pissed about that. Not only was he leaving for the next four nights, but he’d insisted that his body required a good night of sleep and retreated to the guest room last night, leaving me to care for both kids when I could barely keep my eyes open. Benny was teething and he was fussy, so it had been a long night.

“I want Froot Woops, Uncle Wes!” Annalise cried, racing over to him as he pulled a giant red box from one of the kitchen cabinets.

“You got it,” he said, passing her the box. “You take this and I’ll get us some bowls and spoons.”

It took me a second to pick my jaw up off the floor and form a coherent sentence in response to what I was seeing.

“There’s no way you found that box of Froot Loops in one of Lauren’s cabinets,” I said, shaking my head.

“Me and Annalise went shopping while you were gone,” he responded, setting a gallon of milk on the table and walking over to another cabinet to get bowls.

“But…Lauren feeds…” I closed my eyes and corrected myself. “She fed the kids an organic diet without added sugars. She pureed and canned her own baby food.”

Wes shrugged. “I fed the bananas and peas to Benny like I was supposed to, but Annalise and I had to eat, too. Did you want us to starve or should we start eating baby food too?”

“That stuff is nothing but sugar and dye.”

“Dye?” Annalise gave me a panicked look. “Like Mommy and Daddy?”

Dammit. Why didn’t I think before I used that word?

“No, baby,” I said, bending down so I was at her level. “It means something that makes the Froot Loops have colors.”

Annalise immediately perked up and said, “I like the purple ones!”

I gave Wes a dirty look and said, “Now I’m the bad guy if I don’t let her eat it.”

“So let her eat it.” He met my gaze, sounding aggravated.

“When are you leaving?”

“After I eat and take a shower.”

“When you guys went grocery shopping, did you get a snack to take for Annalise’s preschool class? Lauren’s calendar in the pantry says today is her day to bring a snack for her class. Twelve kids.”

“I’m the snacker?” Annalise asked, looking pleased. “I love being the snacker.”

“I didn’t even look at the calendar,” Wes said, sounding unconcerned.

“Of course you didn’t,” I muttered under my breath.

“Hey, Captain Critical, I held down the fort while you were gone for four days. The kids got fed and we played and they’re…pretty much clean.”

“I took a bath in my swimsuit, Aunt Hadley!” Annalise said, grinning. “Uncle Wes said it’s not approliate for him to see me naked.”

“It’s appropriate, squirt,” Wes said, helping her pour Froot Loops into her bowl.

“Don’t even think about letting Benny try that stuff,” I warned Wes. “I’m going to make his oatmeal.”

Benny was fussing a little bit, and I hoped eating breakfast would help. I went into the pantry and found the baby cereal I’d seen Lauren feeding him when I was visiting for Christmas, and mixed it with some of what little breast milk we had left in the fridge.

It was the small things that broke me, like running out of breast milk. The last thing Lauren had been able to do for her baby boy in this life was almost gone.

I mixed the cereal and warmed it in the microwave for about fifteen seconds, relieved that I’d seen Lauren prepare this for him before. Otherwise I wouldn’t have had a clue what I was doing. I was walking it over to the table to sit down next to Benny’s high chair when I remembered I’d forgotten to bring a wet cloth to clean him up afterward.

I went back to the kitchen sink to get one, and Annalise said, “Hey, Aunt Hadley?”

“What, baby?” I asked, turning around to look at her.

“I think Benny just shit himself. He’s stinky.”

My mouth dropped open in shock and my gaze zeroed in on Wes.

“Are you kidding me? You’ve been using language like that in front of her? Because I know Ben and Lauren never did.”

He looked a little sheepish as he said, “Yeah, that’s definitely my fault. I’m working on it.”

I was seething inside, but I didn’t want to upset the kids, so I pressed my lips together and counted to ten. When Wes and I could have a private conversation, I was going to show him how many foul words I knew.