“Ashton, I don’t know anything anymore. I feel like I’ve gone crazy. I just…I want to feel normal again. That’s all I want.”
I grab her by the hips and tug her towards me. “Then tell me what you would have told me had you stopped at the house.”
Sadie suddenly enters the room and pulls on Lexie’s shirt. “Mommy, Mommy, it’s picture time. Come on, Grammy wants pictures.”
Sadie drags her away for pictures. Brooke turns into a “professional” photographer for them, having entirely too much fun with it. Afterwards, the kids start playing, Reed complaining about playing with such girly toys and glitter, and Sadie tells him to stop whining so much.
Tony’s parents are first to leave. I pretty much stay near Brooke for the most part until I need a break. Waiting for a chance to talk to Lexie again is starting to wear on my nerves, so I go play with the kids. Sadie keeps getting called from the room to say goodbyes as people start to leave.
“Can we watch Frozen, Mr. Ashton?” Sadie holds up the DVD.
“It’s your birthday. Of course we can.”
While I’m putting it in the player, I hear them moving around behind me. When I turn around, Reed and Sadie have made a campout in the floor. I sit between them as the movie starts. Within thirty minutes, they are both leaning on me, sleeping. I guess they partied too hard today. Brooke eventually makes her way into the room, mouthing an ‘aww’ when she sees us.
“Want me to carry him out for you?” I whisper.
“Don’t you dare. Lexie’s going to melt when she comes in here and sees what I just saw. I got him.”
“You sure?”
She nods and picks Reed up. Lexie peeks into the room, stopping short at the sight of all of us. Brooke stops next to her on the way out and whispers something to her too low for me to hear. Lex gives me a smile before walking Brooke out, I assume. I carefully reach for the remote to turn off the movie and switch back to whatever cartoons they were already watching.
My heartbeats pick up when Lexie appears in the doorway again. “I turned Frozen off for you,” I whisper, just loud enough for her to hear.
“Thank you for that. I need to figure a way to ground her from that movie again.”
I smile. “Maybe she loses it somehow?”
“No way. I tried that already. Do you want me to take her? You can’t be comfortable like that.”
I glance at sweet little sleeping Sadie. “I’m fine. Come watch cartoons with me.”
She nods and sits next to me.
“We have to finish our conversation at some point, you know.”
“Do you really want to have it with a seven-year-old asleep next to you?”
“No. I can’t whisper for that long. Does she wake up easily?”
“No she doesn’t,” she answers in a soft tone but louder.
“Let’s get her in bed then. I need to stand up.”
We put Sadie in bed and tuck her in before going to the living room. We sit next to each other on the couch. I don’t immediately want to start things and I
’m kind of nervous, so I blurt, “Her grandparents seem really nice.”
“The Allens? They are. They’ve treated me like their own since the day I met them. Since they live in Arizona, they don’t see Sadie as often, but they try to come back for special occasions.”
I nod. “How does it feel to have a seven-year-old now?”
Lex giggles. “It feels like I’m thirty. What about you?”
“It’s worse for me. Reed’s birthday is on the same day as mine. I actually get older when he does.”
“I didn’t know that. You have to admit that’s the best gift you could have ever gotten?”