“Shut it, ass.” She pulled away and smacked my chest, her tears finally under control. “Let’s go wake the kids.”
* * *
“Socks!” I called as the time grew closer for me to take off.
The kids and I were on the couch getting some last-minute cuddles. It was a tradition I’d started when Sage was just a baby and I’d had no idea how I’d leave her. I’d soaked up as much time as I could, as if that would hold me until I got to see her again.
It never had.
Each time I left, I had to deal with knowing that, by the time I returned, my children would be completely different. They’d grow, learn new things, lose teeth, and gain hair. They’d become interested in new subjects and used to my absence. It was painful.
“Here’s mine!” Sage said cheerfully, handing me one of the socks off her feet.
“Mine!” Gavin handed me his.
“Here you go,” Kate whispered to Gunner who was on my lap, pulling off his tiny sock and handing it to him. “What do you say?”
“My!” Gunner yelled, throwing the sock at my face.
Kate snorted, and I laughed before looking to Keller.
“Here’s mine,” Keller said glumly, handing his over.
“Whew!” I teased as I stuffed all of the little socks into my trouser pocket. “You have to wash your feet, man. This reeks!”
Keller laughed, looking pleased with himself, and threw his small body against my chest. “I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you, too, Kell.” I pressed my face into his hair and took a deep breath of little-boy sweat and baby shampoo, kissing him hard.
We all froze when the doorbell rang.
“He’s early,” Kate whispered with a brave smile. “That’s okay, he can wait.”
She walked toward the front door, leaving the kids and me on the couch. I watched her as she opened the front door, then dropped her face to her hands and started sobbing.
“Grandpa’s here!” my foster dad called out as my foster mom wrapped her arms around Kate and rocked her from side to side.
Thank God they’d gotten here on time.
“Grandpa!” the kids screamed, all of them scrambling off the couch but Keller.
“Wanna help me grab my bags, bud?” I asked, standing up and placing Keller on my hip.
We walked upstairs and I grabbed my bags, handing Keller my small backpack filled with toiletries, my iPod, and an extra set of cammies. It looked huge on his tiny shoulders, and he weaved a bit before straightening and marching back downstairs ahead of me.
“Hey, son,” Mike said as I dropped my bags right inside the front door. “All set?”
“Yep, all set,” I answered with a nod. He shook my hand and pulled me into a tight hug.
“Thanks for coming, Dad,” I said while he held on tight. “Kate’s gonna have a hard time when I go.”
“Nowhere else I’d rather be.”
“I want some of that,” Ellie interrupted, bumping Mike out of her way with her hip so she could come in for a hug. “All set?”
I laughed at the repeated question. “Yep, all set.”
“We got you a present, Daddy!” Sage called out, running toward me with Keller and Gavin close behind.
“You did?”
The doorbell rang again, and I swallowed hard.
“I’ll get that. You open your present,” Mike said, walking away.
Kate stood holding Gunner on her hip a few feet away, and I met her eyes for a long moment before looking down at the present Keller was pushing into my hands. It was wrapped in the Sunday comics, and I couldn’t help but smile at the familiar sight. Ellie had always wrapped gifts in comic paper—she said that being married to a man who owned a logging company didn’t mean she had to waste paper—so she’d saved up the comics all year long to use for Christmas and birthday presents.
“A Kindle!” Keller ruined the surprise, jumping up and down as Miles and Mike made their way toward us.
“This is the best present ever,” I told the kids seriously, kissing each one. “Thank you.”
“Is it time for you to go?” Sage asked me in a voice too serious for an almost-eight-year-old.
“Yep. Time to go,” I confirmed, reaching down to pick her up and hold her close. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
I did another round of hugs and kisses, and then another round, then let Ellie usher the kids toward the kitchen for breakfast.
“Walk me out?” I asked Kate quietly through the lump in my throat.
“Sure.”
Mike and Miles carried my bags out to the truck ahead of us, leaving me and Kate in our own quiet little bubble. I wrapped my hand around her shoulders and rested my fingers around the side of her neck, my thumb right over her pulse-point.
“I put a bunch of books on the Kindle. Manly ones, you know, military history and thrillers and whodunits. I wasn’t sure what you—” she rambled.