A broken marriage.
A new job.
She works as a Personal Assistant on the ForNoah Youtube channel.
Noah is on the autistic spectrum and she fixes things for him.
He's a shipwright and creates beautiful works of art.
She's a woman starting over who meet...
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My ex-husband did a background check. They passed, so I took the job.
The first day of school for most kids isn't fun. Coming into a school after everyone else has started mid-year will not be easy. A nice new hairdo will hopefully fight the kiddie wars. I grasp hold of my daughter's curls and take the pieces, end over end together. I add more oil and brush the next piece ready to be braided as I hum the same tune my mother hummed to me. The rhythm of braiding soothes both of us. The nighttime crickets join the song. Ade waits for bedtime and leans against my thigh next to Sim.
One year and we can get a house. More disturbance to their lives, but it's only for a year and then we should settle into something somewhat normal. I put the last braid into her hair and add the clasp at the end. A simple head wrap to keep it neat for school tomorrow finishes the nighttime ritual.
"All done."
"My turn!" Ade yells. Sim moves over for Ade, and he jumps into my lap. His short buzz haircut with a fade is perfectly fine for school tomorrow, so I pretend to brush his nonexistent Lando waves with long strokes of the hairbrush. It feels good to still have our normal nighttime routine.
"All done." I kiss the top of his head. "We should talk." I pull my little boy deeper into my lap and his cape drapes along my leg. Sim leans her head against my shoulder.
"Money is going to be tighter than normal. So, that means no Star Wars action set." The news I should have broken in the first place. The earlier half-truth has my stomach tight with guilt. The slim chance of his birthday wish was gone the second I heard his dad's voice on that answering machine. I watch the realization pass on his little face. The sleepy lights go out and he sniffs. He holds back the tears and gathers the bits of his Lando cape around himself.
"But what about Daddy? He can buy it, right?"
My daughter gives me her hard, old brown eyes. As if she could fix this, so it still works for him—the telescope she wanted for her birthday almost forgotten.
"No, Sim, he has a new baby coming, and things might be tight for him as well. The telescope and the Star Wars sets are probably a no." A part of me doesn't want the way he would tell them no on the table. If I can break it to them now, maybe they won't ask their father and they can skip over that blow-up.
"It's okay, Mom. You tried real hard." Ade pats my shoulder, and the tears he fought back fall freely. I pull my little boy close and let him cry it out. A new house, new school—new everything—along with a pile of broken expectations. Ade's heart rains down in fat wet tears on my shoulder. My hand moves slowly on his back. Guilt crawls deep into my heart. I should have said no sooner. It would have been better if both of them were angry at me. The door bangs closed and interrupts our moment, but the Little Man keeps crying.
"Hey Noah, this is my daughter, Sim, and my son, Ade," I say to him.
Noah walks in, his big muscle-packed frame taking up way too much space in the kitchen. How long was he there? He walks to the fridge, opens it, and gets carrots. Without a word, he shuts the fridge and heads back outside, carrots in hand.
Okay, nothing from him. The sound of a motorcycle engine starts up outside. The rumble moves away from the house. Carrots and a motorcycle ride. Right, that's not weird at all.
I climbs the steps with Ade's tears all over my shoulder. Before we make it to the top, he's cried himself to sleep. As I lay Ade on the bed, Sim joins him. I untie his cape and clean off his wet eyes. It might be too much for all of us. I hang the cape up beside the bed and pull the covers over the kids. My finger touches the light switch.
"Mom?" Sim falters.
"Yes, Sim?"
"Don't go." And my tough kid becomes my little girl. My girl wipes at her dry eyes. I turn out the light and get into bed with her and my boy.
"I need to organize Mr. Noah and Miss Zoey's calendar. That's a lot of work to do. Is the phone light okay?"
"Yes, Mommy, just don't go."
"Okay, baby, goodnight."
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Authors Note:
I will try and post again next week maybe twice. (week starting on Sunday through sat.) Please remember to share and vote for this story with a star at the top right. Thank you for reading.
-OP
ps. the fairies got 2 orgasms because someone shared last week lol
