Getting Along

75. Sunrise

“Daddy play,” Lucy whined waving a soccer ball around, which was bigger than her.

I sighed, lifting my head up from the couch. She looked at me expectantly, but my headache was telling me to stay on the couch. “You don’t want to play with Mummy?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Hate Mommy. Hate Mommy,” she frowned. “Daddy play.”

I frowned right back at her, “You don’t hate Mummy.” She groaned and stomped out of the living room, Dasher trotting right behind her. I closed my eyes again and focused on trying to sleep off my headache. I think I got it from that picnic concert I went to with Brody and Annette—it was just so loud and we were standing right by the speaker. It shredded my head.

“Cookie?” A tiny voice said. I opened my eyes to see Lucy standing in front of me with a chocolate chip cookie held out for me. We was suddenly down to just her diaper now.

“Where did your clothes go…?” She pointed towards the hallway. “They’re out there? I think you should put them back on.”

“No.” She shrugged casually, making me chuckle. “Cookie Daddy?”

“Yeah,” I opened my mouth for her to put the cookie in, licking her hand a little to make her giggle. “Thank you.”

“Up?”

I sighed, finally accepting the fact that I’ll never get to sleep. I lifted her practically naked little body up off the floor and kissed her cheek as I went into the kitchen to get more medicine for my head. Lucy proceeded to point out each article of clothing she’d left in the hall and I just nodded along.

Once I’d taken my medicine, I sat her on the counter, resting my hands on either side of her. “So, what do you want to do, Lucy? You’ve got me up now.”

“Cookie?”

“You just had a cookie, goofball.”

“Cookie!”

I looked up as Hunter walked in the room and gave her a wink before looking back to Lucy. “Mummy is she allowed to have a cookie?”

“I just gave her one, but yeah she can have another.” She got them down from the cabinet and hand both of us a cookie. I kissed her forehead as a thank you, but she just gave me small smile.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just…thinking.”

“About what?”

She looked up at me, “I want to go somewhere for my birthday.”

“Oh….that…” Her lip jutted out a little, truly believing I’d forgotten her birthday was coming up in two weeks. I decided to keep up that act. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Okay.”

“Moooommy,” Lucy shouted. “Out, out.”

Hunter kissed her on the forehead, “Yeah, Daddy will take you outside.” Wait what? “He’ll build a snowman with you.” She looked at me, “Right Daddy?”

“You’re so annoying.”

But of course, Lucy and I already off to the coat closet, getting bundled up to play in the snow.

——

——

Nerja, Málaga, Spain

Everything was the same. We’d kept the house in the family in case other people wanted to use it, but I myself haven’t been here—in my Nerja house—in a long while. Dust had collected since the last time my cousin said they came, resting on lamp shades and in couch cushions. I’m even pretty sure Hunter’s mustard-y fingerprint was still on the basement wall. It could easily be something else, but I like to think it’s not. Memories of me and Greg spilling things on this exact floor filled my mind.