Close Your Eyes: Book Four

Chapter Three

"Are you angry?" he asks me.

"I'm not angry," I reply, slipping into the room the rest of the way. "Accidents happen." I shrug my shoulders and walk over to him. "Let's get you back into your big boy pants, okay?"

"Okay."

He gets out of bed and I have him take off his own pants and wipe himself up, helping him when he needs it. I hold out his underwear and he steps into them and then pulls them up. I adjust them when they get twisted and pull his pants back on.

"I'm hungry." He tells me when we walk downstairs. "Can I have a snack?"

"Theo is having fruit. You guys can share." I tell him.

"But I want chips." He says when I set him down at the table.

"Well I'm sorry kiddo, I made fruit. You can have fruit, or you can have nothing."

I can tell he doesn't like my response, but when I move the bowl and tell Theo he has to share, Bennett eats it anyways.

My nieces and nephews would scream when they're told no.

"Okay Mommy, I'm done with my homework." Theo holds it out to me.

I check his answers, nodding when I see every question is right.

"Good job Peanut!" I lean down to kiss his head.

"Did I do good?" he asks me.

"You did excellent!"

He puts his homework away and I check his backpack for any papers or something I might have missed, pausing when I find a permission slip.

"Hey Peanut, what is this?" I hold up the paper.

"Oh, that's for my field trip."

I sit down at the table as I glance over the paper. It's to a pumpkin patch with his kindergarten class, and they need chaperones.

There is no way I'm letting my son go on a field trip without me there.

Somebody could grab him or something.

I scan the paper, my eyes locking on the price.

Ten bucks.

They are taking a school bus and the chaperones follow behind in their personal cars. I can choose for Theo to ride with me, or on the school bus with his friends.

While the thought of him riding a school bus makes me anxious, I don't want to take away his childhood from my own fears.

I'll be right behind the bus the entire time, and I will be right there when he gets off of it.

There's no reason for me not to allow him to go on this trip.

Just as I'm about to fill out the form, I realize I need to talk to Liam about this first. I can't just make decisions without discussing it first.

"Can I go Momma? Please?" Theo asks me.

"I'll have to talk to Daddy, okay?"

"Okay." He frowns.

He and Bennett sit there and snack on their fruit. I grab Bennett some juice when he asks very politely for it, glancing at the baby monitor to see that Eloise is still sleeping.

"Can we go play outside?" Theo asks me.

"In the backyard only," I reply. "Put on your jackets though. It's cold out...and be quiet when you go in your bedrooms. Your baby sister is sleeping."