Annie Drexler stirred in bed. She didn't know if the new baby was quickening and she was experiencing flutters – or if it was prenatal gas. It didn't matter since it was time to get up. She was meeting Cara and needed Jack to look after the kids for a while.
Jack woke up in his motel room to the ping of a new text on his cell phone. He retrieved it off the bedside table between the two beds. Annie had texted that she and Cara would be food shopping that morning and was asking if he and Drew would take the three older kids out for breakfast in town. He texted back "OK" and got out of bed.
Their day had started, apart and together.
As Annie put her foot on the floor of her bedroom, Jason opened the door, flashing two one-dollar bills.
"Look, Mommy, Dad, what the tooth fairy. . ." was all Jason managed to say before he stopped short in the room. He saw only his mother there.
"Mom, where's Dad? He was here when I went to bed."
"He had to go back to his place. You fell asleep when he read to you and he carried you into your bed."
"But I thought. . ."
"Let's look at what the tooth fairy left you," Annie said, trying to distract him. "Aren't you happy about that? What are you going to spend it on?"
"I don't know. I'll save it until I need it."
Annie thought that her son would be smart with money, smarter than either of his parents.
Then Jason hit her with a comment which indicated just how much he knew about everything that had been going on in their home for the past several months, "I'm giving the dollars to you, Mom. Maybe it will help pay one of the bills you keep saying that Dad needs to pay. Maybe then he can come back home."
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WE GATHER TOGETHER by Edward L. Woodyard
General FictionSometimes you have to go far away to realize just how close you really are. A straightforward, honest and emotional journey of the heart, We Gather Together is a perceptive and joyous story about a small-town suburban family that wants to come toge...
