The next day was Thursday and the kids slept in, so we didn't get them up for school. By ten they were playing out front on their new swing set and little playground, and Halley and I were drinking coffee. The sun was out and it was already in the seventies. Leif and Paramjeet were still asleep.
The lovely morning was dampened considerably as Caleb's car came into view. "Balls," I said, making a face.
"No thanks," my girlfriend quipped, side-eyeing me playfully.
"They are pretty creepy," I agreed. "All wrinkly and hairy and sweaty. Gross."
She snorted. "I don't miss them," she admitted, and we were both giggling when he parked in front of his family's house with the windows down.
"Uncle Caleb Uncle Caleb!" Shiloh shrieked, running toward him as he stepped from the car.
"Hey, Shi," he said, picking her up and swinging her around as he always did. It hurt my heart a little. In another life it would have been us raising the kids together.
But luckily that wasn't the life I wanted, and Halley was a million times better with them than he ever could have been, so that was a bonus.
"Who's that?" my niece asked, looking into the car, which made us take notice. Jasper continued to push the baby in the swing, watching his sister. The year of Caleb's absence had mostly broken his connection with the boy, and there had been no reason for them to spend time together since his return.
Hank, of course, hadn't known Caleb at all, having been born while Caleb was away cheating on me with my future wife.
"That's Courtney," he said in a falsely light voice, glancing at us for our reaction, trying not to let it show. He still had a lot of trouble seeing us together, which only egged us on, to be honest. His attitude toward us was salty at best, though we could all play nice around the kids.
Halley elbowed me and I returned it. "She can get out," she called flippantly. "She doesn't have to hide in the car." The disdain in her tone was slight but I picked up on it and he had to have, if he knew her at all.
The door opened and what's-her-face got out, wearing high heels and a long, fitted skirt. "No one's hiding," she said casually, but her chin was up.
"Shit," I said under my breath, knowing Halley wouldn't take it the wrong way.
"I know, right?" she murmured.
For Courtney was model gorgeous, with the kind of almost-heavy makeup that was movie-star-perfect. Leif had definitely been right about her boobs, though they looked too big on her otherwise skinny frame. And though I knew nothing about clothing, even I could see she had money.
"What's she doing with Caleb?" she whispered, and we both started laughing again. I knew it looked like we were laughing at her, and it was bitchy of us, but I couldn't help it.
She shot us a dirty look and then her attention was on Shiloh, who was now in front of her. "Hi, I'm Shiloh. I live here," the child said, pointing at our house. "It's nice to meet you."
Courtney just managed not to wrinkle her noise at outstretched little hand, which wasn't exactly spotless after playing outside. "Charmed," she said, with a tight smile. She touched the ends of her fingers to Shiloh's for a second and then pulled back quickly, rummaging in her purse until she found a travel pack of wipes. She yanked one out and scrubbed both hands.
"Shiloh," I called, feeling protective. "Let Uncle Caleb and his company go see his mom, please." She ran back to the slide.
"She's going to be fun," Halley observed quietly, bristling.
Caleb sighed loudly as he joined Barbie. He was wearing his dress shoes and slacks. "Courtney, meet Mary and Halley," he said with a look of long-suffering. He could still barely look at the two of us together.
"Pleasure," Halley lied with a fake smile. I gave a little wave.
"Isn't it," she said, and didn't that nose look a little too perfect. Like the boobs, now that I thought about it. "I saw that Lifetime special based on your accident," she said to me with a smirk. "Too bad the budget was so low, it could have been a decent movie."
Caleb looked uncomfortable but before he or I could respond, Halley set her coffee cup down so hard some sloshed out. She stood up, and her walk was casual as she closed the distance between them, all eyes on her.
Courtney actually stepped back because of the stranger suddenly in her personal space.
"Hal," Caleb started, but she put a hand up to him and he was smart enough to be quiet.
"Courtney," Halley asked in a dangerously low voice. "Do you really think you know Mary well enough to speak about the tragedies that have befallen her?" The tips of her ears were red from anger.
"I--no," Courtney wisely said, and nothing else. They were the same height and Halley was nothing less than intimidating.
"No," my heated girlfriend repeated, pointing a finger in her face now. "No, that's right. Unless you were just mocking her. But you probably weren't mocking her, right?"
"No, I wasn't," the other girl replied, somewhat shaken by the presence that was the love of my life. I watched happily as she looked to her boyfriend for help.
"C'mon, Hal," Caleb said in a can't-we-all-just-get-along tone. "Don't."
She turned on him. "Minding your own business is free, Caleb. You should try it. You always did like to save money." She met Courtney's eyes again and held them before turning her back deliberately and returning to me. "You guys are probably busy, so we won't keep you," she said dismissively, waving them away as if she were the queen.
"I fucking love you," I said just so she could hear, and leaned in to kiss her. I tried not to rub it in too much around Caleb but fuck him.
Sure enough, when I pulled back, the look on his face over her shoulder was bitter. He just shook his head a little and put a hand on the small of her fancy bitch back to lead her toward the house.
"What're you shaking your head for?" I asked, feeling like if he wanted to start shit, I was down for it.
"I'm not," he said offhandedly, undoubtedly happy to have gotten a rise out of me.
"Good, don't," I said belligerently. "This doesn't involve you. You don't want anyone to think you're jealous or something."
He flipped me off and took her inside the house, limping as he probably always would. His recovery from the accident had been slow.
"Nice shoes," I called after them right before the door shut.
Halley bit her lip until the door shut and then let her laughter escape. "Oh my God, what a bitch."
Amusement tugged the corners of my mouth up. "Me or her?"
She graced me with that smile, the one containing all the sunshine in the world, and pulled a mini Kit-Kat from her hoodie. The wrapper went back into her pocket and she broke it in half, handing me a stick. She dipped hers into her coffee cup and leaned her head on my shoulder as she bit into it.
"You know it's real love when they share their favorite candy with you," I mused, eating some. A brief memory of the Kit-Kat wrapper I'd seen in the plane wreckage flashed through my mind but was gone before I could even feel triggered by it. She didn't know that particular detail; I wasn't going to ruin the candy for her.
She crunched the rest of hers and pulled another one out, repeating the dividing process. "I'll always share my Kit-Kats with you."
The door opened behind us and Leif emerged. "It's too early for that lovey-dovey shit," he said groggily, sitting on the other side of me and stealing my coffee. "I want candy too."
"I don't love you that much," she replied, straightening up.
"Rude," he observed, eyeliner smeared on his face.
Shiloh was lifting Hank out of the baby swing but his fat little legs were stuck and then he was tipping forward, his feet still in the holes, as she tried to break the fall. His face struck the grass and a wail went up even as Halley and I scrambled to get to him.
She got to him first. "It's okay, it's okay," she crooned, kneeling and lifting him. Blood stood out on his face. "Get his feet," she said to me, though of course I was working on it already. "Shh, it's okay, Auntie Hay's got you, you're okay." She clearly found his injuries to be mild because she held him against her as his foot finally came free, one hand pressing his head to her, the other patting his back as he cried.
"Poor little guy," I said around the lump in my throat. Seeing them hurt was the worst.
Shiloh burst into tears next, standing there in her pink overalls with the cheetah print long-sleeved shirt underneath. Bunny slippers completed the ensemble. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to drop him or make him fall and bleed!" Jasper looked tearful too.
"He's going to be fine," I said firmly, hugging both of them. "Let's go inside and get him cleaned up."
"And maybe have hot cocoa?" she asked in a trembly voice. "After all, it is fall and almost winter and that's a good time for drinking hot cocoa."
"True," I agreed. "That does sound good."
"With marshmallows maybe," she added. "The tiny ones that are hard but turn into soft. Or the biiiiiggest ones."
"Everyone alive?" Leif asked as we approached. He now had Halley's coffee and he toasted her with it before draining it.
"The baby got stuck in his swing and I tried to get him out and he fell on his face," Shiloh announced, the corners of her mouth turned down though the tears seemed to be drying up. "And now he's bleeding!"
"He's fine," I repeated. "You can go pour some more coffee for us," I told Leif. "And start the hot cocoa."
"And if I don't want to?" he wondered, jiggling a handful of gravel.
I narrowed my eyes at him as Halley went in with the kids.
"I want to, I want to," he amended. His attention wavered as Courtney came out of the house next door, Caleb following. "Mmm, see what I mean? Can't fault his taste in women." He bit his lower lip, raking her up and down with his eyes. "Haven't decided if I'm gonna steal her yet, take her for a ride."
I shoved him. "You're awful. And she's not even your type." Nor my ex's type, I would have thought.
He grinned lewdly. "She could be for a few nights. Hey, bro," he called, making them turn. "Oh, heyyy, Courtney." Flirtatiously.
She went into preening mode, smoothing imaginary flyaway hairs into her chic hairdo and touching her throat. "Leif, hey, hi. How are you?" She was definitely interested, though she was at least trying not to be obvious in front of Caleb.
But Leif had gained a confidence from kickboxing that showed in everything he did, and people responded to it like crazy. Though I was used to seeing it, I still found it kind of fascinating to watch. Like a wildlife documentary where the hunter lures the prey in.
That, and Caleb had often been the one girls looked at first, unless they went for the strange and unusual. Now the tables had turned, and while Leif didn't rub it in, he was smug on some level.
"Just recovering from my sugar hangover, you know how it is after Halloween." He yawned, feigning disinterest.
Caleb waved to him, ignoring me. "We've got to run."
His twin saluted him. "Later." He winked at Barbie. "Bye, Courtney."
"Bye," she said, suddenly several octaves higher, and opened her door.
"Just a little spin around the block," he mentioned to me, considering. "I'll give her back to him when I'm done."
"You're gross," I told him, meaning it. "Gross. And mean." He made Caleb look kind of wimpy, for want of a better word.
"I am who I am," he said carelessly, watching her get in. "And I am unapologetic. As you well know, all's fair in love and war." He tossed the gravel down and stood up. "It's mocha time. Mocha, mocha, mocha," he sang to the cha-cha tune, dancing a little as he held the door open for me.
I shook my head and went in.