We worked on making a six-second video in the kitchen. It took us four tries to get the first scene right; Caroline was a stickler for good lighting. Any glare or shadow bugged the crap out of her. But about ten minutes later, she was finally satisfied with the two-second clip where she handed me a casserole dish and told me, “Keep this warm in the oven at 120 degrees.”
In the second part, I knelt down in front of the opened door of the oven with the casserole and used a protractor trying to angle it a literal 120 degrees. At first we tried to find physical things to prop it up, but in the end, we decided it’d be funnier if we edited it to make it look as if the casserole was floating at that angle.
“Perfect.” Caroline grinned as she played back the final cut on the screen of her laptop. We watched it a few rounds before she asked, “Any luck on the tree and chainsaw?”
“Hmm? No, not yet.” I pointed toward the screen. “I like that one. Post it.”
“Done,” she singsonged after a few clicks of the keypad. “What next?”
“Get off my back.”
“Well, geez.” She widened her eyes and sent me a look that called me prickly. “I just thought you’d have another idea.”
“No, I meant ‘get off my back’ is my next idea.”
She blinked at me a moment before it sunk in. Then she snorted out a laugh. “Oh…I get it. I’ll tell you something, and you’ll say hey, get off my back, and then we’ll pan out to show that I’m literally riding on your back. Awesome. Let’s do it.”
Most of the day continued that way. We paused for lunch and took a few minutes to check in on Ten and the kids.
I held the camera and pressed record just as Caroline asked how everything was going. Beau and Teagan totally ignored us, but Ten scowled at the camera and flipped us off.
That was his signature Vine move. All our followers loved him. The only thing he ever did was flip the camera off, and I swear our fans went wild every time. It was crazy, but we liked to make them happy too, so we threw in a “Ten bird” pretty frequently. One time, he kissed his middle finger and then blew it at the camera, and some crazed chick fan loved it so much she mailed us her underwear to give him.
Caroline had not been amused, even though Ten and I hadn’t been able to stop laughing.
By the time evening wore down to night and both Caroline’s and my brain felt fried and drained of all humorous video ideas, we decided to call it a day.
We checked in on Beau and Teagan to find that both kids were passed out asleep together on top of the blankets and pillows piled on the floor in front of the television. Caroline went to her daughter, stepping over the legs of her husband, who was passed out in the easy chair and scooped Teagan into her arms.
“You guys can hang out as long as you need to,” she whispered to me as she passed.
I nodded and tugged my phone from my pocket.
I asked Noel and pressed send.
If everyone was asleep at home or even awake but in good spirits, he would tell me it was okay to proceed home. If there were any problems, he’d give me a time I should delay before venturing back.
But tonight, the only reply I received was:
I stared at the word, not sure what to make of it. I started to ask what was wrong, but I was kind of afraid of the answer.
My fingers were still twitching to type and my eyes were glued to that one word when Caroline reentered the room empty-armed.
“What’s wrong?” she immediately asked, taking in my face.
I showed her the screen of my phone. She sucked in a breath and gripped my arm. “Get over there. Now. Beau can stay here tonight.”
I nodded and slapped a kiss to her cheek before dashing toward the door.
My hands were still shaking when I pulled into my driveway fifteen minutes later. All the lights in the house were blaring brightly from every window, so everyone must still be awake.
Not sure if Aspen or Lucy O was the problem tonight, I parked and killed the engine before jogging to the back door and pulling it open.
The first thing I heard was yelling—Aspen’s yelling—then from the other direction of the house came Lucy Olivia’s wailing.
“I can’t take this anymore. I just can’t take it!” Aspen screamed.
“Well, what the fuck do you want me to do?” Noel boomed back, just as loud, which startled the shit out of me.
Since Aspen’s postnatal depression had begun and she’d started having screaming episodes, Noel had become the soul of patience. Before, he’d been the first to lose his temper and raise his voice. But when his wife had gotten sick, nothing. He’d remained even-tempered and calm, only worried about soothing her.
Until tonight.
“What?” he was shouting with a rasp in his voice as if he might’ve been shouting for a while. “I’ve been working my ass off to do right by you, and it all seems to be fucking wrong. So what am I supposed to do, huh? You tell me.”