I continued to roll the burritos and placing them on a serving dish. As everyone came in, they grabbed a plate and loaded their plates up, thanking us, and took a seat in the dining room or at the bar.
Jaxson was the last to arrive, with Alex following. Alex’s eyes seemed bright and his skin flushed. “I don’t think my little buddy is feeling good,” Jaxson stated as he picked Alex up and set him on the counter beside me.
I put the back of my hand on his forehead. “Aww, little man, are you getting sick? You do feel a little warm.”
He shrugged. “I’m fine. I want to go to school. Kimmy is bringing me a cookie. She promised.”
I laughed. “I don’t think it’s a clever idea for you to go. I don’t want you to get the other children sick.”
“Here, buddy, open up,” Jace came to stand in front of Alex with a thermometer. “Put it under your tongue…and close.”
Alex obliged and swung his legs back and forth. His stockinged feet hitting the cabinets beneath him. The thermometer beeped after a few seconds.
“100.9,” Jace explained. “He’s running a low-grade fever, but maybe’s it’s best if he stays home.”
“Can I stay home?” Chip asked hopefully.
I shook my head. “Sorry, buddy, I know you don’t like going, but you need your education, and Alex isn’t feeling good.” At his crestfallen look, I tried to cheer him up. “It’s Friday, so maybe after school we can go get some Halloween candy and your costumes for tomorrow night.”
He seemed to cheer up at the promise of getting a costume. He was looking forward to trick or treating and dressing up.
“Where are we having a party?” Jemmy asked excitedly.
“Dad said we couldn’t have it here again because we left a mess for Sue to clean up last time” Jaxson said forlornly. I had to resist the urge to snort. I remember the aftermath of his last party, when I had been there. I had guilted the others into helping me clean up. Not intentionally, mind you.
“But Steven, Cora, and Beth already volunteered to watch the kids after trick or treating,” Jemmy groaned.
“If, and I mean a big if,” Remy said sternly, “you set up and do all the clean-up, you can have it at the new We 7. It could be our soft open. Then we don’t have that far to walk to my house. The painters just finished in there, and the furniture hasn’t been delivered yet, but you can sleep on air mattresses and sleeping bags.”
“Yes!” Jemmy cried out in excitement. “We’re having a party! At Remy’s! Are you coming?” She turned to Dawn.
Dawn smiled. “Technically I’m off duty, so sure.”
Jemmy squealed again and started singing, “We’re having a party! We’re going to dress up! After school I’m going to go shopping!” she turned to Remy. “For decorations.”
“Remember, whatever you put up, you’re going to have to clean up. I’ll provide food and soft drinks. NO one, and I mean no one, underage will be purchasing alcohol at my bar.” Remy stated firmly.
Jemmy frowned. “What happens if they bring their own?”
Remy gave her a pointed look.
“Fine, fine,” she grumbled, but the look in her eyes told me differently. Knowing her, she was going to find a way around it.
I finished my school work in no time and was able to get a rare moment of quiet time on the couch. I had to watch Trolls, but I didn’t mind; it was a cute movie. Alex was in rare form and wanted to cuddle. I didn’t mind at all. He was normally a million miles a minute, and it was enjoyable to spend some quality time with just him. As I was forced to relax, I thought maybe I should try to set some time every week for each child, like a play date with them, some time to make sure they didn’t get lost in the mix.
That led me to thinking about my connections, too. They were all made, but maybe we needed to work on us as well. We should be setting up time for some alone one-on-one time. More than what we already did. Drake and I had time to ourselves when we cooked. Jace and I found time to slip off into the music room on occasion. Remy and I had our Saturday morning runs by ourselves. Troy and I fit private lessons down in the basement for additional martial arts classes (which I was thoroughly enjoying). I couldn’t count quality time with Jaxson when we had our inner conversations. It was normally right before we fell asleep at night, and to be honest, we normally fell asleep in the middle of it. Noah and I found time to work on performance arts projects, but it still wasn’t enough. I needed to focus on my connections more.
I was making lunch when my new phone rang.
“Hello,” I answered it.
“Hey Blake,” Remy responded. “I know Alex isn’t feeling the greatest, but some of the females are coming off whatever they were implanted with and they’re acting irrationally and irritable. Jace has his hands full, and we need some back up. Gavin’s on his way in, but we would like you to come in as well. How’s Alex feeling?”
“Better,” I retorted honestly as I pulled our macaroni and cheese from the oven. “As soon as I finish lunch, I’ll make my way over. Is someone coming to get me?”
“That would work,” Remy said with a smile in his voice. “Is there enough for me?”
I giggled. “Yes, there’s enough for you. Can Alex come along?”
“He listens fairly well, so I don’t see an issue with it,” Remy agreed.
“Okay, great.” I smiled. “See you soon!”
I pulled out some honey baked ham and cut thick slices for Micah, Tanya, and myself. I added the sautéed green beans to our plates. For Alex, I cut the ham into bite-size pieces. Some days, he and Ella wanted to act independently and scoffed at being treated like a ‘baby,’ and other days they wanted the extra coddling.
“Lunch!” I called out into the living room.
Time away from school was helping my psyche immensely. It was times like these that I realized how much of an ambivert I was. When I had been singing with the guys, I had loved the energy and excitement I got on the stage. I had thrived on it, but I also needed moments, days, and weeks like this. I needed to unplug, unwind, and just be.
Although I should see if Jemmy had invited Ben, Taylor, Rick, and Mike to the party. I would like to get back to the band. Jemmy said they had been booking gigs, but it wasn’t on the scale we had been on. She even showed me their Facebook page, and they didn’t have ten percent of the followers we had.
I was ready to get back on that ride and see where it took me.
Alex came running into the room first, and I pulled out the first aid kit. Jace had shown me that they kept their thermometer in there.
“Let’s check your temp, buddy,” I said after he scrambled into his seat. He automatically opened his mouth.
When the thermometer beeped, I nodded in satisfaction. “You seem better. I’ll pack you some juice boxes and we’ll keep you hydrated.”
Alex frowned. “Do I have to go to school?” He gave me a crestfallen look.
“No.” I gave him an indulgent smile. “But I need to go to the clinic. Want to come with me?”
Alex nodded eagerly. “I like spending time with you,” he stated as he scooped some macaroni and cheese on his fork.