“How can I help?”
“Do you think you could meet me at the airport? I’ll get the kids off the plane, then you can take them home while I go back to the store to try and get the computer system put back together.”
“Of course. I’ll leave in just a minute.”
Devon let out a sigh of relief.
“You know, I’ve done this for three years by myself, and I love you for a lot of reasons, but right now I love you for just being there. You’ll never know how much your help and support means to me.”
“Hopefully you’ll never have to do it by yourself again,” I said softly, letting all my insecurities take a back seat. It made me indescribably happy that Devon called me when he had a problem and wanted me to help him fix it. It had been a long time since I’d felt like someone’s partner, or like someone needed me.
“Not if I have anything to do about it,” he replied. “I love you, baby. I’ll meet you at the baggage claim at the airport.”
“Okay, I love you too.”
When I saw Devon round the corner by the baggage claim, my face lit up. Then, from behind him, Jaxy came running toward me, arms outstretched and smile wide.
“Grace!” he exclaimed as he lunged for me. “I got to sit in the cockpit!” His arms wrapped around my waist and his face burrowed into my belly. I leaned down and squeezed him hard, thankful to be able to hug him again. He leaned back, but just his head, and looked up at me. “They said maybe next time I could help fly the plane!”
I laughed, but chose to go along with it. “Sounds amazing!”
“He kept asking them a million questions about flying so I think they just told him that to make him stop,” Ruby said, trying to sound annoyed, but I could tell otherwise when she reached out and ruffled his hair.
Ruby stepped up next to me and wrapped one arm around my back, giving me a side hug. I wrapped my one arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, pressing my cheek against the top of her head.
“Hey,” I said to her softly. “How’d it go?” I asked the question quietly, not wanting to embarrass her in front of the boys by talking about her period. “Any issues?”
She looked up at me and smiled. “Nope. It was gone by the time we went to Disney.” A smile broke out across her face and then she leaned into me again.
My eyes met Devon’s as I had both his children wrapped in my arms and he mouthed, “I love you.”
All I could do in response was pull his children closer and mouth back, “Thank you.”
With their bags loaded into my car and the kids buckled into my backseat, Devon kissed me soundly on the lips and said he’d be home as soon as he could.
The drive home was filled with story after story of their time in California, all the fun things they’d done with Evie and Nate, and how they couldn’t wait to visit again next summer. I sat quietly and listened, loving the way they were sharing everything with me, uncensored, without thinking. They trusted me and wanted to share things with me, and that made me unreasonably happy. Happier than I’d been in a very long time.
Along the way, I happened to notice a small white car make a really quick lane change behind me, squeezing in where there was hardly any room. The white car’s driving made me nervous, so I sped up to put some distance between us. For the rest of the way to Devon’s house I noticed the white car made all the same turns I did. By the time we were on the outskirts of their neighborhood, I was starting to worry.
When I pulled into Devon’s driveway, I watched as the white car drove past. I let out a breath of relief when it turned at the end of the block, but my pulse was still racing.
Jaxy and Ruby climbed out of the car, arguing about who got control over the television remote first, as I went to the trunk to unload their bags.
“Ruby, will you please go unlock the door and leave it open so we can get everything inside?” I said, handing my keys to her.
“Sure,” she said with a smile.
I opened the trunk and grabbed Jaxy’s tiny suitcase that had Ninja Turtles on it and handed it to him.
“Here, Jaxy, take this inside. And if you could, before you fight over the TV with your sister, take all your dirty clothes to the laundry room so I can start a load.”
“Okay,” he said, happily taking his Ninja Turtle suitcase from me.
Just then I saw the same white car coming back toward the house. Panicking, all I could think of was getting the kids inside.
“Jaxy,” I said, trying to keep the sudden terror from my voice but doing a horrible job. “Go inside and lock the door. Do not let your sister come out. Call your father and tell him to come home immediately.”