We headed into the house, Wesley’s hand never leaving my lower back and we went downstairs to the den where we found Arlo and Aurora watching a movie, Arlo talking about everything that happened on the screen.

“Hi kiddos,” I smiled, sitting down next to Arlo.

“Good morning daddy!” Arlo smiled, hugging my arm.

“Lo,” sighing softly, I ran my fingers through his hair, “I have something I need to tell you.”

“What?”

“Our house… there was a fire. All of our stuff is gone baby,” I sniffled.

“But,” his bottom lip quivered and I hugged him tightly, “all my toys?”

“Mhm. But it’ll be okay. We can get you new toys and clothes.”

“We have no house! Where are we gonna put it?”

“Here,” I smiled, “We’re going to live in this pretty house with Wes and Rory.”

“Arlo,” Wesley squatted down in front of him, “you know the room across from Aurora’s?”

“Mhm,” Arlo nodded.

“That’s your room now bud. We’ll go and get everything you need in a little bit. There’s already a bed and a dresser for your clothes. So we will get everything you need and some stuff you want. Including a new game system for down here so you and Rory can play it. I’ve been meaning to buy one anyway.”

“But I just started school.”

“I’m going to homeschool you and Rory,” I kissed the top of his head, “Wes is going to work at the hospital here during the day so we’ll get him at dinner time instead of never seeing him. He already has a classroom set up. So I’ll be your teacher. You’ll get to be with me all the time. We can get you both into some activity you want. What’s something fun you want to do? Dance? Sports?”

“Dance! I wanna do ballet,” Arlo smiled.

“Then you can. I’ll sign you up for it. What about you Rory?”

She grabbed her whiteboard and wrote something quickly before turning it to me.

I want to do sports and library time!

“You got it. We’ll even go on little field trips the three of us for learning. The farmers market, park, zoo, and museum. It’ll be fun! I promise. I know everything is crazy right now. It’s going to slow down a little I promise. Are you both okay with this?”

“Yes!” Arlo yelled as Aurora nodded.

“Good,” I kissed Arlo on the top of his head again, “I promise things will be good. Wes and I will make sure. I’m going to make a list of things we need and get dressed then we can go shopping okay?”

“Okay daddy,” Arlo smiled and turned back to the movie.

Wesley and I headed back upstairs to our bedroom and I laid down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

“Are you doing okay?” Wesley lay next to me, wrapping an arm around my waist.

“I feel better. I was scared to tell Arlo but it’s nice to know he just sort of accepted things. I’m glad. It has to be scary to know all of your stuff is gone, but it seems like he’s okay.”

“Kids are resilient. Having a plan was the best way to go about it before telling him. He’ll be okay. In time, he won’t remember much before you were living here. That’s all,” he nuzzled my cheek, “you should email your mom that stuff before we leave.”

“Don’t wanna get up yet,” I smiled, pulling him closer.

“Eli,” he laughed, “it’s already noon. You slept in.”

“But,” I stuck out my bottom lip, pretending to pout.

“Fine fine. I’ll baby you for a little longer,” he softly kissed my cheek and cuddled down.

“Honey?”

“Hm?”

“How are you feeling? I mean truly feeling. Don’t hide from me,” I whispered softly, rubbing his back.

“Um… sad. Hurt. I miss my dad. I keep wanting to call him excitedly to tell him what’s going on, to share, and I… I can’t so…”

“You can still talk to him. I taught Arlo that. He was crushed when he found out my papa was gone before he was born. So I told him that if he closes his eyes, and simply talks he can hear him. Why don’t you give that a try? You can tell him whatever you need. He’ll hear you. I promise.”

Wesley took a shaky breath and rolled on his back and I laid on mine next to him, taking his hand, “hi dad,” he sniffled, “I miss you. Um… I know you’re okay now. Probably running around being crazy like you always did. I hope you’re with mom again. I’m sure she’s giving you an earful over Sara but at the same time, I know she wanted you to be happy and loved. I’m okay. I’m going to be okay. I have Aurora, Eli, and Arlo. They’re moving in with me now. His house is gone. But I’m doing what you would have done. Taking care of them. I really care for Eli deeply, so I promise to be the best I can be for him. You taught me well. I’ll take care of Sara too. She’s my stepmom after all. I love her ya know? So we’re going to be okay. Happy. I promise. I won’t live with the loss of you festering in my heart. It’s hard, I keep calling your phone just to hear your voice on your voicemail. But I have all my memories, all my pictures. So don’t worry about me,” he squeezed my hand tightly, “I have Elijah. He’s helping a lot,” he started to cry and cuddled into me, burying his face in my curls. I slowly started rubbing his arm, doing my best to support him, “thank you,” he whispered, “I feel so light now.”

“I’m glad. I talk to my Papa all the time. When I’m overwhelmed or when something good happens. It’s nice to think that he can hear me. Supporting my choices. I’m sure Art can hear you too and your mom. We’ll be okay. Are you still feeling up for going out? I can just take the kids. I feel okay. We have a plan so I know everything will be good. I’m not scared anymore.”

“I want to go shopping. Let’s go,” he kissed me deeply and I wrapped my hand around the back of his neck.

He pressed closer, gauging my reaction and I wrapped my arms around his neck, my leg thrown over his waist.

“Jesus,” he whispered against my lips, “you test my self-control.”

“I’m not trying to,” I laughed between kisses, “I just adore kissing you.”

“So do I,” he smiled, wrapping his fingers in my hair.

We lay there for a long time, longer than we intended, sharing deep kisses when there was a sudden knock on the bedroom door.

“I forgot we have kids,” Wesley laughed, laying his forehead against my chest, “come in,” he called to the door.

Aurora came bouncing in, Arlo right behind her and they both climbed onto the bed, tackling Wesley and making him crush me.

“Ah! I can’t breathe,” I laughed.

“Are you calling me fat?”

“What? No these kids are heavy!”

Aurora jumped off of Wesley and came running around the bed, laying down next to me.

“Hi princess,” I smiled at her.

She gave me a small wave before rubbing her stomach.

“Ah. I think she’s hungry.”

“I’m hungry too!” Arlo called, still hanging from Wesley’s back.

“Why don’t we let Eli get dressed and the 4 of us can head to get some lunch and go shopping?” Wesley smiled.

“Yay!” Arlo cheered as Aurora wiggled next to me and I started tickling her, making her laugh for the first time in front of me.

She’s the cutest.

I swear.

“Come along, childs!” Wesley laughed, “let Sir Elijah get dressed. We needeth to put on our shoes!”

I snorted as Aurora climbed off of the bed and Wesley picked her up as well, Arlo wrapped around his front and Aurora around his back.

Oh.

He’s the best dad.

I’m glad.

He carried them from the room and I climbed out of bed, grabbing the one outfit I had from my bag and showering quickly before throwing my clothes on and getting dressed. I pulled my hair into a high ponytail and put my glasses and shoes on before grabbing all of my stuff and heading downstairs.

I found Wesley explaining to Arlo how to tie his shoes, Arlo hyper-focused on him, and Arlo shrugged, clearly confused by what Wesley was trying to show him.

“He’ll learn,” I wrapped my arms around Wesley’s neck from behind when I got close, “he’s barely 5.”

“I know but it’s good to start teaching him now,” Wesley laughed, patting my hands so I would let him go. As soon as he got to his feet, he stared at me in shock, “baby…”

“What?”

“You look fantastic…”

“Really?”

I looked down at my outfit, confused as to why he would say that. The only outfit I had packed was black skinny jeans, a dark gray turtle neck sweater, and a white and yellow checkered knee-length coat.

“I was just cold,” I shrugged.

“You’re dressed better than I am,” he laughed and leaned down, kissing me softly.

Wesley was wearing what I had gathered were his favorite black jogging pants and a white shirt under a yellow jean jacket.

“At least we match,” I smiled, “actually… we all do. Where did Arlo get that outfit?”

“Aurora has a ton of clothes here that don’t fit. So this morning I had him look through them and pick what he wanted. He liked a ton of the poofy skirts and those yellow overalls. Aurora has them in her size, so I thought it’d be cute to have them match. Is that weird?”

“No,” laughing, I hugged him tightly, “not at all. I love it.”

“Good,” he kissed me softly, “alright. Let’s go!”

We all loaded into my car and headed to the mall.

After lunch in the food court, we went through the necessary stores, getting everything we needed as far as clothing went, and once we loaded that into the car we stopped at a home decor store to get what Arlo wanted for his new bedroom as well as what I needed for our at-home classroom and a new computer.

“Hm…” I muttered, walking around the electronics department.

“What’s up, babe?” Wesley smiled, sliding his hand around my waist.

“I’m stuck between getting a laptop and getting an actual computer. I kind of like the idea of having a nice desk and having it set up like that. But I do like being able to move around. But I won’t have to grade a ton of reports and things so… ugh,” I tilted my head back, rolling my eyes.

“Get the stationary computer. You can use my laptop if you need it. I can just make you your own profile on it,” he softly kissed my cheek.

“Hm… okay. Thank you, dear,” I smiled at him.

He helped me find the best computer before sneaking off to a different department to grab a surprise for Arlo.

I walked through the rest of the store with the kids, letting Arlo pick what he wanted for his new bed as well as a few extra sets of sheets. Wesley returned with nothing and I tilted my head confused.

“Honey?”

“It’ll be delivered tonight. It’s too big to load into the car with the kiddos and everything else we bought. Are we done?”

“Mhm. We got everything we need and the extra stuff we wanted. Let’s go pay and head home. My social battery is done.”

“Alright.”

We paid for everything and headed out to the car. Wesley had me load the kids as he got everything into the back of my Jeep and we headed back to our house, a yawn escaping me.

“I should have driven,” Wesley sighed, rubbing my leg.

“It’s just been a long few days. I haven’t been sleeping great. That’s all. I’m fine.”

I pulled into the driveway and as we were unloading everything, a delivery truck arrived.

“Oh! They’re early,” Wesley smiled, “can you take the kids to Aurora’s room? It’s a surprise.”

“Sure,” I smiled, taking Aurora and Arlo upstairs.

I sat on the bed as they played, and grabbed my phone, writing up my resignation and intent to pull Arlo from school to home school, emailing them to my mother’s work email. Once that was done, I started looking into what I would need to homeschool Arlo as well. I was unable to get Aurora’s things because I wasn’t legally her parent, but I was able to take care of everything for Arlo.

It took Wesley over 2 hours to join us upstairs and I huffed when I saw him.

“You took forever,” I sighed dramatically.

“I know,” he laughed, “come on. I lied. It wasn’t a surprise for just Arlo. It was for you too.”

We all followed him downstairs and as soon as he opened the bright yellow door to the classroom, I gasped.

It had been completely changed into a classroom for two. Along the back wall was a double desk with two pink chairs, each desk holding 3 separate file holders in a rainbow of colors. Above one desk was Arlo’s name made of wooden letters and above the other was Aurora’s. Under their names were whiteboards with a small jar of whiteboard pens underneath it, next to that a jar of markers, and finally a jar of pencils. He’d hung posters of the world, of time, a calendar that could be changed day by day to help Arlo learn, and a huge clock on the wall next to the desks. On the other side of the room was a slick black desk underneath the window with a large chair that matched it. On the front of the desk was a chalkboard he had hung that read “Welcome to School” and my new computer had been set up on the desk. I’d be able to see the kids as they worked, the window at my back. On the final wall was a massive whiteboard and next to that was a huge row of bookshelves, filled with learning toys, books, and puzzles for the kids.

“You did all this?” I whispered, looking around.

“Well, Rory’s desk was already there, so I copied it for Arlo. The bookshelves, toys, all that I already had. I just found the stuff I had used for Aurora when she was in Arlo’s grade and added it back. But your stuff is new. I didn’t quite know what you’ll need to teach, I wasn’t very good at it, but you’ll know and we can get it. I already sent off what I need for Aurora to go back on homeschooling. Her stuff arrives tomorrow.”

“I did the same for Arlo… Wes this is amazing,” I sighed happily, going over to the desk and sitting in the chair, “hm… the sun might be an issue.”

“If you look in the top right drawer, there’s a small remote. Just click the button that says close.”

I did as he asked and the blinds on the window rolled down, the lights in the room clicking on.

“What the?” laughing, I looked back at Wesley.

“You’re not the only one who is lazy. There’s a remote just like that in every room of the house. As soon as you close the blinds, the lights in that room will turn on. Obviously, the switches still work but I hate getting up at night once I’m comfortable.”

“I… Wesley thank you,” I whispered, wiping a tear away, “how do I pay you back? I was going to buy a desk tonight…”

“Don’t worry about paying me back, silly. I’m making our lives easier that’s all.”

“Okay,” nodding, I chewed on my lip as the kids ran out of the classroom.

Wesley crossed the room and squatted down next to me, reaching up to push my hair behind my ear, “you have a look on your face I can’t quite place. You look both excited and terrified.”

“What… what if you leave me… or don’t want us here… I… I’ll have nothing. I’m not used to this kindness and I’m so confused and…”

“Shh,” he cradled my face, “stop that. I don’t plan on leaving you. I won’t ask you to leave. We’re together, we will be together. So please… put a little trust in me. I won’t let anything come between us okay? It’s all going to be okay. We’ll be happy. I swear it.”

“I… believe you. I’m just scared.”

“I know,” he leaned up and kissed me softly, “it’s all a little crazy. But there’s nothing wrong with crazy.”

“Nothing wrong with crazy,” I copied him and laughed as he wiped a tear away, “thank you, baby.”

“Of course. Now come on. I think the kids could use some time with us,” he jumped up and ran to the door, reminding me of an overly excited golden retriever as he always did, “are you coming?”

I’ll go wherever you do.

I’ll always follow.

“Absolutely.”