I wandered into the family room and sat down on the couch. Before I could call him over, Matthew was already sitting next to me, leaning into my side. I draped my arm over him and squeezed harder.
We sat through almost an entire episode of that annoying talking sponge again, and I pulled out my phone to look at the time. I glanced down at Matthew, who was half asleep on my arm, his eyes completely glazed over. I carefully lifted his head and slid out from under him, laying him gently on a pillow. I headed toward the front of the house but felt guilty leaving without saying good-bye, so I took a deep breath and quietly climbed up the stairs.
I’d only been upstairs in Mike’s house a handful of times. Whenever I’d been there, we’d mostly hung out in the family room or down in the man cave in the basement, so I had no idea where I was going. Once I got to the top, I heard singing and followed it to the left. The first door I came to was about halfway closed, but the singing was definitely coming from there, so I stopped to listen, leaning in close.
It was Michelle.
She was singing “Hush Little Baby,” I assumed to Maura, in the most beautiful voice I’d ever heard in my life. I stood there with my eyes closed, listening to the calming sound that was coming out of her. When she got to the last verse, I decided to sneak back downstairs and just wait to say bye, but when I went to take a step, the wood floor creaked under my feet. I cringed and a second later, the bedroom door opened.
“Hey.” She smiled at me as she carried Maura on her hip.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt you. Matthew fell asleep downstairs, and I didn’t want to sneak out without saying good-bye, so I thought I’d come find you, but then I heard you singing, and I didn’t want to bug you…” I rambled incoherently.
“Viper!” she interrupted. “It’s okay. I was just about done anyway. Lately, it’s been hard for me to find time alone with her. Matthew gets my undivided attention when she’s napping, and the couple times you’ve gone to the library, she’s been napping, so I just wanted to steal a few minutes with her. Sorry it took so long.” She reached out and wiped drool off Maura’s chin.
“No way, please don’t apologize. It was nice. I didn’t know you could sing like that.”
“Oh, thanks.” Her cheeks flushed and she bit her lip, trying to hide her smile. “I can’t cook to save my life, so thank goodness there’s one good thing she’ll remember from her childhood, right?”
After a brief, awkward shift right there in that hallway, I cleared my throat. “Anyway, he’s out and I’m sure you have things to do this evening, so I’m gonna take off.”
“Do you have plans tonight?” she asked as she followed me down the stairs.
I shook my head. “No.”
“Then you can’t go.”
Once we got to the bottom of the steps, I turned back to face her. “Huh?”
“You bought my son lunch and saved him from the arcade antagonizers. Throwing a piece of pizza on a paper plate for you is the least I can do.”
“You don’t have to buy me dinner.” I laughed.
“Fine.” She turned and started toward the kitchen. “In that case, stay right there while I get you money for today.”
“You’re not paying me,” I called to her sternly.
She stopped in the kitchen doorway and spun back around, balancing Maura on her hip as she raised a defiant eyebrow at me. “Fine again. Sausage or pepperoni?”
Since Matthew and I had just eaten lunch an hour before, once he woke up from his short catnap, we passed the time until dinner building Legos together.
“Sit down with me.” He tugged on my shirt as I walked through the family room.
“Hey, look!” I pointed down at him. “You’re sitting criss cross applesauce. I will too.”
I heard Michelle chuckle from the kitchen as she loaded the dishwasher.
A huge bin of Legos, a million different shapes and sizes, sat next to Matthew. “What are we building?” I asked him.
“A fire station.” He was looking down at his project. The harder he concentrated, the bigger his frown grew.
“Do you want me to help?” I wasn’t sure what to do. Lego creations were sacred to some kids.
He sat up excitedly. “Can you make a fire truck to go in my fire house?”
I nodded. “Consider it done.”
We sat in silence, working diligently on our respective projects for what felt like hours without saying a word, just concentrating. After a while, I heard Michelle chuckling, so I looked up. She was standing behind the couch with her arms folded, smiling at us with her head tilted to the side.