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“You shush,” I say as I open the freezer and pull out the huge box of dinosaur nuggets.
“Oh my goodness, it’s so big!” Aggie exclaims.
“I wonder if that’s what Aunt CeCe said when she”—she nods to the kitchen window that faces Roman’s townhouse and wags her brows—“went out late last night and bought them.”
“Did you, Aunt CeCe? Did you thinks, it’s so big?” Aggie smiles … huge.
I don’t entertain either of them by answering. I kiss Aggie’s cheek and set her on the island. “Mommy should watch you while I grab a cookie sheet so we can see how many dinosaurs fit on one sheet.”
And that’s what we do while Chloe badgers me about going to the Jags game tonight, using the fact that Aggie’s going as bait. And, yes, I bite.
* * *
“Loud, Daddy!” Aggie covers her ears. “So A-S-S loud!”
My body shakes as silent laughter rocks through me at the fact that my adorable little niece has obviously learned how to curse like her mom does in front of her.
Danny pulls her head to his chest as his face splits into a grin. “Mom’s got you covered.”
Chloe’s jaw drops, and then she mouths, “Oh. My. God.” Digging through her very stylish mom bag, she pulls out little earplugs.
Danny’s somehow holds it together as his body shakes while they work together to ease Aggie’s discomfort.
My chest tightens as I remember the many times Chloe would put headphones on me as she tucked me in, her eyes hollow but her smile in place.
“Say your prayers, CeCe, okay?”
Those words of comfort bring back strong memories. Memories of the years Chloe went through hell and I slept unknowing of the horror she lived. Memories of wanting to hear them so badly when she was gone and he began insisting I call him William.
Then the relief of while living in Texas, and Chloe telling me we were there because he’d never find us. The unspoken rules of never making close friends because they’d see how we lived and subconsciously knowing, and now having confirmation that we weren’t simply given a pass to go live as feral trailer children in the Walton Texas woods.
But I loved it there. Those years my sister cheered me on to success and did everything in her power to allow me to do that, and then finding out she was getting beaten off and on over those three years, and was nearly killed by that bastard, Spud.
And now, William is free and we’re always going to live in fear. Especially Chloe.
I always wondered what good my prayers were and why I even bothered, yet I still said them every night, and I still do.
Last night, when Roman was describing his faith and how hope played a role in that for him, it reminded me of Chloe and gave me a better understanding of myself, too.
I will hang on to hope that the bastard doesn’t win, and I’ll pray for it, too … only because praying for him to get struck by lightning probably isn’t the best way to go about talking to God.
“You good, CeCe?” Danny asks, breaking me from my thoughts.
“Yeah.” I nudge him. “Of course.”
“You sure?”
I turn and look at him. “Thank you for loving Chloe the way she deserves to be loved.”
“Won the lottery with her. No need to thank me.”
I smile. “That’s true.”
“Damn right it is.” He winks. “Doesn’t hurt that she has an amazing A-S-S.”
We both start laughing.
“What did I miss?” Chloe asks.
