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The day progressed as Xander had wished. It was quiet, and only a load of two by fours were requested for the day after the holiday. Xander got right to work on the order so that it would be ready to load on July fifth. Bill closed the yard a bit early since there was no business and Xander hoped he would close it by noon the next day.
As Xander drove home, he thought about the only Fourth of July that he spent with Ava. They had had a horrible fight the night before. Well, mostly it was his fault. He treated her badly during his recovery from the attack by Liam. She packed her things and went home to her apartment. The next day he got out of bed miserable from a night without Ava. He got up, showered, shaved off the week-plus beard and paced the apartment in his towel. In the end, he went to her at her uncle’s house and took her home with him.
They made love, and later she pressed her body against the high-rise windows in his apartment watching the fireworks over the adjacent Hudson River. He had come into the room to see how sexy she looked pressed against the glass and his heart skipped a beat as that was how he'd been thinking about taking her for weeks. He smiled at the thought. He had wanted to press her back against that glass while he drove into her, but his injured ribs prevented him from it. He planned on it but never got the chance; he never would.
When he got home, his cousins were in their small wading pool splashing around. He waved to them and then went upstairs to turn on his air conditioner full blast. He pulled off his boots and jeans and slipped on a pair of shorts, then went to a pile of spiral notebooks he had stacked near his couch and selected the top one. He paged through it until he found a blank page, and began to write. When he was finished, he dated it and placed it back on the stack. He had been doing this for the past four years.
He put his head back and dozed off for a time until knocking at his door woke him up.
“Alex, can you please let me in?” Janelle’s muffled voice called.
“Yeah, give me a minute.” Xander shook the sleep out of his head and went to open the door.
“Why in the hell are you locking the door? It’s not midnight, you know.”
Xander gave her a sheepish grin. “Force of habit. I did grow up in Manhattan you know.”
“I need you to watch the kids for a little while. Billy has to go to the office, and I need to pick up some hot dog rolls from the store.”
“You forgot to get hot dog rolls? Why didn’t you get them when you went shopping yesterday?”
Janelle scowled at him. “You try shopping with two rambunctious kids nagging you and then tell me if you remember everything on your list.”
Xander smirked at her, “I have no problem when I take them with me.”
“Because you let them do whatever they want or you bribe them with ice cream. I can’t do that all the time.” Xander laughed because it was true.
“Do you want me to get the rolls for you?”
“I need to get a few other things, and it would be easier without the two munchkins. So can you watch them?”
“Sure. Where are they?”
“In the pool, so I need you to leave this icebox and watch them right now.”
Xander didn’t relish going out into the heat, but he loved those two kids and would do anything for them. So he went to the yard, sat by the wading pool and Jimmy immediately splashed him.
“Hey, boy. Don’t start something you can’t finish,” Xander said in his best cowboy voice.
Jimmy splashed him again, and Sophia joined the fun. Xander backed away from the pool and ran around the side of the house. He picked up the garden hose and watched them from the corner of his eye. Then he struck. He turned the handle on full force causing Jimmy and Sophia to climb out of the pool and run away.
They ran into Sophia’s doll house, and when they came back, Xander was stretched across the length of the pool bathing himself in the cool water. They protested until he started splashing them and they squeezed themselves in the pool with him. He played with their water toys while sitting cross-legged with them. When Janelle got back, they were still there in the tiny wading pool.
* * *
The next day, as usual, Xander woke up early for his morning run. As he ran through town, he saw signs of preparation on for the parade. They had set up barricades and tape so that the onlookers wouldn’t cross in front of the parade. Further, down by the river, he noticed a barge that would probably be where the firefighters would be shooting the fireworks.
When he got back to his apartment, he checked his phone, and there were three missed calls from his father. It was barely 6:00 AM and he quickly dialed his voicemail to listen to the first message. His father’s voice sounded panicked.
“Alexander, you’re going to have to come home immediately. Your mother had a dizzy spell this morning, and she passed out. They’re assessing her in the hospital, and she is asking for you. I know it’s a holiday tomorrow, but I need you to come home as soon as you can.”
He raced around his apartment, shoving clothing and toiletries into a bag. He tore off his running gear and took a quick shower; he pulled on jeans, a tank top, and his sneakers. Within eleven minutes, he was banging on Janelle’s door.
“Alex, what is it at this hour? You woke us,” but her voice trailed off as she saw the worried look on his face.
“Mom had a dizzy spell this morning and passed out. Dad called, and she is in the hospital asking for me. If I leave now, I can be there probably by 10:00 AM.”
Janelle hugged him. “Call me when you know something.”
