Page 67 of Tell Me I'm Enough

“The boys have been bugging me for days to call you, and we had a little bit of time this morning before we have to head out, so I thought I’d let them talk to you until we have to leave.”

I nod. “Thanks, Rose.”

She hands them the phone, and they instantly start fighting over who gets to hold it.

“Hey! Boys. Can I at least get a hello before I have to play referee from four states away?”

“What’s a state?” Asher asks, still trying to get the phone from Easton.

I roll my eyes, laughing. “Okay, okay, look. Easton, you have the phone now, and then you’ll both take turns holding it, okay?”

“Fine,” they both groan.

Easton takes the phone upstairs into their room and props it up on a toy so I can see them both.

“Hey Mase!” Asher screams, popping his head into the screen, covering most of the camera.

“Dude! Move your big head back a little. You’re so close, I can see your brain.”

They both laugh, and Asher moves back, putting them both into view now.

“I miss you, Mase,” Easton says. “When do you come back?”

“I miss y’all too. I’ll be back for Christmas, okay?”

“How long is that?” Asher asks.

“Um, not too much longer, buddy. It’ll be here before you know it.”

“Are you bringing us gifts?”

“What kind of brother would I be if I didn’t?”

“Not a good one,” Easton mumbles from the side of the screen, already distracted, playing with a toy. “I want more superheroes.”

He starts showing me all the ones in his collection and which ones he still wants. I try to jot them down in my notes app on my phone so I don’t forget.

I always make sure to keep a list of all their current obsessions; I’ve been doing it since they could roll over and reach for things.

Asher was so obsessed with remotes as a baby that I would go and buy him random ones from the store for him to play with. And they couldn’t be toy ones; they had to be the real deal, or he wouldn’t touch them. Easton’s first obsession was monster trucks after I had to take him to the dentist when he was little, and they had them in the waiting room. He instantly became obsessed. He even cried the whole way home until I stopped by the store and got him five. He was only two and already had me wrapped around his finger.

They both always have, though.

“I want a Xbox!” Asher shouts.

“An Xbox?” I ask, shocked. “What do you know about video games, boy?”

“Everyone at school plays,” he pouts.

“You’re in kindergarten. What is going on? When I was in kindergarten, I was playing outside all day and making girls’ paper rings with candy wrappers.”

“Ew, girls are nasty.”

I throw my head back, laughing. “Well…yeah, some are…but not all.”

“Yeah, huh,” Asher argues. “They have cooties!”

I shake my head, still smiling. I miss these boys so much. I miss their chaotic energy and watching them grow. It seems like that’s happening way faster since I’ve been away at college, and I hate it.