Page 82 of Tides and Tidings

“You better get up there.” He nodded towards the stairs.

“Is our plan still in place?”

He knew exactly what I was talking about and nodded in response.

I broke away from his hug and clapped. A Barbie Jeep, time with her favorite people, pizza, Christmas tree decorating, and now matching pajamas for all three of us before we watched a movie—this was going to be the best day of Wren’s life.

Charlie

Blythe and Wren just went upstairs to get ready for bed, so I knew I had fifteen minutes or so to set up our living room.

The first step is the foam pads we use for camping from the garage. I threw those in the living room.

Next up, bedrooms to gather all the pillows I could find. As I found them, they were chucked down the stairs.

Finally, I grabbed all the blankets from the closet in our guest bedroom.

My final stop was in the bedroom to grab my matching pajamas. Blythe had ordered three sets a few weeks ago. She insisted that we needed to match, so she hatched a sneaky plan to surprise Wren. She and Wren would get into her pajamas first, and then I would. Our kid was going to lose her marbles when she saw we all matched.

I moved the tables around to give us more space. I placed the pads down and got to work on making it cozy. As I was putting the pillows on top of the blankets, I couldn’t help but remember what Wren said to Blythe. She thought of her as a mom.

If I wanted a sign from the universe, this was surely it. I ran upstairs for one final touch for this evening and found Wren in her room in her new pajamas. She was admiring herself in the mirror.

“Whatcha doin’?”

The poor thing was so lost in her world that she jumped.

“Oh!” Her shock quickly turned into a smile. “Hi, Daddy. Look at the new pajamas Birdie got me!”

“Those are beautiful!” I complimented her.

“Thank you.”

“Do you need Birdie?” She went to sit on her bed with a book.

I shook my head. “No, I just had to come get something.”

“What?” My kid was a nosey one.

“None of your business.” I gave her a playful side-eye.

“Fine.” She leaned back against her headboard and opened her book. “Where are my pillows?”

Shit.

“I don’t know.”

“You’re lying.” Wren challenged.

“Am not.”

“Are too.” She glanced down. “What’s in your hand?”

The child was observant.

“A surprise.”

Her eyes went wide. “Another surprise?”