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“Mommy too?”

“Nope.”

Blaire looks at me. “No?”

“No.”

I stand and hold my hand out to her.

She takes it, and I pull her to her feet.

“You're off duty.”

Her eyebrows lift. “Simon—”

“I got him.”

“You just got home.”

“And you've had him all day.” I lean down and kiss her forehead. “Go upstairs. Take a bath. Read. Watch something nobody under the age of five would enjoy. Stare at a wall. I don't care.”

Theo looks up. “Mommy's having a time-out?”

Blaire snorts. “No.”

“Yes,” I say. “Mommy's having a very special grown-up time-out.”

“Because she was bad?”

“No. Because you were driving her insane.”

“Simon.”

“What?”

She smacks my arm. “Go clean the blocks.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

I scoop Theo up.

He immediately hooks his arms around my neck.

“Outside after?” I ask him.

His entire face changes. “Outside?”

“After the blocks are picked up.” I pick him up and head towards the disaster zone formerly known as his bedroom.

Behind me, Blaire calls, “And he cleans up the blocks, Simon! Don't do it for him!”

Theo leans close to my ear. “I can pick them up fast.”

“I bet you can.”

“Then outside?”

“Then outside.”