She takes pity on me and pulls a pair of science goggles out ofa drawer. “Have at it, Dr. Frankenstein.”
“I’ll be fine.” As I’m saying this, tears are starting to run down my face, and she has half an onion left to go. I reluctantly take the goggles and put them on, knowing I look ridiculous.
“You’re home early,” she says.
“Traffic was good.” I’m not about to admit that seeing her car in front gave me a little bit of a thrill. This morning, I had to leave as soon as she arrived. “Where are the rascals?”
“Playing foosball in the den. Wyatt has been so patient with Callie. He deserves an extra helping of chocolate pudding.” She smiles, knowing how much I love her chocolate pudding dessert. It might be my favorite thing she makes.
“You made chocolate pudding? What’s the occasion?”
“Wyatt lost a tooth.”
“Another incisor?” Every time Wyatt loses a tooth, I find myself looking up the children’s tooth chart to make sure it’s normal for his age. I have this deep-seated fear that maybe he just ate something extra sticky and decided to wiggle it out. I’m itching to pull out my phone right now and check.
Rosalie has no such fears. She treats things falling out of people’s mouths like a major holiday.
“Yeah, it’s the other incisor on the top. Toothless, handsome boy. So, um…” Whatever she’s about to ask me doesn’t come out because, at that moment, we’re discovered.
“Dad!” The kids run at me for hugs, and Callie steals the goggles off my face, along with what feels like a chunk of my hair. And then they’re gone again.
“Ow.”
Rosalie puts down her knife, silences the music, and comes over to smooth out the side of my head like I’m one of the kids. She smells like sunscreen and sunshine. Onions, too, but I don’t mind it.
“I probably have lines carved into my face from those goggles anyway,” I murmur.
“You do.” But she stops herself from smoothing those out too, taking her hands back and cupping them together under her chin. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have touched you.”
“Because of your onion hands?”
Her face reddens and she turns back to her task. “Yeah. Because of my onion hands. Will you grab a couple of freezer bags out of the drawer? I’m not going to use all these right now.”
“Sure.” I get out a box of quart-sized bags and pull two bags out, handing them to her. “What were you going to ask me?”
Wyatt runs back in, grabs a sheet of paper off the back of the printer, and runs back out.
Whatever the question is, she obviously doesn’t want him to overhear, so I move in closer, holding one of the bags open for her while she scoops chopped onion into it. My eyes burn, but I just keep them closed as much as I can until the onions are sealed in the bags.
“What did he do this time?” I whisper.
“He said your tooth fairy gives out twenty bucks a tooth? I thought it was a dollar.”
“He was with Esther when he lost his last one.”
“Ah.”
“She also left him a big bag of candy.”
“Oh, Liam. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. What did he say to you? I thought I’d explained that it was the tooth fairy’s birthday last time and she’d had too much to drink.”
Rosalie laughs. “You did not.”
“Well, not the drinking part, but I did tell him it was the tooth fairy’s birthday celebration.”
“You’re a smart man. All Wyatt said was that last time he got twenty bucks for his tooth. I think you’ll be fine going back to a dollar.”