He heard her open up the refrigerator, heard the sound of a drawer opening, the jingle of utensils hitting each other. A moment later, Amanda said, “Mm, wow, this is really good. You did a great job on this macaroni salad.”
Stealing a glance down his hallway, he hoped that didn’t carry to Willow.
“Is it a hippo?” Alison finally guessed.
“Yes, it’s a hippo.”
“He’s weird looking,” she stated.
“I agree.”
“Why’d you buy this?” she asked, tilting it sideways. “Was it on sale?”
To change the course of the conversation, Ethan suddenly said, “Guess what I did today?”
“What?” she asked, glancing up at him.
“I ordered you a present,” he told her with a smile.
Her whole face brightened. “You did? You mean like a Christmas present, or the kind I can have now?”
“You can have it as soon as it gets here.”
“What did you get me?” Jackson asked, eyes wide.
“I… got you a present too, but you’ll have to wait until it gets here to find out what it is.”
“No fair!”
Alison ran over to him and hugged his leg. “Thanks, Daddy.”
“You’re welcome, honey,” he said, reaching down to pat her on the head since he was still holding Caleb. Judging by his lack of movement, he was also guessing Caleb had fallen asleep.
Amanda came back in and handed Jackson a cup half full of milk. “Don’t forget you’re picking up the cake and the balloons,” Amanda reminded Ethan.
He promised he wouldn’t forget and Alison began enthusing about how excited she was for cake, and how she was going to eat all of the frosting. Jackson, who didn’t even like frosting, argued that he was going to eat it all, then Alison retired to the couch again. After a moment, she grabbed a phone off the edge of the couch and began flipping through it.
He frowned slightly; Alison didn’t have a phone, and his was in his pocket. Was that Amanda’s phone?
“Who are these people?” she asked, frowning at the screen.
Holy shit, she had to be looking through Willow’s phone.
“Put that down please,” he said, shifting and asking Amanda to see if Caleb was awake, more to distract her from looking at what Alison had than anything.
“I want a turtle necklace!” she said, eyes lighting up as she looked at the screen. When she looked at him, his expression was less than enthused, so she pulled a long face but slammed the phone down on the end table.
Thank God Willow’s phone case was a simple black one that could pass for his.
“What are you talking about?” Amanda asked, frowning.
“My arm is falling asleep,” Ethan lied, shifting again. “Would you mind taking him?”
Turtle necklace momentarily forgotten, Amanda picked Caleb up. He popped his head up for a moment, sleepy-eyed, his hair sticking up where it had been pressed against Ethan’s shoulder. Then his head drifted back to her shoulder and he was asleep.
Amanda shifted and heaved a tired sigh. “All right, we need to get out of here. Say goodbye to Dad, we need to get you little monsters to bed.”
Alison came running over first, trailed by Jackson, once he put his cup down on the coffee table. Ethan knelt down and said his goodbyes, giving hugs and kisses, promising not to forget the birthday cake when Alison reminded him again.