“You know how to do that?”
“Sure I do.”
“That sounds wonderful.” The tears are now gone, replaced with an eager grin. “When?”
“How about the next time you spend the night?”
“You’ll still be around?”
Presley sucks in a breath, snapping her head to Winnie. “Whitney.” She uses her formal name, which causes the little girl to wrinkle her nose. “I thought we talked about this. Finn’s going to be around a lot, even staying the night sometimes.”
“Are you still okay with that?” I ask cautiously, not sure what will happen if she says no. Presley and I never discussed the possibility of her not approving.
“So you’re staying?”
“Where would I go?”
“Come here.” Presley reaches out, and Winnie crawls out of her seat and into Presley’s lap. “Let me try to explain this again. Finn’s going to be spending a lot of nights with us. He still has a job and his school, but when he’s able, he’ll be here. I can’t promise it will be every single time, but it will be often.”
I sit in the vacated chair and reach over to hold Presley’s hand. “When you asked where I was going? I’m not going anywhere.”
“Are you going to keep kissing Aunt Presley?”
Wait? What the hell? How did the subject change at lightning speed?
Presley starts to giggle and buries her face into Winnie’s hair.
“I hope so,” I answer honestly, wondering what the hell she’ll think of next.
“Randy tries to kiss me on the mouth all the time, but I run from him. Kissing is gross.”
“Who the hell is Randy?” I growl.
“He’s an adorable boy in her camp,” Presley informs me, still giggling.
“Tell this Randy boy to keep his lips to his damn self! Do Jeff and Johnny know about this?”
“Oh yeah, I tell my grandpa all the time, and he laughs at me. Uncle Johnny’s face always turns red, and he looks sick.”
“Okay, that’s enough. Go get your shoes and socks. We’re going to be late. We can’t be late on your last day of summer camp.” Presley puts her on the floor, and she scampers off.
“I feel dizzy. Did you put LSD in this coffee? Did we just have three completely different conversations in the span of four minutes? One that started with crying and ended with her being chased by boys?”
“Yes, welcome to life with kids. This happens often. Not too late to change your mind about staying with the Chamber girls on Wednesday and Thursday nights.”
“You trying to get rid of me already?”
She slides out of her chair and into my lap, wrapping her arms around my shoulder. “Oh no, just letting you know what you’re in for. You’ve only been here for two mornings. This is pretty tame. Wait until she wakes up grumpy and argues that going to daycare is a form of punishment. Those are always fun.”
“You’re kidding me?”
“Nope, it doesn’t happen often, but when it does, she almost sways me. Then I remember who?
?s the adult and who’s the child.”
“I have a whole new appreciation for parenting. Maybe I’ll invite my parents to lunch on Sunday, so I can tell them how thankful I am they put up with me.”
“That’s a good idea. But for now, maybe you should kiss me before we’re interrupted.” She starts to nibble on my neck.