A few more shots and Violet stopped the show. “You need to be in the pictures too, Uncle Aiden.”

I thought he’d refuse, but he spun his chair around and held the phone out to take a selfie. We crowded behind him until all of our faces were in the shot. He managed to get one with all of us smiling among all the silly-face shots—mostly from Violet.

“Okay.” I took Violet’s hand. “Let’s let him get back to work. I brought some craft kits home from the library. Want to see what we can make?”

“Sure!”

“You gonna have lunch with me, Petal?” Aiden asked before we left the office.

“Sammiches. Right, Aunt Kate?”

“That’s the plan.” I smiled at Aiden on the way out. He returned it, but I didn’t miss the loss in his eyes. He wanted to come with us, make some crafts, and help prepare sandwiches.

I’d seen that look more often. When I picked up the boys from practice when both Jason and Sophie were working. When I let him know I was running errands on the weekend. When I went to bed and he stayed up late.

He claimed that his efforts would get him to a place where he could have a life, not that he’d described it like that. What would our life look like in another four years? And would I be okay if it looked the same?

Aiden

My mind was burned out from creating three different restructuring models to present to the board, all while keeping Grams’s anticipated arguments in mind. All three of the models didn’t include the founder of the company sticking around to make progress a pain in the ass.

It was late. Kate had to work in the morning. I had to work in the morning, and for the first time, I was considering skipping my morning workout. But if I did that, sitting at my desk would aggravate my back and make my sciatica flare up. Because that was what happened when I worked so damn much.

Violet had left hours ago. Kate had brought me supper, and I’d plugged through the rest of the evening. I left the office and slogged upstairs.

Kate was on the couch, her face lit by the light flickering from the TV. When she noticed me, she shut it off. She might be in her fluffy pajama pants and her sleep shirt, but I forgot about my fatigue when my gaze stuck on her pert nipples poking through the shirt.

Her breathing picked up. She’d noticed.

“You didn’t have to wait up,” I said as I slumped in the recliner. I was glad she had. I’d been home all damn day and hardly seen her.

“I know it’s late, but I thought we should finish the conversation we started the last time Violet was here.”