“Because I nearly died there! What’s the matter with you? Didn’t anyone tell you?”

“Sorry,” Tyler said, crestfallen. “I’ll just be in my room.”

He quietly left the kitchen.

Hunter whispered to Archie, unfortunately too loudly, “See? You should’ve taken us instead.”

“Little boy!” Sharon said in a huff. “Archie! Do something!”

Hunter shrugged his shoulders and ran to his room. I was just standing there, so awfully out of place.

“What would you like me to do, Sharon? Cane them? They’re just kids.”

“I should go,” I said, and I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

“Wait,” she said. “Tell me something, Holly. Were the boys this horribly behaved for you?”

I didn’t know what to say, and I sure didn’t want to get drawn into a family dispute.

“This really isn’t my business, but I think it might help if you tried to understand that children don’t always pick up the nuances of adult conversation. They just don’t. Tyler probably already forgot that you were so sick. Last week seems like a really long time ago to him, but it’s like five minutes to you,” I said. “And Hunter still can’t understand why he and his brother didn’t get to go on the trip to Bermuda. He was actually very disappointed. He thought the whole family should celebrate together.”

“I agree with Holly,” Archie said. “Try not to have such a short fuse, babe. Kids just aren’t wired like adults. They have a different worldview. It’s not personal. It’s just juvenile.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Look, I never had kids! What do you expect from me?”

“Kindness,” Archie said. “Kindness and understanding.”

“Um, I left y’all a pot roast with roasted potatoes and carrots on the stove. I’ll see y’all later.”

I started walking out, and Archie followed me to the door.

“Holly, thank you for everything. Sharon is just overwhelmed. And wait, I have to give you money. Do you have receipts?”

“Forget it, Archie. Call it a wedding gift. Let me know if I can do anything, okay?”

I left and closed the door quietly behind me. I didn’t even make eye contact with him. My intention was to leave them alone until they came to me. There was no more reason for me to cook for them or to do much else for the boys unless asked. And I felt like they probably needed some time alone to adjust to living together. It sure didn’t look like they were off to a great start.

Well, it didn’t take twenty-four hours for the boys to come banging on our door. They must’ve just come home from school.

“Hi guys! What’s up?”

“You’re not going to believe this,” Tyler said.

“Yeah, you’re not going to believe this,” Hunter said.