Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88290 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88290 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
I saw it, Sam definitely saw it, and Kola shot the guy a look of how dare! Thomas, who had gone to the bathroom, did not see it or he would have said something to the man who was probably younger than him, more Sam’s age.
“I need brain bleach,” Kola groaned.
“See? I still got game,” Regina assured her grandson with a waggle of her eyebrows.
“No, just no,” Sam whined as Kola pressed his face into his hand.
Jake rubbed his back to try and soothe away the horror.
“What did I miss?” Thomas asked when he reached the table.
It was a lovely dinner, and I enjoyed myself immensely. When the check came and Hannah put her black American Express there, Sam thought it was Aaron’s, but I patted his thigh under the table and he didn’t say a word. When we were leaving, I explained quickly that yes, it was tied to him, but she paid off what she charged.
“You’re right,” he told me as we all stood waiting for the valet to bring our cars, “she’s not a child anymore, and neither is Kola. It’s hard to treat them differently when you still make dentist appointments for your son and you have to go to the doctor with your daughter because she never remembers her own symptoms and has to hold your hand if she needs a shot.”
“You don’t like shots either,” I reminded him.
“Yes, but I don’t need to hold your hand,” he argued.
“And yet, somehow, when you got home from getting your last Covid booster, didn’t it feel better after I kissed it?”
“Well, I always like being kissed.”
I arched an eyebrow.
“Fine,” he grumbled, and he grunted when I leaned up and kissed him under his jaw.
“Oh, B, nice choice on the color,” Kola told her when her new car was brought up.
“Thank you, brother,” she said playfully, clearly pleased that he liked it. Some things never changed. Whenever Kola complimented her on anything, she rolled around in his attention like a cat with catnip.
“I call shotgun,” he said, bolting to the SUV, and when the guy opened the door for him, he thanked him and got in.
Before she got in, Hannah walked around her car, and even got down on her hands and knees and looked underneath. The valet smiled at the other people waiting, and since it was taking a few minutes, everyone’s smiles got a bit awkward and strained. It had to be done, though, and she had warned the guy it was going to happen.
Once she was done, she gave the valet a card to pay for all three cars and tipped as well, in cash, so they wouldn’t have to wait for their money. It was very thoughtful.
Her grandfather was very impressed, which was the point.
Finally getting into her vehicle, she ended up with Harper and Jake in the car as well, and I was sure, as she pulled away, that she was explaining to them how she’d bought the car so she could drive them all around with her. It made my heart happy that she loved her brother so much, and his friends, and they all loved her back just as much. Sam and I would not be around forever, but it was good to know that she’d have Kola when we weren’t. Sam had a good relationship with his siblings, but it wasn’t nearly as close as Hannah and Kola’s was. And it was different, I knew, because we lived in a completely changed world after Covid and even before with my kids having spent a lot more time inside than outside growing up, and the time spent together that forged a new dynamic.
Maybe I was wrong about it all, but I was just happy that I could hear my daughter squeal with happiness before she got in the car.
Sam and I hugged Regina and Thomas goodbye, and then finally we were off too after Sam relieved the guy from holding my door and got it for me.
“I could have gotten in, and you could have already started the car,” I told my husband.
“No,” he said, as we caught up easily to the kids as he drove so much faster, and of course, they were pushing buttons in the car and seeing what everything did. “I always hold the door so I get the kiss once you’re in.”
I grinned at him.
“I like these little routines of ours. I don’t ever want to change them.”
And I understood, I was the same.
That’s it, all. Have a wonderful rest of August, and I will see you in September.
SEPTEMBER 2023
Hello, all, and welcome to He Said, he said. It’s September, which is sort of blowing my mind, because we’re in the “ber” months already and I have no idea where the summer went. That’s not to say that the hot weather has left. It’s eighty-three today, and it doesn’t look as though it’s going to be changing drastically anytime soon. But maybe that’s the point of October, so you’re really happy when it finally shows up.