揧ou have failed as a parent.?
I chuckle, while Violet抯 shoes get kicked off again and she stands up, moving a few yards back from the table.
揗C Hammer is a singer,?she tells the boys. 揂nd this is the MC Hammer dance.?
She spreads her feet, bends her knees, and holds her arms out to the sides, wiggling her shoulders while shuffling her feet left to right and back again. In the middle of the third circuit, she jumps, crisscrossing her feet in front, then back again, before continuing the shuffle.
Spencer is impressed. Brayden . . . not so much.
揧eah, I抦 not doing whatever that is supposed to be.?
揥ise choice, Bray,?Aaron tells him. 揥ise choice.?
揑抣l do it.?Spencer shoves his chair back.
搾Atta boy.?Violet gives him a high five. Then she points at the rest of us. 揅hickens. All of you.?
揃ok-bok,?Spencer clucks, for good measure. Then the two of them take to the dance floor.
I stand up from the table and turn around to watch them, sipping my drink. For someone who has a hard time walking in a straight line, Violet moves surprisingly well. She gyrates her hips, shaking her sublime ass from side to side in steady, confident swivels.
My dick comes alive imagining how she could look like that while straddling me. How her hair would sway and her breasts would be right at mouth level梡erfect for licking and nibbling梐ll sorts of fun.
But then Vi varies the dance, introducing Spencer to the Roger Rabbit and the Running Man梐nd he just about doubles over from laughing so hard. When I see the way his face lights up, the sheer joy that Violet put there . . . I feel something else entirely.
There抯 a very specific kind of happiness when you walk through the door after a never-ending day. Your chest loosens and your shoulders lighten, and it抯 like your entire soul eases.
Because you know, at last, you抮e home.
That抯 how it feels watching Violet and Spencer right now. A soothing, exquisite contentment條ike those first steps through the door.
And isn抰 that fucking terrifying. It抯 been years since I felt anything close to it and . . . we all know how that turned out.
I toss back the remainder of my drink in one mouthful and sit down. Violet and Spencer are still laughing when they come back to the table.
I give them the applause they deserve. 揘ice moves.?
揑 told you I was good.?Violet curtsies quick and cute. And she doesn抰 trip梬hich is nearly as impressive as her dance moves. She scoops her purse off the table. 揑抦 going to run to the bathroom.?
揙kay.?
And yes, after she brushes by the back of my chair, I turn my head . . . and watch her go.
Clich?as hell? Sure梑ut I just can抰 help myself.
One chair over, Spencer takes a long swig of his Shirley Temple. Then he looks up at me, breathing hard.
揝he抯 fun.?
揝he is,?I agree.
揇o you think she could be our babysitter? She抯 a lot prettier than Aaron. And I bet she wouldn抰 say I look like a toe.?
I chuckle. 揤i抯 not a babysitter, Spence. She抯 a nurse.?
揟hat抯 even better. If I fall down the stairs or Rosie tries to get Mr. Malkovich again when he抯 delivering the mail梥he抣l know just what to do! You should ask her, Dad.?
揥e抣l see.?
I抦 the frigging GOAT at the 搘e抣l see?delivery. Honest tone, sincere expression . . . sometimes I even believe myself.
*
Dinner is served梥urf and turf for the adults, chicken tenders and fries for the kids. Aaron falls somewhere in the middle, eating his steak but passing his lobster tail to Mia because he抯 not a fan of seafood.
When Violet finishes her wine with dinner, I get us both another round from the bar. I抦 just sitting back down when Spencer points at a bird flying like a shadow in the darkening sky above the lake.
揌ey, look, it抯 a bald eagle!?
揟here抯 a nest by the high school too.?Violet says, resting her chin on her hand. 揑 saw it when I was running around the track the other day.?
揥hy do you run at the high school track??I ask. 揟here are some gorgeous running trails on the property right by your house. Why don抰 you jog there??
揇o you remember after the first week I started at the hospital I had to take the next week off??
At this point I抦 lucky if I remember what I had for breakfast this morning桰 don抰 even want to think about what fifty抯 going to look like.
揘o, I don抰 remember that.?
揥ell, I did. And it was because I had gone jogging on one of the trails by my house. A couple of miles into my run, I stepped on a ridiculously big rock that had no business being on the trail梐nd I twisted my ankle. Badly. I couldn抰 put any weight on it, so I sat on the side of the trail waiting for someone to come by and help me梑ut no one ever came. I ended up crawling back to my house, in the dark, and getting feasted on by mosquitoes. I swear every bloodsucker in this town has had a taste of me.?
And who could blame them?
揈ver since then I don抰 like to jog in the woods alone.?
Like a human crane, Spencer lowers a cherry from his Shirley Temple by the stem into his mouth. Then, chewing with his mouth open, he tells Violet, 揗y dad jogs too. Sometimes he leaves early for work so he can run to the hospital.?
Violet smiles at him warmly. 揑抳e noticed that.?
And I wonder, what else Violet has noticed about me?
揌ey, Dad, why don抰 you run with Violet??Brayden suggests. 揟hen you could run on the trails and she won抰 have to jog alone.?
揧eah,?my youngest concurs, 揳nd then, you know梚f things go good, you and Violet can be F-buddies.?
The Jack and Coke I hadn抰 quite finished swallowing goes spraying out of my mouth.
At the same time, Violet coughs, choking on her wine.
揥e could be what??I rasp.
Spencer blinks innocently.
揊un buddies. Mrs. Goober pairs us up into fun buddies every week so no one gets left out at recess.?
Oh.?I nod, clearing my throat. 揊un buddies, right, got it.?
I glance at Violet at the exact moment her gaze lands on me. And when our eyes meet梩here抯 this spark, a connection, that feels heated and sweet . . . and intimate.
揥hat抎 you think I meant??Spencer asks.
Brayden, who knows exactly what I thought Spence meant, tosses his head back and cackles.
揥ell . . . ?I scratch my eyebrow, trying to come up with something when the DJ announces, 揕adies and gentlemen, the dessert table is now open. Please help yourselves.?
Spencer抯 head whips around like a dog spotting a bouncing tennis ball.
While he and Brayden rush over to make the front of the line, I lean toward Violet, 揟hat was well-timed.?
揧ep.?She gives me a thumbs-up. 揝ugar saves the day.?
*
That抯 when the party really gets started.
After dinner, after dark, when all the torches and firepits have been lit and the music is loud and the dance floor is packed and laughter echoes all around. Aaron抯 dancing with his girlfriend and the boys are running around somewhere with Lainey抯 nieces梡robably down by the lake. Vi danced for a while with Callie and the bridesmaids and a few girls she knows from work who are here.
But now it抯 just the two of us. Sitting relaxed and comfortable at the table, while the glow of the candles paints pretty dancing shadows across Violet抯 face.
揝o, do you and your ex get along??she asks me.
I think it over for a minute before answering.
揧ou could say that. I mean, as long as we don抰 have to talk to each other or actually agree on anything梱eah梬e get along great.?
Violet chuckles. 揝orry. I shouldn抰 have asked.?