Joke’s on You by Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,22
okay?”
Please don’t be puking. Please don’t be puking.
“Yeah,” she sniffled. “Listen, I was about to call…” She trailed off at the sound of Asa puking and crying. “What’s that?”
“That’s Asa throwing up in his tub of cheese balls.” I sighed. “I’m going to have to cancel on you. I’m so sorry.”
She sighed too. “That’s life, Booth. Things don’t always work out like they’re supposed to. Especially with little ones.”
She had that right.
“Fuck,” I said as I saw the tub about to slip again in my rearview mirror.
I grabbed it just in time.
Sadly, the moment that I did, it was with my hand practically shoving down into the tub, burying my hand into the hot vomit and cheese balls.
I felt my lunch start to rise and managed to get my window down just in time to let my own stomach contents fly.
“Oh, boy,” I heard Dillan say. “I’ll be right over.”
Then she hung up, without once giving me the chance to tell her that I didn’t need her.
I just closed my eyes and prayed that I made it home without puking all over the truck’s cab.
Which I did.
Barely.
If ‘by the skin of your teeth’ was a thing, that would’ve been how close I’d come to puking everywhere.
Because right as we pulled into the driveway, Asa had declared he was about to puke again.
And just as I got the tub back on his lap, he’d thrown up into it… all over my hand.
Warm puke slid down my arm and coated my hand, and that’s when I started to dry heave.
The only thing that saved me, literally, was that my window was still down.
Finally able to stand it long enough to get out, I made sure that Asa had a good hold on the tub, and quickly bailed out of the truck.
I made it to the water hose and closed my eyes as I sprayed my hand clean.
Only when I could feel it all gone did I open my eyes to make sure that I got it all.
“Daddy, I need to go potty!” Asa cried.
Sometimes being a parent was hard.
So hard.
Because all I wanted to do right then was put a cold compress on my face.
But I couldn’t leave my kid to fend for himself.
Pulling up my big boy underwear, I flicked off the hose and jogged back to my truck.
I found Asa already out of his seat, holding his tub of cheese balls.
After grabbing my kid around the waist, I gently put him on the grass beside my truck.
“Can you get in by yourself?” I asked, glancing back at the truck to make sure that I didn’t have a mess to clean up.
“Yes,” Asa said. “I’m hungry.”
I closed my eyes, tilted my head back on my shoulders, and started to laugh.
Which was how Dillan found us when she pulled up to the curb in front of my duplex.
She got out, staring at me warily.
Her eyes went from me to Asa and back as if she was looking for something.
“You’re both clean,” she said as she stared.
I snorted.
“We are,” I agreed. “Asa managed to puke all in his cheese balls.” I pointed at the tub. “Don’t look in it.”
She grinned as she walked up to us.
“Do you need help?” she asked.
I gestured to the car. “I’m going to find the lid for that and toss it into the trash. I was okay until he practically puked on me. And the smell… it’s bad.”
Asa picked up his cheese balls tub, and I shook my head.
“No, buddy,” I said. “Leave that. We’ll find you a bowl once we get inside.”
He reluctantly put it back down again.
“I really wanted those cheese balls.” He sighed.
Then he and Dillan walked together to the front door, Asa talking quietly to my girl.
My girl?
When had I started thinking of her like that?
It definitely was within the last couple of days.
Then again, a lot had changed.
At least on my end, anyway.
There was no more denying anything.
Dillan, in all her stubborn glory, was mine. She always had been. Ever since the first time that I saw her.
Obstacle after obstacle was tossed in our way, only for us to claw our way over every single one.
We were now whole on the other side, and I was going to make it to where we didn’t have to fight like that ever again.
After making a cursory cleanup of my truck with a package of baby wipes that I kept in the truck just in case, I rolled all of the windows down to air it