He nods, his small head moving erratically. “And then I tried to clean it with my feet.” He sneezes so loud, I can’t help but chuckle.
“Your mama says you’re feeling better. That’s good, right?”
He nods again. “I had a nose full of boogers. Still some there. Wanna see?”
I bust out a laugh. “I’m good, Benny. Thank you, though.”
“Did you know wombat poop is square?”
What is it with boys and poop? “I did not know that.”
“Do you know the colors of the rainbow?”
“I do.”
He raises his eyebrows expectantly.
“Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet—in that order.”
His bright eyes widen. “How do you know?”
“My sister taught me,” I say. “She said if you remember the name ROY G BIV, then you can remember the colors.”
“You have a sister?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t have a sister.”
I smile. “I know.”
“What’s her name?”
“Lucy.”
“Do you have brothers?” he asks, but it comes out bruvvas.
Nodding, I tell him, “I have five.”
“What are their names?”
“Lucas, Logan, Lincoln, Liam and Lachlan.”
“Leooooo,” he sings.
“Beeeeeenny,” I mimic.
He puts a finger to his lips. “Cute, little Mama’s sleeping.” Then he points the phone to a sleeping Mia on a cushion made to look like a rock. Before I can stop him, Benny’s yelling, “Wake up, Mama!”
I wince as Mia’s eyes snap open. “Oh my god.” She takes the phone from Benny. “How long was I out?”
“Less than a minute,” I tell her.
She sighs, then the phone shifts, and I can hear her kissing Benny, most likely on the forehead like she does every night. “Goodnight, Benny. Mama loves you.”
“Luhyoo, too,” he replies.
“No sneaking out tonight, okay, buddy? Mama’s got a lot of work to do.”
“Okay, Mama.”
Benny shows up on the screen again, and my lips pull up at the corners. “Goodnight, buddy.”
Benny lets out a giant yawn before saying, “G’night, Leo.”
Mia’s back on the screen, and I see her closing Benny’s bedroom door. She moves from there to her office. I’ve been on video calls with them so many times, I can make out the floor plan of their apartment. She sits down on the chair behind her desk before focusing on me. Tired eyes blink slowly, slowly. “Hey,” she says through a sigh.
“Hey.” I try to force a smile, but it’s hard when I see the deep frown marring her beauty. “Are you okay?”
She glances down, her shoulders rising with her deep inhale, and when she looks back up, her eyes are glazed with tears. “I’m so exhausted,” she says, trying to hold back a sob. I sit a little taller on the couch while she lets out a long, heavy breath. Shaking her head, she says, “I have so much work to do, and I can’t even keep my eyes open.”
“I’m sorry, Mia, I wish—”
“When Benny was sick, he was up, like, every hour, and I couldn’t get anything done. And Tammy’s been gone, and I had all this course work to submit, so I had to focus on that, and now I’m behind with my actual work. At least a week behind, and I’m so…” She trails off sighing and sets the phone down on the desk to where I can still see her, but her hands are free, and she uses those hands to extend the sleeve of her top and wipe at the tears flowing too fast, too free. “I’m so tired, and I have to get so much done, and I have tomorrow and the weekend to do it all because it’s due Monday.” She covers her eyes, her shoulders shaking with every sob. “I’m just overwhelmed,” she says, sucking in a breath before lowering her hands. “I’m sorry, that was so much to dump on you.”
My eyes track her every move, my heart heavy with sympathy and guilt and everything in between. “I’m sorry you’re going through this,” I say, my voice low. “I wish I could do something.”
She shakes her head. “It’s okay. It’s just… a slump, I guess.” She rubs her eyes before saying, “I think I just need to nap for like an hour, and then I’ll be fine. I just need to recharge.” She attempts a smile. “Call us tomorrow?”
“Of course,” I say through an exhale.
“Okay.” She hangs up, and I stare at the now-blank screen of my phone. For minutes, I just sit there, thinking about her and everything she has to do. Then I move to the kitchen counter and open one of the manuals the academy supplies us. I try to concentrate on the words written on