Page 12

Odette

I couldn’t help the pacing in my kitchen as I waited for Lux’s car to pull up into the drive.

This was the first time she’d been away from home for a stretch of time this long, and I was positively crawling out of my skin to have my baby back under my roof for the first time since she left for college.

She decided to go skiing with some friends over Thanksgiving, and as much as Murphy and I wanted to beg her to come home and spend time with her parents, we knew she needed to spread her wings and make a life for herself.

“I can feel your anxiety.” Murphy's voice hit the tender spot behind my ear that still caused my body to go on high-alert and goosebumps to rise over my skin, even after all these years. “Later, baby.” He kissed the tender spot, and I had to suppress a moan.

“I know what you’re doing,” I scolded.

“And what’s that?”

“Trying to distract me. She should have been here by now.”

Murphy rolled his eyes. “She’s nineteen; she’s probably just running late.”

I couldn’t help but look at him in confusion. How dare he act like he wasn’t the one who booked us a hotel after we dropped her off for college for an entire week—not just the weekend, like we had originally agreed on in case she needed us.

She didn’t .

“You’re oddly calm.”

“Don’t let him fool you, Ma; he was just checking that tracker app he installed on her phone.

” Lennon’s voice called from behind me as he stood eating a sandwich, even though dinner would be ready as soon as Lux got here.

My eleven-year-old, almost twelve-year-old, stood at an alarming five foot eight already, and I knew I was going to be in some serious trouble with him.

His looks took after his dad, and girls were already swooning .

“Tracker app?” I had no idea what my son was talking about, and a quick glance at my husband had me noticing his red cheeks.

“That was our secret, bud. Did you forget?”

At least he had the decency to look a little ashamed.

“Oops” was Lennon’s only response as he shoved the last half of his sandwich into his mouth in one bite.

“Do we have to have a discussion about boundaries, Murph?”

“Boundaries?” he scoffed.

“She’s nineteen… We shouldn’t be tracking her.”

“You refused to let us move close to her school, so this is my compromise, Odette. Besides, I don’t check it all the time.”

“Only every morning and night.” Lennon had no problem outing his father for his actions.

“Murph,” I started to scold but was met by tires turning into the driveway and all thoughts of Lux’s invasion of privacy were shoved to the back of mind. I couldn’t wait to wrap my hands around my daughter, and I was out the front door before she even had the car turned off.

“Mom!” She met my excitement with her own as I threw open her car door and she tossed herself into my awaiting arms. “Dad! Lennon!” She laughed as they joined us outside. “I missed you guys!”

We stood out there, hugging for what one would probably consider a touch too long, but I couldn’t find it in me to care one bit.

A grumbling stomach broke up the peace of the moment, and Lennon’s muffled voice muttered out, “I’m starving.”

I couldn’t help but laugh as we untangled ourselves from each other, and I noticed Murphy had tears in his eyes, just like I did.

“It smells like Dad’s famous grilled cheese in here,” Lux pointed out as we made our way inside.

She made her way to the stove and uncovered the tomato soup that Murphy always made to go with it.

“I knew it!” Her eyes were light and sparkling, and I knew what that meant.

.. She looked like something brought her to another dimension of life.

Love.

“She looks good, but there’s something different about her...” Murphy said as we watched Lux bustle around the kitchen like she hadn’t been gone for months.

“She’s in love, Murph.”

He whipped his head to me as if the words I said clicked everything into place.

“She looks different because she’s in love.”

“That’s not possible. She’s our little girl.” He moved in front of me, so he was openly gaping at Lux now as if he was seeing her for the first time.

“She’ll always be our little girl, even if she’s growing up.” I reaffirmed while leaning back into him and giving him a squeeze around the waist. His misty eyes tracked her while she was talking to Lennon and laughing in the kitchen and he turned back to me and mouthed the words,

“Always.”

The end.