Page 98 of You Shouldn't Have Come Here

“I missed you two so much.” I kissed them on their cheeks and foreheads.

“Not as much as we missed you.” Jacob giggled.

“Oh, is that so?” I released them and gave my little lanky boy a poke in his belly. He giggled louder.

“It’s true, Mom. We missed you a million times more,” Margot said with a smirk.

“I don’t know about that. I thought about you two every minute of every day I was gone.” I stood, placing a hand on my hip.

“Well, we thought about you every second,” Margot quipped, copying my stance.

She was too clever for her own good, and she reminded me of myself. She too was a little different.

I shook my head and smiled. “Who wants pizza?”

“I do. I do. I do.” Jacob and Margot said in unison. They danced around one another. Daniel wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into him.

“I’m so happy to be home. I feel like me again. Complete. Balanced.”

He kissed my forehead and hugged me a little tighter.

“Can I come with you next time you go on a retreat?” Margot asked. She clasped her hands together and followed it with a “Please, please, please.”

The corner of my lip perked up. “Maybe when you’re a little older.”

Margot cheered and hopped around on two feet, then one, then two again. Jacob followed suit, always copying his older sister.

“I’m going to call Lou’s and order a pizza,” Daniel said, and he disappeared into the kitchen.

“I get to go on Mommy’s retreat,” Margot repeated over and over as she jumped around.

I smiled wide, and all of a sudden—I felt it.

Right in the center of my back.

An itch.