relatively in place and let him wave the balloon man over.
The man smiled at Mattias and me before zeroing in on Sophie. “How about a crown for the little princess?” He was already in the process of filling a pink balloon with air.
She bounced in her seat. “Can I have a dog? I want a dog.”
Pink could lead to a meltdown. I’d never figured out why, but Sophie couldn’t stand the color. She didn’t want it anywhere near her, typically throwing a fit of epic proportions if someone gave her a pink anything. I started to tell the balloon man that maybe pink wasn’t the best color, but Mattias stopped me with a big hand enveloping mine. I shot my gaze up to meet his.
He shook his head. “Let her tell him,” he mouthed at me. He didn’t even know what I was about to say to the man, but he must have sensed my intent.
I bit down on my tongue. Maybe he was right. I couldn’t always do everything for her. Someday, I would have to let go. She was already eleven years old, not to mention fiercely independent. She wanted to do everything she could by herself. She wanted to be as grown-up as her older sisters. She was starting to discover her wings; I needed to let her fly, even if sometimes she might fall.
The balloon man winked at her. “A dog it is, then.” In no time, he was twisting the pink thing into shape.
“Not pink. No pink.” Sophie’s tone bordered on temper tantrum, and my blood pressure started to rise.
Mattias squeezed my hand.
“Not pink?” the balloon man repeated. In a smooth move, he shoved his half-finished project into the bag slung over his shoulder and took out a plastic bag filled with balloons of every color imaginable. “Tell me what color you want, then.”
“Purple,” she said emphatically, surprising the heck out of me. Purple was often her second most dreaded color. But she grinned up at Mattias and plucked at her Storm jersey. “He needs to match,” she explained.
“Good call,” Mattias said. “That’ll make him look like he belongs with us.”
With us . The way he said it made it sound like there was an us , Mattias included.
“Can you get me a real puppy, Bergy?” she asked, all sunshine and innocence.
“I think you’ll have to ask your mom about that,” he replied, cleanly deflecting her question so he wouldn’t end up as either the bad guy or the hero.
“Mom?” she asked, and her sisters chimed in with promises of how they’d be the ones to feed and water and walk and wash, all of which they’d tried leveraging against me time and again.
“We’ll talk about it later,” I said as the waiter came over to take our orders.
The balloon man finished her dog. He stuck around until the waiter was done, so he could make her a matching purple crown even though she hadn’t asked for it. They both walked away around the same time, and Sophie was grinning from ear to ear with her crown on her head and her balloon dog tucked in beside her on the bench.
“What’s his name?” Mattias asked, angling his head in the balloon dog’s direction.
“Levi,” Sophie said emphatically.
He let out a silent chuckle, one I could feel rather than hear, and I fell for him a little harder.
THE INSTANT HE parked in my driveway, all four of my girls barreled out of his SUV and rushed straight for the door.
“Kissy-kissy time,” Evie said in a sing-song voice amid their chorus of giggles, and I let out a groan.
Zoe took her keys out of her pocket and let them in, and then Mattias and I were alone for the first time. She slammed the door closed behind them. Within seconds, I saw the curtains flutter. Which meant they were peeking out at us.
“They meant to say thank you,” I said on a sigh. I turned to find him staring at me with those intense blue-gray eyes. They should have frozen me, like icicles boring into me, but there was so much heat in them I burned instead. I couldn’t look in those eyes very long or I’d melt into his floorboard. I hurried
The man smiled at Mattias and me before zeroing in on Sophie. “How about a crown for the little princess?” He was already in the process of filling a pink balloon with air.
She bounced in her seat. “Can I have a dog? I want a dog.”
Pink could lead to a meltdown. I’d never figured out why, but Sophie couldn’t stand the color. She didn’t want it anywhere near her, typically throwing a fit of epic proportions if someone gave her a pink anything. I started to tell the balloon man that maybe pink wasn’t the best color, but Mattias stopped me with a big hand enveloping mine. I shot my gaze up to meet his.
He shook his head. “Let her tell him,” he mouthed at me. He didn’t even know what I was about to say to the man, but he must have sensed my intent.
I bit down on my tongue. Maybe he was right. I couldn’t always do everything for her. Someday, I would have to let go. She was already eleven years old, not to mention fiercely independent. She wanted to do everything she could by herself. She wanted to be as grown-up as her older sisters. She was starting to discover her wings; I needed to let her fly, even if sometimes she might fall.
The balloon man winked at her. “A dog it is, then.” In no time, he was twisting the pink thing into shape.
“Not pink. No pink.” Sophie’s tone bordered on temper tantrum, and my blood pressure started to rise.
Mattias squeezed my hand.
“Not pink?” the balloon man repeated. In a smooth move, he shoved his half-finished project into the bag slung over his shoulder and took out a plastic bag filled with balloons of every color imaginable. “Tell me what color you want, then.”
“Purple,” she said emphatically, surprising the heck out of me. Purple was often her second most dreaded color. But she grinned up at Mattias and plucked at her Storm jersey. “He needs to match,” she explained.
“Good call,” Mattias said. “That’ll make him look like he belongs with us.”
With us . The way he said it made it sound like there was an us , Mattias included.
“Can you get me a real puppy, Bergy?” she asked, all sunshine and innocence.
“I think you’ll have to ask your mom about that,” he replied, cleanly deflecting her question so he wouldn’t end up as either the bad guy or the hero.
“Mom?” she asked, and her sisters chimed in with promises of how they’d be the ones to feed and water and walk and wash, all of which they’d tried leveraging against me time and again.
“We’ll talk about it later,” I said as the waiter came over to take our orders.
The balloon man finished her dog. He stuck around until the waiter was done, so he could make her a matching purple crown even though she hadn’t asked for it. They both walked away around the same time, and Sophie was grinning from ear to ear with her crown on her head and her balloon dog tucked in beside her on the bench.
“What’s his name?” Mattias asked, angling his head in the balloon dog’s direction.
“Levi,” Sophie said emphatically.
He let out a silent chuckle, one I could feel rather than hear, and I fell for him a little harder.
THE INSTANT HE parked in my driveway, all four of my girls barreled out of his SUV and rushed straight for the door.
“Kissy-kissy time,” Evie said in a sing-song voice amid their chorus of giggles, and I let out a groan.
Zoe took her keys out of her pocket and let them in, and then Mattias and I were alone for the first time. She slammed the door closed behind them. Within seconds, I saw the curtains flutter. Which meant they were peeking out at us.
“They meant to say thank you,” I said on a sigh. I turned to find him staring at me with those intense blue-gray eyes. They should have frozen me, like icicles boring into me, but there was so much heat in them I burned instead. I couldn’t look in those eyes very long or I’d melt into his floorboard. I hurried
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