Moving to Hawaii

Charlotte had made her second round outside at the party and was heading back inside when she noticed Leland standing by the food table yanking on his ear. She rolled her eyes and made her way over.

“Excuse me”, Charlotte said with as polite a smile as she could to the woman who was rambling on. “I hate to interrupt, but Cobie is asking for you”, she directed at Leland.

“Oh?” Leland asked, feigning surprise. “Is everything ok?”

“He said his tummy hurt”, Charlotte lied. She was going to choke Leland.

“I’m sorry, I need to check on him”, Leland told the woman who was making her best ‘aww poor baby’ face.

They broke away and Charlotte followed Leland into the house. Once they were safely inside Charlotte flicked his ear.

“You’re going to end up pulling that thing off if you don’t ease up!” She exclaimed.

Leland laughed and rubbed his ear lobe.

“I’ve only been outside twice and you’ve signaled me both times”, Charlotte grumbled. “You’re Dad is going to know something is up.”

“No he won’t, he and Beth are having fun”, Leland answered. “I just don’t want to hang out with a bunch of people I don’t know very well and make small talk.”

“Ok”, Charlotte said caving. “Fine, but you need to start spacing out your signals.”

“Yeah, my ear is starting to hurt”, Leland said with a smirk.

They went to the living room to check on the kids. The older kids: Cecily, Dylan and Dakota were playing a board game and eating popcorn. The younger ones: Cobie, Garry, Bonnie and two other children that belonged to guests were playing with toys or watching a cartoon Charlotte had found on tv.

“Hey guys, does anyone need anything?” Charlotte asked, sitting on the couch. “Ok”, she said aloud when nobody answered her.

“You better check Cobie’s tummy ache”, Charlotte joked when Leland sat down beside her. He grabbed a bowl of popcorn and tossed a handful at her.

“You buttface”, Charlotte said with a laugh while she picked the popcorn from her hair.

“Sorry, I wanted my exit to be believable”, he shrugged, placing the bowl of popcorn between them.

“Why didn’t Maui come?” Charlotte asked. She was being nosey but she didn’t care.

“Because we’re getting divorced”, Leland mumbled. “She doesn’t want to be around my family or me.”

“I’m sorry”, Charlotte replied with a frown. “That was none of my business.”

“No, it’s fine. I mean, you’re family so you would have found out sooner or later.”

Charlotte gave Leland a pat on the arm, “I’m getting a drink, want anything?”

“Yeah, surprise me please.”

Charlotte ducked outside as quickly as she could and grabbed two diet cokes from the closest cooler. She glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention to her before going back in.

“Interesting choice”, Leland said when she handed him the drink. “I was expecting beer.”

“Beer is disgusting”, Charlotte responded. She popped the lid on her Diet Coke and took a sip. “Besides, these were closest to the door.”

“Ah, so you’re avoiding everyone out there too!” He exclaimed like he’d discovered a big secret.

“Of course! I don’t know any of them, plus I get nervous in situations where I feel like I need to impress people.”

“Is that why you don’t want to be on the show? Because it makes you nervous?”

Charlotte nodded at his question.

“Well, you never seemed nervous around all of us.”

“Oh believe me I was!”

Leland have a small laugh, “Yeah I was nervous when you started too. I get anxious.”

“Me too. That’s why I’ve only ever been on like five dates, I get anxious and act like a dork.”

“Guys think that’s cute though!” Leland stated. “It’s not cute when a guy acts like that.”

“Charlie, I need to go potty”, Garry yelled from behind the block tower he was building.

“Uh oh, be right back”, Charlotte said and jumped up to take Garry potty. When they got back the older kids had moved on to a movie and Charlotte realized it was time to get the younger kids ready for bed.

“You better head back outside”, Charlotte told Leland. She hadn’t realized they had been chatting for so long.

“I don’t wanna”, Leland pretended to whine. At least Charlotte thought it was pretend...

“Go”, Charlotte said with a fake frown.

“Fine. But in twenty minutes come out and tell me Cobie won’t go to sleep”, Leland said with a smirk.

“No way!”

“Come on, pleeeease”, Leland begged, giving her his best puppy dog eyes.

“I’ll think about. But go now!”

Charlotte gathered up the five younger kids and began putting them to bed. By the time she had gotten to Cobie she was out of beds in Garry and Bonnie’s room so she moved him to her room.

“Can I play with your army men again sometime?” Cobie asked her as she was tucking him in.

“Of course, little dude. Any time you want to come visit me I’ll make sure they are ready”, Charlotte promised. He was taking long slow blinks. She brushed the hair out of his eyes, waiting for him to fall asleep like she had with the other children.

“Charlotte, can I call you Charlie like Garry and Bonnie do?”

“Sure thing. It’s just a nickname, but it’s one I like because my daddy used to call me Charlie.”

“Where’s your daddy now?” Cobie asked. His eyes were closed and Charlotte wasn’t sure he would hear her response.

“He’s in heaven”, Charlotte answered. She felt tears begin to well in her eyes.

“You can share my daddy if you miss him”, Cobie said just barely above a whisper. “He’s a good daddy.”

“Thank you, Buddy. That really means a lot”, Charlotte said quietly as one of those tears escaped down her cheek.

She pulled the blanket up to Cobie’s chest and stood up. She rubbed the stray tear as she turned to exit the room and almost had a heart attack. “Leland! You scared the daylights out of me!” She whisper yelled.

Leland didn’t respond, but pulled Charlotte in for a hug, “I’m sorry I scared you. And I’m sorry about your dad.”

“Thank you”, Charlotte said returning the hug. It was hard to be mad at someone who was trying to comfort you.

They stepped out into the kitchen as Charlotte gently closed the bedroom door.

“Thanks for being so sweet to Cobie. He’s really having a hard time with what’s going on. Maui has been really distant because of it and he’s a mama’s boy, I don’t mean that in a bad way but...”

“No, I get it. No worries”, Charlotte said. She wiped at her cheeks, hoping there wasn’t any makeup running down them. “He’s a really sweet kid.”

“Yeah”, Leland replied.

“Did you even go back outside?”

Leland looked up at her with a big grin, “no.”

“What?!”

“I really would rather stay in here with you guys.”

“Sorry, Leland that is not how it works. Get your ass back out there and mingle!” Charlotte demanded.

“Damn, you’re strict”, Leland muttered. He turned and walked to the door to go out to where most of the guests were still hanging out. “See you in twenty?”

Charlotte laughed, “Ok, I’ll be out in twenty. Just don’t tug your ear off!”