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you a
call this evening.”
    “ All right. Sounds
good.”
     
    * * *
     
    After leaving the park, Desmond took
the kids to Sammies for frozen yogurt. Then he changed their
diapers and cleaned yogurt off of their faces with baby wipes
before loading them up in the jeep again, beginning the drive
home.
    He’d successfully entertained them for
two hours. Now he turned into his long, scenic driveway, parking
behind Sherita’s jeep. He took the babies out of the back, walking
to the door with them still in their car seats. He lowered Nolan’s
car seat to the porch to unlock the door. Afterward, he entered his
house, taking the babies to the family room.
    He unfastened Nolan and lowered him
into the Pack-N-Play. When he tried to put Celeste in there with
him, she began whimpering before her little voice squealed into an
all-out cry.
    “ What’s the matter, little
girl?” Desmond asked, picking her up again and securing her on his
shoulder. “You don’t want to play with your brother?” Desmond
grinned. With Celeste much calmer now, he headed for the stairs to
check on Sherita, assuming she was still in bed where he’d left
her. Then he heard some commotion coming from the
kitchen.
    “ Rita,” he called
out.
    “ I’m in the kitchen,
Des.”
    Hmm…that’s a good
sign , he thought. From the looks of her
earlier, he couldn’t imagine she’d be out of bed at any point
during the day.
    “ Let’s go see what mommy’s
up to, Celeste. Be right back, Nolan.” He continued on to the
kitchen where he saw Sherita wearing a plush, pink robe with a
multi-colored scarf tied on her head. She had a knife in her right
hand. Looked like she’d been slicing tomatoes.
    “ You’re up,” Desmond
said.
    “ I am. I figured I’d get
up, take a shower and wash my hair, even though I’m still tired,”
she said after cutting the last tomato slice. She looked up at him.
“Where did you take the kids?”
    “ Battery Park.”
    “ Oh. I see the sun shining
bright, but that can be misleading. Is it nice out?”
    “ Very nice. Next time,
you’re coming with us.” He walked over to her, kissed her on the
cheek.
    Sherita smiled at Celeste and said,
“Hey, sugar,” then gave her a small kiss on the cheek.
    “ What are you making?”
Desmond asked.
    “ Turkey
sandwiches.”
    “ You know I could’ve picked
up something for us to eat.”
    “ I know…just felt like
preparing my own food for a change.”
    Desmond raised his brows. “Okay. Well,
it looks delicious.”
    “ Thanks. Where’s Nolan?”
Sherita asked.
    “ He’s playing with his
toys.”
    “ Did the kids give you a
hard time at the park?”
    “ No, not at all. We did a
couple of laps and then I let them crawl on the grass for a while.
They seemed fascinated. By grass.”
    Sherita giggled. “We really should
make a play area for them in the backyard with a slide and swing
set.”
    “ We will, eventually.
They’re too young for that right now.”
    Sherita took a package of Swiss cheese
from the refrigerator and set it on the island countertop where she
was working.
    Desmond watched her. Studied her. She
still looked tired, so he knew she was telling the truth whenever
she said she was tired. Even now, after her shower, she appeared
unrelaxed and unkempt. The area right below her eyes was noticeably
dark. She rarely wore head scarves, but she wore this one like a
crown. And she’d gained weight during the pregnancy, exactly what
she was supposed to do, but six months later, she was still hanging
on to baby weight. Nothing wrong with a little extra from his way
of thinking, but she seemed to have a problem with it, particularly
with the added belly fat on her lower abdomen after having the
cesarean section. He couldn’t recall the last time she made an
effort to do her hair or wear some makeup. She wasn’t herself
anymore, a far cry from the woman he fell in love with.
    Sherita brought their food to the
table.
    “ Thank you.”
    “ You’re welcome.