Free The Second Half by Lauraine Snelling Page B

Maybe an ice pack on the back of her neck would help. How would they ever get all the paperwork and official legal hoopla done before Steig had to leave on Monday? Where did he have to report? How would the kids adapt? After all, they’d not stayed by themselves with Grampy and Grammy before, thanks to Angela’s selfishness. Would Jakey remember them? It was over a year since they had seen them other than on Skype, and his tolerance for that was about a minute. Or less. Melinda, however, loved to chat with them. They’d been six months without their mother now. Oh, those poor kids. How long would they have to pay for the disruption of their family? More than disruption. Destruction? Of course, Steig was doing all he could, but the kids needed a mom. But one who thought more of them than of herself. That they’d never had.
    “Okay, kids, I’ve worried all the way so far, and I certainly didn’t intend to. Let’s go back; it’s my turn to have supper.” They both looked up at her as if they understood every word. Her mind took off again. How would the two kids do with the two animals? What if someone was allergic? That thought made her almost choke. At least they were not bringing in pets that needed to be integrated. She had a feeling from something said one time that Angela did not tolerate pets. Or perhaps she was the allergic one. Please, Lord, no allergies. She did her poop-scooping job and dumped the bag in one of the trash cans along the path. Walking again, her inner monologue picked up even more forcefully. What could she do to gain some more clients? What a dumb idea; maybe God was trying to protect her with a light client load until their house settled into some kind of routine. One thing would be different from when she was raising kids: Ken would be home to help.
    But he wanted to travel, not all the time, but a couple of times at least. And she liked the idea; get away so he was not tempted to try to help his department. Not that it would be his department after Friday. That led to her running down the list of things for the celebratory dinner on Friday, not that she was supposed to have any responsibilities for that. Now you’re worrying about things for which you have no responsibilities! Stop it! But really, the surprise party on Saturday was all her ball game. Lord, please change the weather patterns around so we can have it at the park. Sometimes she hated watching or even glancing at the weather maps.
    She unclipped her phone from her waistband and hit Marit’s number. “What will the children do if it’s storming on Saturday? There is an outdoor area where we can barbecue, but…”
    “I have it covered, Mom. I told you I would.”
    “But they’re supposed to go fishing early.”
    “Magnus made arrangements for something else; not sure what, but he is good at that, you know. All is under control.”
    “I’ll be so glad when this weekend is over…”
    “I’ll have five kids; going to be a fun time at our house.”
    “Maybe we better just cancel.”
    “No! Everything is under control.”
    Mona sank down on the second step leading to the deck. “Be a miracle if I don’t have a nervous breakdown over all this. The mess in Dad’s department might be the straw that breaks this camel’s back.”
    “Mom, that is not your problem! Stop worrying!”
    “It is mine since it’s bothering your father. He’s not sleeping, therefore, I’m not sleeping well, and this thing with Steig.” She blew out a breath. “I gotta remember that this is no surprise to God, so He has a plan.”
    “Be nice if He clued you in.”
    “Yeah, it would, but…” Her stomach rumbled. “I better go eat.”
    “Kinda late, isn’t it?”
    “I was hoping your dad would get home, and after he called, I took the twins here for their walk and now I’m starving. Thank you.”
    “Wish I could help you more.”
    “I’d say you are doing a hefty share. Bye.” She clicked off the phone and hauled herself