Where We Left Off

“He walked today!” My voice screamed excitedly into the receiver. That news had been trapped in my head all day long and I’d been bursting to tell someone. “He walked! How unreal is that?”

“Crazy unreal,” Heath responded. “That’s awesome, babe. I can’t wait to see when I get home.”

“I’m not sure he’ll do it again soon, but you never know. He’s all clumsy and awkward, but he’s so, so proud. It’s even cuter than crawling if you can believe that.”

“I can’t believe that. Baby army crawl was my favorite.”

The red bell peppers sizzled in the pan on the stove and I added the onions to the mix, moving them around with the spatula. Smoke curled in wispy coils and I flipped on the vent to suck them up. Fajitas were Heath’s favorite and I knew he’d had a trying week at school and deserved a good meal. Friday night fajitas had quickly become a little tradition for us.

“How long ‘til you’re home?”

“Not long at all.” When his voice echoed not only through the phone, but also the kitchen, I jumped out of my skin, which sent the wooden utensil soaring across the kitchen and left me shaking in surprise.

“Heath! You scared the crap out of me!”

With the help of his left crutch, he walked across the room and hooked me into his body with his free arm. His nose nuzzled against my hair. “Mmmm, you smell like food.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Most definitely. I’m starved.” Heath glanced around the room like he was searching for something. “So, where’s our little walker?”

“Just finishing up his nap.” I bent down to grab the spatula from the floor and chucked it into the sink. I pointed to the flickering baby monitor across the room. “I was going to get him as soon as I finished up here.”

Picking at the mound of shredded cheese on the cutting board and popping a handful into his mouth, Heath shook his head. “Nah, let me. I see you’ve got a good thing going here. I wouldn’t want to get in the way of that.”

“I swear, the more time you spend with Boone, the more you’re starting to sounding like him.”

“That’s not really a bad thing, is it?”

“It’s not a bad thing at all.” I grinned. “And yes, it would be super helpful if you could get Corbin ready for dinner. I’ve got a bit left to do here.”