Elm Creek: A Readymade Family, Volume 1

16

SIXTEEN

Present day

A shrill, bloodcurdling screech, accompanied by the spoon he was holding being ripped out of his hand and clattering to the floor, tore Hâroon from his memories and back to the present. His gaze immediately shot to Ibrâhîm, who screeched again.

Hâroon looked between the two children, Ibrâhîm now banging on the table and Yusrâ still eating her cereal. I may regret my choice of a wife, but I can never regret them.

“Ibrâhîm threw his spoon, Daddy,” Yusrâ reported between careful bites of her cereal.

“I know.” Pushing all thoughts of Lila away, his searching eyes located the spoon a few feet away from Ibrâhîm’s chair.

Moving Ibrâhîm’s bowl of cereal out of reach so he couldn’t throw it or play with his food, Hâroon got up and picked up the spoon. As soon as he stood, Ibrâhîm slid out of his chair, but he left him to it while he rinsed the spoon at the sink.

“Ibby got up,” Yusrâ said, her eyes on her brother.

“I know,” he replied to her over his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it and finish your breakfast.”

Yusrâ fell silent as she continued eating.

Hâroon returned to the table, catching Ibrâhîm who was pacing around along the way. He seated him, placed the bowl back in front of him, and continued feeding him.

After both children were finished eating, Hâroon helped them wash at the kitchen sink and then washed up the dishes that had been used since they would be away for a few days. He didn’t want to return home to the smell of rotting food because he’d left dishes in the sink. He also took out the trash. Then he went through the house, except for Lila’s room, turning off everything, leaving only the refrigerator and freezer running.

By the time he escorted the children out to the car, carrying their packed bag as well as his own, Lila joined them. She was fully dressed and covered, dragging a miniature rolling suitcase behind her.

“Did you turn off everything in your room?” he asked.

She nodded, rolling her eyes. “Of course. What do you take me for—a child?”

No, more like a teenager with an attitude problem, he answered mentally. Children I can reason with.

He didn’t bother replying to her sardonic words and sarcastic tone. Instead, he busied himself buckling the twins into the car seat, gave each one a toy that would hopefully keep them occupied for a while, and then loaded the bags into the trunk with the exception of the diaper bag, which he placed on the floor of the backseat.

By the time he was done, Lila had already gotten into the car. Of course she neither helped secure the children in their car seats or load the bags. He locked up the house, reversed the car out of the garage, and then locked up the garage, too.

As he moved the car from the driveway to the road, his eyes fell on the Williams house across the street. It was as dark and quiet as it had been since Moses and Serenity left so many months ago. He hadn’t heard from them since that one letter and had neither a phone number or address to contact them. The police had long ago closed the case and their daughter had never showed up at the house. He hadn’t seen her to give her the letter her parents sent to him for her since she’d eloped with the man her father had staunchly disapproved of and doubted he ever would. If Moses hadn’t advised him against it, he would have long ago mailed it instead.

He turned his attention away from the house and thoughts of the Williams family. He fixed his eyes in front of him as he drove, hoping the ride would be peaceful for at the least the first couple of hours.