Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) (50 page)

Head
cocked,
Tina
gazed
at
Luke
and
Aggie.
You
guys
are
so
cute.
These
kids
are
lucky—ok
blessed,
Miss
Gotta-give-credit-to-the-A
lmighty—to
have
both
of
you.”

“Great.
They’re
blessed.
Ornaments.
Focus.”

“Yes,
Miss
Terse.”

Luke
snickered.
“I
thought
she
was
Miss
Gotta-give—”

“Very
funny.
Why—”
Tina’s
phone
rang.
“Weird.
It’s
my
mom.
Since
when
does
she
call?
I’ll
be
back.”
She
clicked
the
phone
on
and
answered
it.
“Hey,
Mom,
what—”

“Well,
so
much
for
her
help.
What
are
your
ideas?”

“Um,
I
have
a
feeling
you
are
going
to
get
sick
of
this,
but
my
first
instinct
is
to
call
my
mom.”

Without
hesitation,
Aggie
pulled
her
phone
from
her
pocket
and
dialed.
“I
think
the
truth
of
it,”
she
said
while
the
phone
rang,
“is
that
you
will
get
sick
of
me
calling
her—or
she
will.”
Aggie
snickered.
“Your
mom
says
she
will
not.”

Several
minutes
later,
Aggie
stowed
her
phone
back
in
her
pocket.
“Ok,
we’re
making
them.
It’ll
be
special,
they’ll
draw
names
and
voila.”

“Once
you
started
talking,
that
was
my
guess.
Mom
is
into
making
memories
together.
Corinne’s
husband
is
always
saying,
‘It’s
still
a
memory
if
you
just
buy
the
piñata
or
have
the
party
at
the
pizza
place
rather
than
making
them
or
creating
it
all.’”

“I
think
there’s
a
time
for
both.”
Aggie’s
mind
swirled
with
the
idea
of
doing
everything
with
eight
children.
It
made
her
dizzy
and
nauseou
s.
“If
I
tried
to
do
it
all
with
them,
I’d
go
crazy.
That’s
probably
why
Allie
didn’t.
But,
I
bet
her
perfectionism
probably
meant
that
she
didn’t
do
it
as
much
as
she
could
have.”

“Perfectionist,
eh?”

“Yeah.
Just
a
bit.
She’d
go
nuts
in
this
house.”

Luke
nodded
slowly
,
as
if
understanding
something
for
the
first
time.
“I
think
the
kids
like
the
more
relaxed
atmosphere.”

“Relaxed?
You can’t be more opposite than we were
.
She
is
elastic
that
cuts
off
your
circulation.
I’m
elastic
that
drops
your
unders
around
your
ankles.”

“I
haven’t
seen
anyone
tripping
over
anything,
so
you’re
good.”

Aggie
buried
her
head
into
Luke’s
shoulder.
“Allie
wouldn’t
think
so.
She’d
think
I
was
lazy.”

“She
knew
what
she
was
choosing
when
she
chose
you.”

Tina’s
door
banged
open
and
a
suitcase
rolled
behind
her.
With
her
purse
slung
over
one
shoulder,
she
grabbed
for
her
coat
and
stumbled
toward
the
door.
Aggie
hurried
to
her
side.
“What’s
wrong?”

“My
dad
had
a
heart
attack.
Mom’s
flipping
out
and—”

“Do
you
want
me
to
drive
you?”

Both
women
looked
at
Luke
as
if
he’d
lost
his
senses.
Tina
found
her
voice
first.
“Why?”