“Are we almost there?”
“Can you tell them to keep it down? I have a headache.”
I bit my tongue and smiled at my brothers instead.
***
When we finally pulled into the fairground parking lot, the boys practically leapt out of the car.
Bright lights blinked against the afternoon sky.
The smell of popcorn drifted through the warm air.
Elliot walked three steps behind us the entire time, scrolling on his phone.
I bit my tongue
“Elliot, come look at this,” I said, pointing toward a spinning ride. “The boys want to try it.”
He barely glanced up.
“You handle it. That’s kind of the whole point today, isn’t it? Last hurrah before you fix this mess.”
I let the word “mess” sit in my chest like a stone.
“You’re right. Today is about fixing things.”
He didn’t catch the shift in my voice.
“You’re right. Today is about fixing things.”
For the next hour, I rode the carousel with the twins.
I bought them matching light-up wands, and let them share a giant funnel cake.
Every time I laughed with them, Elliot checked his watch.
“How much longer?” he muttered. “I have plans tonight.”
“Not much longer,” I promised.
As we wandered past a row of colorful game booths, a cheerful voice called out to us.
“Not much longer,”
“Hey there, beautiful family! Come get a picture. First one’s on the house today.”
The photo booth operator waved a bright pink flag, gesturing toward a backdrop covered in painted sunflowers.
The twins tugged at my sleeves immediately.
“Picture! Picture!”
Elliot scoffed and waved her off without even looking.
“Hey there, beautiful family! Come get a picture.”
“No thanks. We’re not interested.”
But I turned toward the woman and gave her the warmest smile I had worn all day.
“Actually, we’d love a photo. Thank you.”
Elliot spun around, confused.
“What? Are you serious? I said no.”
“I heard you,” I replied calmly. “But you don’t need to be in the picture since you won’t be part of our family anymore after today.”
You don’t need to be in the picture.”
The photographer paused and side-eyed us.
