* * * *
Half an hour later, Del had changed Scarlett once, and they were now going through the house, trying to find toys.
“Not in there, either, huh?” Del asked, when Wyatt came out of the hall closet, shaking his head.
Del was sure there’d been a plastic bin of toys there, when Abigail had been little back when Del’s Nanna had still been around, living in the house. He sighed, bouncing Scarlett on his hip. “Okay, buddy, let’s go to the kitchen. I need to make a call.”
Wyatt trudged after him, looking frustrated and a bit confused, and frankly, Del didn’t blame him. He grabbed his phone and a banana from the fruit bowl, then went to the living room to sit on the couch.
“You can sit here, and I’ll put your sister right…here!” He lowered Scarlett on the floor by the coffee table, and turned on the TV. Thank God Netflix had kids’ shows. “You guys can have banana and watch TV while I call my mom.”
Wyatt nodded seriously, then held out his hand as soon as Del had the banana peeled. He gave half to the boy and broke off a small piece to give to Scarlett. Then he took off an even smaller one, and showed it to her. “Here’s a bit for your mouth,” he murmured, and she immediately opened her mouth into an O, then made a happy face, waving her chubby fist in the air, squeezing the hell out of the first bit of fruit he’d given her. “Good girl!”
He wiped his hand on the thigh of his jeans, snorting at the good example he was showing to the kids, and called his mother.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Del, how are things?” she asked, sounding happy as if they hadn’t talked just the other day.
“I need help, actually.”
“Oh, do tell?”
“Wasn’t there a bin of old toys somewhere in this house when Nanna was still around?”
“Hmm…Yes, I think so. Look into the second guest room closet, maybe?”
Del tried to remember which one that room was, and then nodded to himself. “Sure, we’ll take a look there.”
“‘We?’” Mom perked up even more, if that was even possible.
“Yeah, Justin dropped off the two youngest ones while he has to go to Eriksen’s and Harper is at school.”
“Ah, right.” She sounded wistful somehow.
Del sighed internally, then turned the call into a video one. “Here, I’ll put the camera on.” He waited until Mom had hers on and angled the cell so that he could show the kids to her. “This is Wyatt.”
Wyatt, who was stuffing banana into his mouth with his gaze glued to the TV didn’t even turn to look at him.
“And this here is Scarlett.” She heard her name and looked at him, waving madly, grinning with her whole banana-smeared face.
“Oh, Del, they are lovely!” she exclaimed, and yeah, Del knew this was the start of heartbreak. She’d get attached and…yeah…
“That they are. I’m going to go and check the closet now, because Harper will be home soon and I need to fetch her from the bus as well. Talk to you later!” he spoke quickly and ended the call with a fast “bye!”
Del glanced at Wyatt, considering his options. Then he looked around. There was an old, low copper bowl on the table that held the random knick knacks that needed to go somewhere. For some reason, the massive old ring with about a dozen keys from various generations sat in the bowl, too.
“Hey Wyatt, can you look at me for a moment, buddy?”
Wyatt did so with great reluctance, because there was a cartoon rabbit on the screen.
“Good boy. Okay, I’m gonna go and look for the toys upstairs. Can you watch Scarlett for a bit?” At Wyatt’s nod, Del moved the keys onto the couch next to the boy. “If something is wrong, just throw these on the floor, okay? I’ll come as fast as I can.”
Wyatt considered his words, then poked one of the keys with a finger, and nodded again.
“Thanks, buddy. I’ll be right back.”
Del practically jogged up the stairs and into the “second guestroom.” He maneuvered to the closet door, opened it, aaand it was empty. Crap.
Just in case, he quickly went to the next room down the hall and by some miracle, found the large bin there.
He felt like doing a fist pump, but time was of the essence, so he grabbed the bin and took it downstairs.
As soon as Wyatt saw him, he grinned widely and pointed at the keys that were still on the couch.