Episode 1235: The Same Old Song

“Hey,” Adria said, from down there on the floor. “How was your day?”

“Maybe not as bad as I thought,” Ryley replied, aiding Russell’s climb up into his arms while Miranda returned to her latest crayon masterpiece laid out on the floor beside her mom’s own creation.

“So it seemed miserable while you were in the thick of it,” Adria surmised, “but now that you’ve left work behind, in hindsight it wasn’t as bad you thought?”

“It’s looking up, anyway,” he said, watching from across the room, his wife and daughter side by side, coloring together. It was the first time in a long while he’d seen her give her full attention to the kids instead of splitting her focus and not an even split at that.

“I’m glad, maybe we can get into what happened later, after we tidy up here and have dinner,” Adria said before ducking her head and returning to her project with their daughter, neither of them looking like they wanted to stop and tidy up.

It was a thousand percent better to see them like this than the day he’d come home a few weeks ago and asked his daughter how much fun she’d had at the tea room only for Miranda to appear confused and then crestfallen to realize she was supposed to have had an adventure with her mom but she’d missed out.

“I know it’s your night to cook, but if you don’t already have things ready to go, how about I order dinner instead?” Ryley offered. “Pizza sound good? Then you guys don’t have to hurry through your art project and Russ and I can get in some quality block stacking and no one has to sacrifice family time for the kitchen.”

“You are a star of a husband, I love that suggestion. This will turn out so much better if I’m not hurried,” Adria said, momentarily glancing up at him with a smile before settling back in with a felt pen.

Feeling infinitely better about his family situation than he had earlier at the office, it was like a weight lifted off, he carried his son deeper into the living room. He deposited Russell at his blocks leaving his own hands free to call for dinner.

“So what kind of pizza-” The words died on his lips, and his spirits nose-dived when he at last spied a close up glimpse of Adria’s project. Storyboards. For the theater. Not, in fact, some just for fun enterprise with their daughter.

Episode 1236: Until