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When they returned, Matt stared in horror as Bea rushed at him holding the painting, a doll, and a game. He sat on the couch with the TV on, preparing to settle in for a day of college football. Bea stopped in front of him and stared.
"What's she want?" Matt asked Sady, who shrugged.
"She wants to play her game," Argus told Matt. Bea shoved the game onto Matt's lap and waited.
"You're not serious?" Matt asked Sady when he glanced at the game designed to teach young children colors and shapes. "The football pre-game show starts in a few minutes!"
"The pre-game show lasts as long as the game!" Sady complained.
"Why don't you play with Aunt Sady and Argus?" Matt asked Bea as he eyed the TV.
"I don't play baby games," Argus announced. He liked to tease his little sister about being a baby, and Bea took exception by screaming.
"Maybe you don't, but Uncle Matt does," Sady said firmly as she grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.
"What the..."
"AHEM!" Sady cleared her throat loudly and bugged her eyes at Matt. Bea smiled and shoved the game further onto his lap. Matt's eyes bulged, and Sady laughed. "That's what you get! Now move it, slacker. The little one is waiting."
Matt grumbled, but he played Bea's game. A half hour later he complained to Sady, "What kind of game is this, anyway? What happened to strip po..." Sady covered his mouth with her hand.
She whispered in his ear, "One more slip and I'm letting Argus bring the pencil and paper. Now behave!"
"That wasn't swearing," he protested. Sady just raised her brows. Matt thought about it for a minute, then asked, "Bea, do you want to watch a game with me on TV?"
"We aren't allowed to watch daytime TV," Argus piped up.
"Well, this is a fun game. The guys dress up and run around trying to knock each other down," Matt told him.
"We can't watch anything violent," Argus objected.
"Oh, it's not violent. They're just having fun," Matt said. "They even throw a ball. Your mom lets you play with balls, doesn't she?" The kids nodded, so Matt grabbed the remote control, beaming at Sady.
"Hey, you lied. This is just a bunch of old men sitting around talking," Argus protested, after a few minutes of the pre-game show.
"Come on," Sady told the kids. "He likes to watch those boring things, so let's do something else. Do you want to color?"
Bea nodded, while Argus debated whether he should stay loyal to his gender, or have fun with the females. He decided coloring was better... at least until the guys on TV started knocking each other down.
Sady and the kids colored pictures. She was thankful Bea no longer ate crayons, and Argus lost his fascination with permanent markers and drawing on his face. After coloring, Sady played Go Fish with them until lunch.
The first time Sady and Matt watched them, the kids let them know they ate only healthy food. Then they learned other things tasted good, so now they ate the forbidden food and didn't tell their mom. Sady fed them grilled cheese sandwiches and sliced apples. Argus took a plate to Matt and sat on the couch to watch TV. Bea wandered in to watch the guys hitting each other too, but she soon fell asleep.
Less than an hour later Argus was jumping and yelling with Matt. "What kind of a stupid call was that? Open your eyes, you idiot ref! Oh, yeah, sacked behind the line of scrimmage! I'd like to shove that ball down your throat!"
By mid-afternoon Sady saw the look in Matt's eyes and handed him a can of beer with a smile. Argus looked hopeful, then grinned when he got a can of root beer. Bea woke up at the sound of the popping tabs, and she gave Sady the same look. In the kitchen, Sady poured off half a can of root beer and took it to Bea.
"She slept with that painting?" Sady asked Matt.
He didn't take his eyes from the TV, and he muttered, "Uh, huh. Go, go, GO!" He and Argus fist bumped, and Bea peered at Sady.
"Never mind, honey. You'll understand when you're older. Try to remember it keeps them out of your hair for the day. Just hope they pick a winning team, though, or they'll be crabby the rest of the day." Bea nodded and smiled, then turned back to watch the game.
The moment the game finished Sady snagged the remote and turned off the TV, over the loud protests of Matt and Argus. "We're missing the post-game show!"
"Tough. You'll grow roots if you keep sitting there," she told them. "It's a nice day and we're taking a walk." The males growled, and she said, "Fine, but Bea and I are taking the remote with us. And who knows how long we'll be gone..."
Argus looked at Matt, expecting him to win the round. After one look at Sady's face, Matt said, "Don't argue, kid. Grab your coat and shoes or we'll be out of luck for NFL Sunday!"
After their walk, Sady told them Uncle Matt was buying pizza for supper. "Hooray," they yelled. At his look she added, "Unless you'd rather cook and clean... I didn't think so."
As they ate, Matt nudged Sady. "I have a good idea. Let's stop by to visit Amanda."
"Matt, it's Saturday night," Sady hissed.
"I know! That's why I want to go disrupt her evening." He grinned as he banged on Amanda's door a short time later. The kids rushed in as soon as it opened because Amanda always had good food.
She jumped back at the stampede of children. "And you're here why?" she asked Matt.
"Exactly," he said, pushing past her to see who her date was for the evening. Amanda looked at Sady, and Sady pointed her finger at Matt with a shrug.
"Uh, huh. I figured. Well, come on in. You know Joey." Joey lived next door to Amanda's Bloomfield Hills family, and he was her part-time fiancée.
The men talked football, and the kids ripped through the apartment after they finished the snacks Amanda provided. Then Amanda threw them out. "Well, that was fun," Matt said as they rode the elevator to the tenth floor. "Remind me to stop by her place every Saturday until I get that key back."
"You go ahead if that's your idea of fun," Sady told him. "They need some quiet time to settle down," she added, pointing at the kids. In their apartment, she sat Matt on the couch with Argus and Bea for reading time. Matt grew exasperated when Bea corrected every mistake he made.
"Let Argus practice reading," Sady told him. "Your mom says you're a good reader," she praised the boy. Matt squirmed like he was being tortured as Argus fine tuned his OCD and re-read every sentence from the start when he made a mistake.
"His mom lied," Matt griped to Sady later, as they got the kids ready for bed.
"Uh, huh. How old were you before you could read that well?" Sady asked as she tucked them into bed in the guest room.
His brows dropped. "That's not the point!"
"Don't be jealous of a little boy," she teased, turning off the light but leaving the door cracked and a nightlight on for the kids.
His face lit up, and he said, "I'm not! He can have his books. I've got something a lot more fun." He followed her to their bedroom and made a grab for her after they got ready for bed.
"Matt, the kids are just one room over! Don't you know anything?"
"I know enough," he said. "Come here, and I'll show you!" He tossed her on the bed, and she laughed as he dove after her.
A sound at the foot of the bed startled them. Matt sat up and yelled, "Goddamit, what the..."
Sady slapped her hand over his mouth as Bea stared at them, one hand clutching a blanket and the other with a finger shoved up her nose.
"Did something scare you?" Sady asked.
"Hell, yes!" Matt snapped.
"Not you... her!" They looked at Bea and she nodded, then ran to the side of the bed so Sady could lift her. "See what I mean?" Sady asked Matt as she settled Bea in between them, laughing at the look on his face.
"We can't put her on the end or she might fall out," she explained.
"She was on the end in the spare bed," he argued.
"And she had the wall next to her. Now stop being a baby." Bea giggled when Sady said that and pointed at him.
"He's a baby?"
"Tonight he is," Sady said. "Now close your eyes and settle down. Both of you!"
A half hour later Matt threw off the blankets and grabbed his pillow.
"Where are you going?" Sady whispered.
"I'm taking my bruised back to the sofa," he hissed. "She's a future soccer star, trust me!"
He was the first one awake in the morning, and he looked in the guest room to check on Argus. The bed was empty, and he panicked, running to the master bedroom where he stopped with a smile. Both kids were in bed with Sady and sleeping soundly, with Bea in the middle.
Sady opened her eyes and grinned at him. He went to the side of the bed to kiss her good morning. "How did this happen?" he whispered.
"As soon as you left Argus joined us, and you missed all the fun while they kicked each other," she teased.
"I still know how to have fun." Matt gave her another kiss, then sighed against her lips when he realized the kids watched them.
"I'm taking a cold shower," he muttered, while Sady greeted the children and took them to the kitchen for breakfast.
Kristen's sister, Kari, showed up before lunch to take the kids. "Harris will be in the hospital at least one more day, but he's doing better. I'll keep the kids at their apartment so Kristen doesn't have to make a trip to pick them up. Thanks for helping out!" She called the kids, but only Bea came running. Argus dug his heels in.
"We're watching Sunday NFL," he told his aunt.
Kari looked at Sady, who shrugged. "You might as well leave him, otherwise you'll have to listen to it at your apartment too."
"Well, if you're sure it's okay. Now Bea and I can do our nails." Bea clapped with excitement and she left holding her aunt's hand. Bea had her little bag packed with her doll, blanket, and game. She stopped and ran back to give Sady a hug.
"How about Uncle Matt?" Sady whispered. Bea barreled to the couch and held up her hands for Matt to pick her up. He did so, giving her a hug. She planted a slobbery wet kiss on his cheek, then wiggled to get down. Without another look, she ran out the door to catch up with Kari.
"Please tell me it's not green," he told Sady.
She shook her head. "It's only yellow this time."
"Evil woman."
"Would an evil woman let you watch football all weekend?"
"You're only evil some of the time," he amended.
"I can live with that! Now I'm going next door to make sure everything is ready for the moving truck. It's coming this week to take everything that's left in my old apartment to the donation center. Are you sure there's nothing else you want?"
"Yeah, take that ugly painting over there, will you? Maybe it will find a home with someone lacking good taste."
"Now who's evil?" she asked.
"We can be evil together," he suggested, and she pointed at Argus with a grin. "Never mind," he told Sady. "If you need us don't call, because us guys have plans for the afternoon." Argus looked happy to be one of the guys, and Sady left to check through her old apartment one more time.
She smiled as she looked around the apartment where she'd lived for over a year. It had been a good year, and she loved this apartment. But she'd be happier in her new place because she was with Matt, and she loved him more than anything. With a final look around, she went down to speak with the security guard at the entry desk.
"Hi, Miss Morrow... sorry, Sady." He looked at her key ring. "You're getting quite a collection there."
She pulled one key off the ring and handed it to him. "Well, the truck and the new apartment were sort of a package deal. They came with Matt," she grinned. "But soon that apartment key will belong to someone else. The volunteer center will pick up the items from my old apartment sometime this week, but I don't know what day. Are you sure it's okay to leave the key here?"
"Not a problem. As long as I know which company to expect, you're all set."
"The donation center is called 'Dream on a Dime,' George. Thanks so much for doing this!"
"I'm just glad we're not losing the prettiest woman in the building," he grinned. Then he whispered, "Don't tell Amanda because I say the same thing to her."
"It's our secret," Sady agreed with a wave.
Before going back to her apartment, she stopped to see how Kari and Bea were doing. Bea had a rainbow of smeared fingernails which she proudly showed off to Sady. "My toes next," she said.
"Good luck," Sady laughed to Kari. "We'll bring Argus down when he's done with the game. Have fun with those toes!"
Matt and Argus were still plastered to the TV when she got back to their apartment. They sent her a hopeful look, and she knew what they wanted. Snacks and drinks. Sady set them down on the coffee table and wedged herself into the chair with Matt. "You owe me," she told him.
"Okay," he agreed, his eyes not moving from the screen.
"I want a new vehicle. The best of Justin and Desiree combined."
"Uh, huh, go ahead."
Sady squealed in his ear and hugged him. "Oh, thank you! I've always wanted one, but they can be expensive!" She held her smile back as he edged his eyes from the TV to look at her.
"Uh, Sady? What did I just agree to?"
"Weren't you listening?" she asked. Now he looked worried, and he glanced at Argus who was waiting to see how he got out of this one.
"Yeah, sure I was listening. But the TV is kind of loud..."
"Let's turn it off," she suggested. "Oh, what does 'two-minute warning' mean?" she asked with a straight face.
"It means you're killing me," he groaned, his eyes drifting back to the set.
"So it's a good time to tell you which one I want? I like pink! How do you feel about a pink truck?" she yelled.
"A what?" Now she had his attention.
"Thank you for promising to buy me a pink truck. A Ford Lightning. Should we name it Jessie or Dustin? Those are combinations of Desiree and Justin in case you didn't know."
"Are you kidding me? They don't come in pink, and I'm not driving a Barbie Truck," he glared.
In the background, the TV announcer was going wild. "That was an unbelievable play! In all my years, I've never anything like that! Folks, you just witnessed football history."
"Thanks," Matt said sarcastically.
She smiled and pointed at the TV. "Don't miss the replay. And I was only kidding about the truck. I just wanted to see if you were listening... and don't say it because I have a pencil and paper ready." She kissed him and jumped out of the chair.
"Uncle Matt, what just happened?"
"I think Aunt Sady's tired of football," he replied. "At least I hope that's all it was. Otherwise, my dignity just took a massive hit."
"What's that mean?"
"It means don't ever agree to buy a pink truck."
"Okay." Argus didn't have an issue with that. When the game finished, Matt took Argus down to his apartment and left him with his aunt. Sady was in the kitchen starting supper when he got back.
"Who won the game?" she asked when he hugged her from behind.
"You did," he admitted.
"Aw, I'm proud of you! You're learning so fast," she teased and turned with a smile.
"You're not going to make me watch cooking shows every weekend, are you?" he asked suspiciously.
"You're not going to make me watch sports shows every weekend, are you?" she replied.
"Point taken, Sandy-Sue. Now you'd better pay attention to that pan, or I'll make you watch the cooking shows!"
"I have a question for you," he said when they sat down to eat. "When are you going to take the ring off that neck chain and let me put it back on your finger where it belongs, Sandy-Sue Meadows?"
She scrunched her face and thought. "How about on our anniversary?"
Matt's brow rose. "Three months?"
"One year. By that time no one will be mad that we didn't invite them."
Matt shook his head. "Six months it is, although for the sake of my well being I hope you tell your uncle sooner. I'd like to enjoy this, without worrying about the wrath of Uncle John!"
"I'll think about it," she offered. He smiled, then he thought of something and glanced at her with a frown. She laughed at his expression. "What's wrong?"
With a scowl, he asked, "You aren't going to tell Amanda that I accepted your proposal, are you? Because I'll never hear the end of it!"
"Don't blame me. You're the one who told me I could have anything I wanted, along with that truck key. And I wanted you, Matt. I've wanted you for a long time, and I always will. Now I get to keep you," she grinned. "Besides, if Uncle John finds out we tied the knot he might find more ugly paintings to send."
"Where's your sense of family pride?" he teased.
"Right next to me, where he belongs," she replied reaching over to give him a hug.