Tudor the Tutor (38)

Chapter 38

Aidan peered at the book curiously. "C'mon, Lynn, you gotta finish the story!"

Ash, cuddling Maggie under her chin, nudged my arm. "Yeah. Daddy will be home soon, so hurry."

I smiled and finished the last two pages of The Cat in the Hat.

"Then we saw him pick up
All the things that were down.
He picked up the cake,
And the rake, and the gown,
And the milk, and the strings,
And the books, and the dish,
And the fan, and the cup,
And the ship and the fish.

And he put them away.
Then he said, "That is that."
And then he was gone
With a tip of his hat.

Then our mother came in
And she said to us two,
"Did you have any fun, tell me, what did you do?"

And Sally and I did not know
What to say.
Should we tell her
The things that went on there that day?

Should we tell her about it?
Now, what should we do?
Well...
What would you do,
If your mother asked you?

I closed the book with a smile.

Aidan looked at me curiously. "Would you tell your mommy, Lady Lynn?"

"I would consult with the fish and see what he thought," I told him. "But only in a weird, six-foot-magic-cat situation. Any other time, it is good to tell the truth. Telling the truth is always better than lying; you won't get in as much trouble that way."

Ash nodded. "Good advice."

I heard tires pull into the driveway. "That would be Nik. Come on, are you guys ready to go?"

Aidan nodded. "Can we come over tomorrow?"

"You'll have to ask your Dad, but I don't have a problem with it." I put the book into his backpack and zipped it up. "Did you like the book?"

"Yeah. My teacher will be glad I read it," he said with a cute grin.

"Tomorrow, we read my book," Ashlynn pouted, then kissed Maggie's head. "I miss her at school. I've told the teacher all about her, but she doesn't like it when I talk about you." Ash looked at me, eye lit with curiosity. "Did you and my teacher have a fight?"

"No, but she likes your Daddy, I'm guessing." I zipped up Ash's backpack. "Are you guys missing anything?"

"Can I have a glass of milk? My tummy hurts." Aidan rubbed his stomach.

I nodded and helped him into the kitchen, then watched as he slowly drank the milk, never pausing. Afterwards he wiped off his lip and smiled cutely, embarrassed. "Thank you."

I kissed his forehead. "No problem. You feeling any better?"

Aidan shook his head sadly. "Maybe my tummy's just too full."

I frowned and rubbed his arm. "Well, I hope it gets better." I heard Ash scream something unintelligible as the front door opened.

Nik came inside the kitchen and smiled. "Hey, how are you two?" He put his arm around my waist shyly.

I grinned at him, then bit my lower lip as I looked back to Aidan. "I'm fine, but tiny here has a stomach ache."

Nik bent down to his son. "Do you think you're going to be okay, or do we need to go to the doctor?"

Aidan shrugged. "I'll be fine. Thanks for your concert."

I blinked. "Concert?"

"You mean 'concern'," Nik corrected.

"Oh, oops." Aidan blushed.

"What about me?" Ashlynn whined. We looked at her shocked. She covered her forehead with her hand. "I think I have a temper-at-your." She struggled with the pronunciation.

I smiled and bent down to her. "Relax, Ash. We're just worried that Aidan doesn't get sick or anything."

She looked down. "I don't like not being talked to."

I combed the hair away from her eyes and smiled. "It's okay, I'll always talk to you."

Ashlynn smiled.

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I straightened my red hair - it was abnormally, widely curly today. I added eyeliner and mascara to my look. Apparently today was going to be an awesome Wednesday. I changed into a pair of faded jeans that were ripped at the knees, and a V-neck black top. I slipped on my sneakers on my way downstairs, then grabbed a yogurt and a glass of orange juice.

Nik's text said he'd be at my house in a minute - he was going to move in on Friday, as we had discussed last night before I left for work. But he was running late, apparently.

I scarfed down my breakfast, and just as I cleaned the dishes I heard a car pull into my driveway. I dried my hands and grabbed my backpack, then ran to the door.

I opened it to see a very pretty woman with wavy blonde hair and dark brown eyes. She was tall, curvy, and looked to be about twenty or so. Her hand was in mid-air and balled into a fist, so I assume she was about to knock on the door.

She blushed and dropped her hand back down to her side. The woman opened her mouth, closed it, and said, "Hello, um, does Nik live here?"

"He will in a few days." I saw, behind her shoulder, that a van was pulling into my driveway. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"Oh, right. How rude of me. My name is Addy Hinton. I'm, um, well... his children's mother."

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Dun, dun, dun!

Comment Replies:

Judith - Eh, the capitalization attracts my attention at the most. Then it gives me a headache afterwards. But, anyway, thanks so much. I like when people make notes about my characters and stuff, but I never know about how to comment back on it, so I supply an awkward 'thank you'. But thank you!

Ria - Surprised?

Robyn - I know, right? So yummy. And thank you!

DEE - Thank you so much!

BarbieGirl - I love Alfredo chicken. So yum. Thanks!

Lauren C - You have the same name as a close friend of mine. Only she spells it different. Anyway... Thank you!

Nessa - Thank you!

Katie - I don't have any problem with it. I have terrible typing skills, though, so that would explain if I have any errors in my writing. But thank you so much!

Lashae - Thank you.

Leanna D - Oh, I'm so sorry for the wait. But a reading addiction is probably healthier than other things. I'll try to post more often.

Real Me Leotie - It's been freezing here, and the snow we had didn't really count. But our new adviser-person is from some snow-less place so I guess he freaked out. My English teacher is really old and quiet and a bit boring. But we're reading the Odyssey (dunno how to spell it) and I really like it. That's about all that's going on there. And... what does MDR mean again?

So... I am extremely curious about your thoughts on this. So please comment!