Run, Girl (If You Can)

Chapter 373: Mommy, I Missed You

By the end of the work day Keeley was exhausted. They had barely started anything since she could only work part-time due to her promise to the kids to always pick them up after school.

She was only at the lab for six hours instead of eight like everyone else. This was probably yet another thing Kate would hold against her. It was so exhausting dealing with people who don't like you from the get go.

She tried to push those thoughts out of her head by the time she arrived at the preschool. She needed to be ready to focus on her children and whatever they had to tell her about their first day of school.

When she arrived at the classroom door, Violet spotted her first and flew into her mother's arms. "Mommy, I missed you!"

Keeley held her sweet daughter tightly. She had missed Violet too. Being apart from her kids was harder than she thought it would be. They had hardly been separated ever since the twins were born.

"I missed you too, baby. Did you have a good day? Where's your brother?"

"He's still playing with his new friend," she said a bit sullenly.

"Kaleb, your mother is here!" the teacher called to the back of the room.

Kaleb was sitting on the ground building a block tower with another boy. He hadn't even noticed his mother arrive but once he did he ran up to hug her just like Violet, chatting excitedly.

"Mommy, we played blocks and learned a new song and got to ride bikes! I like preschool!"

"I don't like it. I want to stay with Mommy," Violet said mutinously.

"Well, Mommy's here now," Keeley said lightly to diffuse the situation. "Come on, let's go home and make those cookies."

Kaleb continued going on about what an awesome day he had on the ride home while Violet sulked. She really hoped it wouldn't stay this difficult getting her to go to school for long. She had heard that a lot of kids struggled at first because they were too used to being with their moms all day.

At least Violet had Kaleb. Based on her reaction today though she was jealous that he had left her to play with other kids. Keeley really wished she would branch out and try to find some friends of her own. What was she going to do when she got too old for her mother to set up play dates for her?

Aaron had thought she would become more like Keeley as she got older but she was definitely more similar to her father. She didn't relate well with others—apparently that was a genetic thing, not just the product of his terrible childhood—and clung to the handful of people she did like.

Violet was quiet, intelligent, and contemplative. She already knew how to read at age three and had begun taking piano lessons after insisting she wanted to be able to play like Daddy.

He didn't play the piano often but a few months ago the Hales had walked by one inside a furniture store and decided to sit down and play a tune. Violet had been enthralled.

She was a good kid but she was a lot more shy than Keeley had been at that age so she wasn't entirely sure how to help her daughter make friends. She was more like Kaleb, making friends wherever she went when she was younger.

Violet was still feeling insecure from being at preschool so she insisted her mother carry her into the apartment building. She loved being held but it got harder for Keeley to manage the heavier she got. It was a long elevator ride up to the penthouse for her poor arms.

When they finally got inside, she set Violet down and the little girl went racing off in search of the cats. Kaleb did too. They loved Molly and Dinah a lot more than the cats loved them back. They were still wary about all of the accidental animal abuse that happened when the twins were younger even though the kids had finally learned to 'be soft with the kitties.'

Keeley and Aaron had told them a million times but toddlers just can't process things like that sometimes. The poor cats had probably been scarred for life.

As the kids chased after their prey, she got to work getting out cookie ingredients. As they mixed together on their own, she wondered how she ever used to bake without a KitchenAid. It made things ten times easier.

Since Aaron was a bit overbearing about Keeley not wearing herself out unnecessarily, they had a ridiculous amount of fancy cooking gadgets specifically used to shorten the amount of time it took to make things. The kitchen was large enough that there was room for all of them but sometimes she had to laugh in disbelief at how many there were.

She smiled at the reminder of her husband's thoughtfulness. She was a lucky woman.

But she had to admit, she dreaded telling Aaron about her day at work when he inevitably asked. He would probably freak out and demand Kate be fired. You can't fire someone for not liking their boss as long as the work is still getting done.

Besides, it had only been a day. Kate might change her mind once she got to know Keeley better. She considered herself a fairly likable person.

"Violet, do you want to come help me pour in the chocolate chips?" she called once the rest of the dough had formed.

It was better to save the easy tasks for her rather than letting her make a giant mess with the flour. Keeley had learned her lesson about that earlier this year.

"Coming, Mommy!" Violet yelled back, slightly out of breath. "I wanna do it!"

She handed her daughter the bag of chocolate chips. The recipe called for one cup and the two-cups-worth bag was half used so she let Violet dump the entire thing in. The little girl watched in awe as the KitchenAid swirled the chocolate chips around and around until they were thoroughly blended into the dough.

Keeley also let Violet help a little bit with the cookie scoop. Those little hands weren't quite strong enough to grip it properly so they did it together.

"I like cookies. I don't like preschool," she said sadly before clinging to her mother's leg. "I want Mommy all the time."

She stroked her daughter's hair. "I know, sweetie. Mommy wants you all the time too. But I have to go to work so I can help people like Uncle Kaleb."

The kids didn't know much about their uncle, only that he was very sick and died before they were born. Violet had cried when she first heard it because she thought it meant her Kaleb was very sick and was going to die too. It took a lot of reassuring that her twin was fine for her to calm down.

"Do you miss Uncle Kaleb?" Violet asked innocently.

"All the time," she said a bit wistfully. "He was my best friend, just like Kaleb is yours."

As her son grew, he looked and acted even more like her brother. Some days the memories wouldn't stop.

"I thought Daddy was your best friend."

Keeley chuckled. "He is. But I didn't meet Daddy until after Uncle Kaleb died."

"Oh." Violet immediately changed the subject. "Can I have four cookies?"

Ah, this kid! She loved her mother's baked goods nearly as much as her father did. "Let's start with one."