Bab 24: Chapter 24

“Yes, nicely done, Wyatt!”

The boy beamed at him. Jesus, the kids were definitely in need of some positive reinforcement. “Here, I found the toys. Do you want to come see?”

Wyatt slid off the couch, leaving banana in his wake, but Del couldn’t be bothered. Together, they took off the lid and went through some of the stuff inside.

There were old, partially filled coloring books, which interested Wyatt a bit. The ancient cars—some of them might’ve been Del’s, actually—were nice, but didn’t light Wyatt up.

Then, on the very bottom of the bin, were a couple of off-brand Barbie dolls. The way Wyatt’s whole expression changed into enthusiasm made tears well in Del’s eyes.

The boy clutched the brunette doll into his chest and closed his eyes, as if it was the happiest moment of his life.

Del grabbed a box with maybe ten pieces of Duplos and took them to Scarlett on the other side of the table. “Here, girlie. You can look at these while you watch the show.”