Presents And Pipes

I am doing my best to remain calm around Chance and Hope, never giving them a reason to worry. But it is hard. The thought of him being able to take the kids from me looms like a dark shadow in the back of my mind. I know it was part of his scare tactic, but I can’t seem to shake this feeling. The man is a convicted felon after all and until I know exactly how dangerous he is, I can’t take any unnecessary risks that would place my two sweethearts in harm’s way.

Before I knew it, Snowflake Day arrived. We spent a quiet day at home instead of going to the Festival like I had originally planned to do. Chance and Hope really enjoyed the gift I had bought them and happily spent hours playing together.

Watching them play while I baked cookies, I counted my blessings.

Days continued to slowly pass and there seemed to be no more developments in regards to Devlin or his threats. Jessalyn called to let me know that he went to jail because of grand theft auto, but had no record of being violent. While that eased my mind somewhat, what she said next brought all my concerns back in full force. He hadn’t bothered to check in with his parole officer and can’t be located. She said the police were doing everything they could to try to find him, but I needed to be aware of the situation. Oh, mercy! He could be anywhere, watching and waiting for an opportunity to strike. Sigh. I can feel a tension headache coming on.

I almost changed my mind about going to the consignment store, but the kids enjoy their “play-date” with Timi, so I called and coordinated a time that was good for both of us. Hindsight is 20/20 and I think I might have been a little too firm in my instructions about not opening the door to anyone while I was gone. I arrived home to an apologetic babysitter who was busy wringing out towels.

The bathroom sink needed to be fixed, but he was hesitant to call the repair guy and not follow my instructions. The poor boy. I quickly let him know that I wasn’t upset over the flooded bathroom and appreciated his efforts to keep my family safe while I was away from home. I could see that my words relieved him and I was able to send him on his way with a smile because I tipped him a little bit more than I usually do.

Domingo was on call for the repair shop and quickly arrived to lend a helping hand.

While I mopped, I wondered if perhaps it was time for me to learn how to do a few simple repairs and asked Domingo what he thought. With an exaggerated wink he replied, “What a cruel thing to say. You would deny me the pleasure of assisting someone as sweet as you.”

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