Page 71 of AMS.TER.strum

‘Sadly, so did the vacuum cleaner,’ I mumble.

‘Shall we put shopping away?’ Mom suggests, and they run to her immediately.

Luuk is impressed. ‘Great helpers.’

‘More like guilty ones. Also, sneaky; they’ll know where their favorite treats are.’

‘We all need an incentive, don’t we?’ He shifts his body with considerable effort.

‘Do you need painkillers?’

He shakes his head. ‘I’m still okay, thanks.’

‘Mom can kiss it okay.’ Otto sounds proud of having found the solution.

‘Yes!’ Ada shares his enthusiasm. ‘She does it every time we get an ouch-y.’

‘Nah, your mom doesn’t want to kiss my foot.’

My face ignites, but I manage to say, ‘Not very fair, spreading those LEGO everywhere, then asking someone to fix the mess, huh?’

I’m semi-mad at them, well-aware that those nasty little bricks were an accident waiting to happen. Also, I feel semi-guilty for my happiness that Luuk isn’t gone. Am I a terrible person for rejoicing when he’s in pain? And how can he be so gorgeous even when he’s clearly in discomfort and has his manager nagging at him—to put it mildly—about the whole mess.

Yes, I am glad to have Luuk here for the next four weeks or so. Sure, it’s weird that we went from friends and wannabe lovers to having sizzling sex to living together—temporarily, I remind myself. Still, this is amazing, as the kids orbit him while I make dinner, set it for him on the cushioned tray I use for my laptop. The rest of us eat at the coffee table, not wanting to leave him alone. Luuk laughs that we have folded ourselves like origami, while we could be comfortably sitting at the table like he is on the couch.

When bedtime comes for the kids, I’m so exhausted from the intense day—and the night that preceded it—that I’ll definitely pass out as soon as my head touches a flat surface.

‘Bedtime, guys.’ I announce.

‘Where will Luuk sleep?’ Ada asks.

‘He can take my bed, so that he’s comfortable.’

‘And you?’ Otto follows suit.

The totally legit question puts my cheeks on fire. ‘I’ll take the couch.’

I’ll most probably sneak next to him later, although I wonder if it would be better to just allow him the comfort of a whole bed.

‘Absolutely not.’ Luuk is adamant.

‘My house, my rules,’ I say.

‘Luuk will sleep alone?’ Ada sounds appalled.

‘Y…yes?’ both he and I reply.

‘When we are sick, we don’t sleep alone,’ Ada says.

‘Mama, when we are ziek, we come to your bed,’ Otto reminds me.

I cast a look towards Luuk. ‘In this family, we make a point of sharing our germs.’

He seems to love the idea. ‘Is that so?’

Fine, I also don’t want to leave one of them out of my supervision when they’re sick or the other alone while two of us are in my bed. So all three of us end up in my bedroom. But a stuffy nose isn’t a broken limb, where a stray foot can land in the middle of the night.

‘Absolutely not. Luuk doesn’t want broken ribs next to a broken leg.’