Turning A New Leaf

Three

"We're home!" Rocco called as he and his father opened the door.

Atira was in her last Zoom meeting of the day, dicing vegetables at the table as she participated. She smiled in their direction, her eyes diverting back to the computer screen.

"Quiet, bro," Krist whispered, "She's still working, go play in your room."

Rocco nodded before running to his bedroom to play. Kristi crept over to Atira, swiping the cutting board and vegetables from her, careful to avoid the camera on her laptop.

He got to work on dinner, Atira had sent him a recipe for the sheet pan hoisin chicken and vegetables she had intended on making. Once dinner had gone into the oven, he went to the bathroom for a quick shave and shower.

"Hey, babe," she smiled, greeting him at the bathroom door as he emerged, shirtless and in his gray sweats that Atira jokingly referred to as his lingerie, slut pants or yoga pants because everyone knew why men wore them.

He kissed her tenderly, "How was work?"

Atira made a gag face, "Nothing but a bunch boring-ass meetings, whiny emails and now we have to do this freaking recruiting event. We are supposed to fill, like, thirty positions by March so we can get them all started in the same training class. Oh and not to mention, I have cramps and PMS like nobodys business," she ranted.

He wrapped his arms around her body, "You know what helps cramps, right?" He asked suggestively.

"Yeah, wine and some Motrin," she laughed, knowing exactly what Krist was getting at.

"I was gonna say a deep dicking," he whispered in her ear and kissed her neck. When she shot him an irritated look, he chuckled, "Wine and Motrin it is."

Atira cackled over her shoulder and strode into the kitchen, her hips swayed side to side as she walked. She had taken off her blouse and was wearing a black cami with his basketball short. She could wear a garbage bag and still look fine as fuck. He swore she teasing him the way she walked away. Atira pulled dinner out of the oven and Krist called for Rocco to come eat.

"Dinner looks bomb," he told Atira in a song-song voice.

"I mean, you basically made it," she pointed out.

"Nah, it was a team collaboration," he grinned and gave her ass a squeeze. She turned and gave him a fake scowl, "Sorry, baby." He flashed her the cheesiest smile he could manage.

"You're lucky you're hot," Atira told him with a smirk.

"You love me," he replied.

"I do but doesn't mean you aren't driving me nuts," she grinned.

Krist plated Atira and Rocco's dinner, "I'll tone it down," he promised.

She kissed him, "Still love you though."

****

After dinner, Krist got Rocco in the tub and scrubbed the bathroom while Atira cleaned the kitchen. He didn't realize how nice it was to have help. He'd been doing everything for him and Rocco since they'd moved into their own spot. It wasn't hard to do but with Atira there, it meant the household crap was done sooner and meant they had more time to relax as a family.

Atira wasn't the first female he'd lived with of course. He'd lived with Heather for a while and had done his share of housework, though there wasn't much to be done since they didn't cook regularly and neither of them were home much. With Lainey, they'd been so fucking high all the time,  the fighting and breaking shit, the little apartment they shared was fucking bad. Krist was actually a fairly clean person and couldn't believe he'd lived in legit filth like that.

After Rocco had gotten out of the tub, he scurried into the living room to play with at his Lego table. Krist was not a fan of Legos but Rocco loved to build with them. So long as he kept most of them on the table, he could have  all the damn Legos he wanted.

Atira was on the couch wrapped up in a Sherpa blanket, knees to her chest. "You feeling alright, baby?" He asked.

"Eh, crampy and bitchy," she sighed.

"After I get Rocco to bed, want to take a bath and I'll run to Freddy's for some wine and Motrin?" He asked, kissing the top of her head.

"Yes! That would seriously be amazing," she replied.

He watched some show on Investigation Discovery until it was bedtime for Rocco. 8 P.M. sharp. Rocco helped him put any stray Legos in his bin and ran to pick out a bedtime story. "Night Atira!" He yelled.

She smiled over her shoulder, "Goodnight, Rocs,"

Krist tucked him into bed and read "Oh the places you'll go!" by Dr. Seuss. It had become Rocco's newest favorite story and was long as hell.

Krist occasionally tried to sub in words out of boredom but Rocco, being attentive and someone who did not play about his bedtime stories would interrupt him and yell, "Say the right words!" He couldn't wait for Rocco to find a new book to obsess over.

"You're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting," Krist read aloud, "Soooo...get on your way!" He closed the book, setting it back on the shelf and rose to his feet, "Night bud."

"Goodnight, Dad," Rocco smiled, pulling the covers up to his chin and rolling to his side.

Krist leaned down and kissed Rocco's forehead before flipping the light off. He went out to the living room where Atira was still in the couch, curled in a ball.

"I'm gonna head to Freddy's, you need anything o else from there?"

She smiled sheepishly, "Um..tampons?" She blushed. "I've got a few but will probably run out tomorrow. If you feel weird buying them, I can always go grab them later."

Krist shrugged, "Trust me, that shit don't phase me at all," he told her with a chuckle. "Just text me which ones you need because otherwise my ass is gonna forget."

Krist never understood lame ass dudes who were bothered by tampons and shit like that. Even when he'd been an immature teenager, he was non phased by any of it. He'd go grab what his girl needed, tampons, pregnancy tests, Heather's fuckin' yeast infection cream, whatever. Shit, there'd been a few times girls at the strip club he worked at asked him if he could see their tampon strings in their g-strings.

He slipped his feet into his Nike slides, grabbed his car keys and kissed his girl. "Be right back, baby, don't forget to text me what you need."

Krist went to the store for Atira's things and also picked up a small bouquet of flowers as well a some Fritos and bean dip because his ass was gonna be hungry later.

On the way back, he hit the dispensary for a couple pre-rolls because he liked to smoke before bed. He knew he needed to stop smoking if he was gonna be looking for a job soon. Yes, weed was legal at a state level but a lot of employers still followed federal laws when it came to drug testing.

He didn't want to stop because his anxiety was a fucking bitch, especially at night, but it would only be temporary. Who knows, maybe it would be for good and he could figure out how to handle his bullshit without weed.