"And then Rodney called me a dork because I don't know how to ride a bike. But then Gigi said that it's okay as long as I don't end up like him and fart everywhere."
Nadine overheard Sora facetiming James in her room.
"He farts everywhere, Daddy! And they smell. He doesn't even say sorry when he does."
"Farting is natural, Baby," she heard James say over the phone speaker.
"You and Mommy don't fart everywhere!"
"Because we're older. We can sorta control where and when we fart."
"Boys are gross," Sora complained.
"You think Daddy's gross?" James joked around.
"You're not a boy!" she said, defensively. "You're a dad."
Nadine laughed from behind the wall. Even though it had only been a week, so far James had kept up to his promise to call every night before Sora went to bed. But everytime Sora finally said goodnight, he would just give a quick, "Goodnight. I love you," to Nadine before hanging up. Nadine wanted to talk to him too, but she knew he must be tired from working all hours.
"Goodnight, Daddy. I love you. Mwuah!"
"Love you, too. Goodnight, Princess."
Nadine went into the room, took the phone, and tucked Sora in, not realizing that James was still on the line. It wasn't until she was out of Sora's room and about to put her phone in her back pocket that James finally said something.
"Nice view."
Nadine popped the phone back up to see James laughing. She rolled her eyes at him.
"Perv."
"What? Even from 9 hours away, I can still appreciate a nice butt."
Nadine walked into her room and closed the door behind her. While James talked to Sora, Nadine took the opportunity to get ready for bed. When she got into her bed, she started to yawn.
"Sleepy?" his voice had a hint of mischief.
She scoffed at him, "Excuse me for not being prepared to talk to you. This is the first time you're actually talking to me this week."
James smiled apologetically through the video call, "I'm sorry, Love. It's just been so hectic."
Nadine nodded, "I know. I'm just messing with you. I don't have time either with this stupid gala coming up. Our department's in charge of decorating, so Cynthia's been on our asses."
She watched as James got into bed and tucked himself into the hotel sheets. She laid down and turned to her side to hold the phone out as if James was in bed with her, looking back.
"When's the gala again? June 16th?"
She nodded, "Are you gonna be back by then? Or is it cutting it close? I can always say I'm not bringing a date."
James laughed, "Date? I'm surprised you didn't refer to me as a 'Plus One.'"
Nadine rolled her eyes before she laughed. She stopped with a sigh and looked at James on her phone. She missed him more than she'd like to admit, but she knew better than to hope that he missed her back. She wanted to tell him that she wanted to make it official that they were getting back together, but with him having to be gone, something was pulling her back.
"Love, are you okay?" James asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"Yeah, I guess I'm overthinking about work."
