Vaughn and Dash splash

Vaughn and Dash splashing in the wading pool on the front porch. KC watching over them, sitting in one of the green plastic chairs we bought years ago for the Brookfield apartment. I sit on the other side of the living room's east windows, away from the allergens outside, reclined in our home's conditioned air. Feet up on the ottoman, I read slowly Hoa Nguyen's Red Juice, lingering over the words—"like some food / to nurse / a book" and "the blue blaze of watery Earth"—though partly it's that my eyes are moving sluggishly because I'm fighting a headache for the eighth day in a row. Too much time staring at monitor screens? Or do I need new eyeglasses? Hope it's one of those and not something else. "Wore a Hemp Hat" lists some potential baby names. It makes me think of a few of the names on our list we didn't use: Auden (too soft or too trendy), Parker (if we had had another girl), Creeley (if we weren't Keeneys). I struggle through the brain-throbbing skull-pounding for a few more pages of the finely-made chapbook, then give up. Pull off my glasses, set them down on the seed crate, toss a pillow on the floor, and lie down. No sooner do I close my eyes, there's a rattling of the doorknob at the front door. The door flings open and Vaughn rushes in, "Got to go potty," she yells as she rushes through the living room and into the bathroom, where she struggles to take down her water-soaked skirt and underwear. "I need help, Daddy." I get up to help her, ask her if she wet herself at all. But no, it's all wading-pool water. Normally she plays in the wading pool with nothing on—must have wanted to go for something different this evening. While she pees, I lean my forehead against the doorframe of the bathroom. Close my eyes for a few seconds. Vaughn asks for help pulling her soaked skirt and underwear back up, tells me she's going back out. She washes her hands as I fetch her an animal cracker. "Thank you," she says as she takes it, puts it in her mouth and heads to the door. I open it for her. Poke my head out and see Dash still splashing under KC's watchful eyes. Everyone smiling. I close the door and lie back down on the floor, wondering when the Tylenol will start to work.