Lionize

lionize

1. to treat (a person) as a celebrity: to lionize the visiting poet.
2. British. to visit or exhibit the objects of interest of (a place).
3. to pursue celebrities or seek their company.

He felt their eyes on him as he headed to the car. He looked up to see his sons standing in the doorway. His youngest son, Hayden had his mother’s eyes–bright blue and always full of curiosity and mirth. But now his eyes held questions as he tried to understand what was happening around him.

His older brother Josiah, kept his hand on Hayden’s shoulder. Lee couldn’t tell if he was reassuring his youngest child or gently restraining him.

Josiah was a carbon copy of himself, from his chocolate brown hair to the way he ran wildly with his imperfect gait. His brown eyes flashed angrily.

Lee knew that look all too well. It was the way you look at someone you lionize when they’ve succumbed to the weighty ounces of gin for far too long.

He wanted to reassure his sons, tell them that he never wanted

Factotum

 factotum

1. any employee or official having many different responsibilities.
2. a person, as a handyman or servant, employed to do all kinds of work around the house.

Maria looked down at her 6-year-old sons. All three were covered in mud from the top of their curly heads to the bottoms of their Converse shoes. Her jaw dropped, but nothing came from her mouth. Her vocal chords felt paralyzed at the sight of them.

She rewrapped the raw chicken she was about to place in the oven.

Normally they were identical triplets. Right now, one was missing a patch of hair, the other had a puffy bruise on his cheek and a black eye, and the third looked the guiltiest of all with a bloody, now-crooked nose and small claw marks on his forehead.

“Where’s Benjamin,” Maria asked,