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“Yes!” she yelled back through the closed door.
Stella scooped up Rory. “Ready for a nap, baby?”
“I not a baby, Mommy!”
“Sorry, sorry. Is my big girl ready for a nap?”
Rory nodded like a bobble head and let Stella take her upstairs. I waited with Beans in the kitchen sipping a sparkling water while Stella got Rory settled.
My sister returned barely ten minutes later and sank into the chair across from me. “Thanks again for picking them up. How was auntie time?”
“No problem. It was fab as usual, but your husband is a bitch.”
Stella snort-laughed before she caught herself. “Don’t I know it. What did he do this time?”
“Not to be the bearer of bad news, but I’m pretty sure he’s dating someone. At the very least he’s fucking around.”
I watched a myriad of emotions flicker across my sister’s face: shock, anger, hurt.
“Did you see them?” she asked quietly.
“No.” I shook my head. “Nova told me.”
“For fuck’s sake.” Stella buried her face in her hands. “Why would he bring someone around the girls?”
“Why does Rodney do anything? He lives to infuriate you.”
Stella let out a sniffle. “I don’t know what to do.”
“My vote is that we forget that asshole and get you fighting for full custody with no visitation. The girls were wigged out when I picked them up. I would definitely get them over to that therapist you’ve had them visit and get everything recorded if you can. Rodney doesn’t deserve to see the girls. And that’s not even me being anti-dad. He’s a dick.”
“I know. It’s just hard. The house is in his name still and I can barely afford anything. I can’t take any more kids at the dayhome without hiring someone, and if I hire someone then I’m not making any more money, so what’s the point? I hate him for putting us in this position.”
I had never expected anything else out of Rodney, but I certainly didn’t say as much to my sister. “I don’t know, Stell. Do you think we could get the house from him? We could fix up the basement. You have a side entrance so you could get a tenant.”
My sister sighed and traced the wood grain of the table with her fingertip. “I know that’s a smart option, but I’m really not comfortable having a stranger in the house.”
“We could dig up someone safe.”
“I’ll think about it. I promise.” Stella rose from her seat and went to check the food in the oven, a wave of delicious smells wafting from inside. “Is there anything new with you?”
“Nah. You know me. I’m a boring workaholic.”
“Don’t forget to have a little fun once in a while. I know you don’t know how to rest, but you know how to have fun.”
“Well, let’s both make promises to think about it.”
She didn’t know I had been saving up, or at least didn’t know the purpose. Every dollar I had socked away after paying off my apartment and tuition was to help her and the girls. Maybe the money would end up being a university fund like I had given to my younger sister, or maybe it would go toward buying this house from Rodney so my sister and nieces would have a safe place to call home where things were familiar and Stella could continue running her business.
“Don’t use my words against me.”
“We all do what we gotta do, Stell. I know you wish things were different, but Rodney has a new place and he’s already getting back out there.”
“I don’t think I could do the same.”
“No? No one catching your eye?”
Stella’s cheeks flushed.
