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“I’m done talking, Eliza. I’d end up liable for the lien in the long run because it’s my house, and I couldn’t sell it without paying off the debt first. Even if I didn’t sell the house, it would eventually go to the children, who would be responsible for paying it. It’s not fair to me and certainly not fair to them.”
Eliza started crying, but I was distracted by Kierra’s return and the huge smile she had on her face. She tackled me to the blanket, and I hung up on my blubbering ex-wife.
“Thank you for the roses,” she whispered into the side of my neck.
“You’re welcome.”
“Did I interrupt your call?”
“No. It was no one important,” I answered, running a hand up and down her waist.
“Ms. Kierra! Come jump with us!” Casey shouted through the trampoline safety net.
“Duty calls,” Kierra sighed, pulling herself from the blanket.
“I’ll come join you.”
* * *
Kiyah squirmed from beside me in her Gi. Several times, she jumped up, wanting to join the other kids. And several times, I had to remind her that we were just observing for the evening.
“Mr. Jonathan, I want to do it, too. Pleeeeeeease,” she begged, shaking my arm.
“I’ll sign you up after class is over, okay?” I said, bouncing Daisy on my knee. I’d given Kierra the evening off to have some time to herself and took the younger kids with me to karate practice.
“Yesssss,” she hissed, kicking her legs back and forth. “Mr. Jonathan, your phone is ringing.”
“I know, sweetheart,” I said, ignoring the fourteenth call from Eliza. As far as I was concerned, there was nothing left for us to discuss.
A few minutes later, loud crashing and yelling came from the parking lot. “No fucking way,” I growled when I spotted Eliza busting out the windows of my SUV with a baseball bat. The girls started crying.
“It’s okay, girls,” I said, trying to console them as I dialed 9-1-1. I quickly rattled off the situation and provided them with our names and locations. I was promised an officer would arrive shortly. I hung up and started recording Eliza’s destruction.
“Why is Mommy doing that to the car?” Casey asked.
“Because she’s a psycho,” Grant said with enough pain in his voice to make your heart break. I looked down at him and found him holding Kiyah and trying to comfort her.
“Grant, stay here and watch your siblings. I need to have a word with your mother.”
“No, don’t go out there, Mr. Jonathan! She’ll kill you! I don’t want you to die, too!” Kiyah shrieked.
That desperate plea was enough to stop me in my tracks. I was being foolish. What good would it do to confront Eliza and further traumatize the children?
I’ll use my day off tomorrow to go to family court. At this point, I don’t even think supervised visits are on the table.
Eliza’s actions had consequences, and it was about time that she learned.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kierra
I relaxed against the bath pillow with an appreciative groan and a glass of a little something something. I was free of child-rearing duties for the evening and would take full advantage.
It was crazy how much I trusted Jonathan with Kiyah, but after weeks of observing their interactions and knowing how Kiyah felt about him, I put any hesitation at ease. I still needed to iron out the kinks with Jonathan about what we were or what we planned to be.
Are we dating, or just fucking? Or are we fucking with the intention of dating?
Whatever the case, Kiyah deserved a straightforward and honest answer.
