“I never get to kill anyone, either,” I said, and she nodded. “But I survived and took care of my baby, so that’s still something.”
Yarrow smiled and looked at Boone. “I feel guilty. I kept telling your dad that I didn’t want to wait until the weekend. Now, this happened. I might have magical powers.”
“If so, use them to order us pizza,” Pax said as he walked past us. “I’m getting hungry.”
Yarrow lost her smile and rolled her eyes. “Can I peek in on the girls? I promise I won’t act weird.”
I took her hand and showed her to the girls’ bedroom. Quietly opening the door, I found my babies in the same position, facing each other, cuddled against their sleeping bear.
The adoring expression on Yarrow’s pretty face made me both sad over losing my mom and happy to know Skylar and Lyric would have a loving grandma in their life.
BOONE
My mom could barely wait for the girls to wake up. Yarrow sat next to their door and cuddled with Beef Jerky. Nova surprised me by sitting next to my mom. They mostly talked about the dog and what I was like as a baby.
Blackjack set two small pink bags on the kitchen counter near where I stood. “Your mom bought lava lamps for the girls.”
“I figured she would, so I’ve been holding off getting them myself.”
My dad smirked. “I’m glad to see you’re no longer moping.”
Sharing his smile, I admitted, “Deep down, I knew Nova was mine. Waiting was killing me.”
Goldie joined us and rested her head against Blackjack’s chest. “I knew Boone and Nova were perfect together,” she lied. “I was always pushing him to make his move, but no one listens to me.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, grinning at her bullshit. “Your haircut looks great.”
“It makes my head look huge. I might decide to wear a wig until it grows out.”
Blackjack chuckled. “Get one of those big, brassy ones that’ll make you look like Lita Ford or Bret Michaels.”
“Done,” Goldie said and smiled at where Yarrow and Nova sat together. “Today sucked, but this part is good.”
Blackjack hugged Goldie and exhaled deeply. I felt him controlling his temper. We weren’t in the right venue to lose control.
But remaining calm was more difficult once the girls got up. They started off excited about meeting my parents and Beef Jerky. They were thrilled with their lava lamps. They helped meorder pizza for everyone. Things were going well, and I could almost forget my earlier rage.
Yet, as Lyric was telling Yarrow about riding the mechanical horse, her little face suddenly scrunched up.
“The man pushed Mama down,” she whimpered and burst into tears.
Skylar instantly started crying and reached for Nova. “You have to go to the hospital,” Skylar said as her mom consoled her. “You have a hole in your body.”
Lyric wanted me to hold her. “You saved us,” she whimpered in my ear. “Don’t go.”
“I’m staying right here,” I said and stroked her little back.
“You got hurt when I was in school,” Skylar told Nova. “I need to retire school.”
Nova smiled softly. “But you like going to school.”
Still panicking, Skylar cried, “You got hurt!”
“Just my butt,” Nova said. “You can’t stop going to school over my butt.”
Skylar grudgingly smiled at the “butt” part. Yet, as she hugged her mom, the girl seemed ready to cry again.
Before the girls embraced more tears, Beef Jerky trotted outside, trailing Ramen and Xena. Lyric instantly smiled at the sight of the dogs. Skylar took longer to rebound, but eventually, she also followed the animals into the yard.
