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“Hey, what’s—”
“Wren, I need you to come to the house. There’s a situation with Shiloh, and Jenn and Bodhi have gone to the school, but we should both be here when they come back.”
I was already moving, pushing my feet into my boots. “Okay, I’m at the cabin, so I’ll be there in a few.”
“Good.”
Nyx materialized when I was halfway to the house, then jogged next to me and took a spot on the porch next to Hades.
I’d heard the way Mike was upset, but to my surprise when I got to the house, he looked like it, too. I immediately walked over and hugged him tightly. He let out a huff, then hugged me back.
“Thank you, son. That’s exactly what I needed,” he murmured as we let go of each other.
“So, what do we know?” I asked, going straight to the coffee machine.
He explained that Laura had shown up at the school and made a scene, and he didn’t know much more, outside that Jenn and Bodhi had gone to war.
“I have no clue what might happen,” I admitted. “Any thoughts?”
“Jenn messaged me quickly to say that a social worker from the DHS is there. Department of Human Services,” he added quickly at my raised eyebrow. “That can’t be good. Well, it is good, because they’re paying attention and doing something, but I will bet my bottom dollar that she’s going to take Shiloh for a while, until this is all sorted out.”
I handed him his mug—a faded We heart Dad one—and filled mine next. I thought about it, about how this would affect Bodhi.
“He won’t take this well,” I said out loud.
“No, neither of them will. Bodhi gets it from his mother, so….” She wouldn’t take it well, either.
“She would’ve made a great Marine,” I joked, but neither of us laughed. Goddammit. I hated this situation so much for everyone, but mostly for poor Shiloh.
“All we can do is be there for them when they come back.”
We sat with our coffees, barely talking and opting to exist with each other while we waited for our people.
Hawk dropped by to grab some paperwork from Jenn’s office and cursed under his breath when he heard the news.
“Do I tell the others yet?” he asked as he drank his coffee while standing by the counter.
Mike sighed. “Don’t. We’ll figure it out and call a family meeting or maybe just explain everything on the family group chat. Depends on what your mother wants to do.”
“Okay. Well you let me know if you need anything or if something changes, yeah?” Hawk downed his coffee and hugged his dad, then went on to continue his workday.
A while later the laptop on the table pinged to signal that the gate was being opened. Both of us got to our feet and went to the porch. The dogs looked confused, because they recognized the sound of the SUV, but we were more alert than usual.
“Stand down,” Mike told them, and both immediately relaxed.
Bodhi parked in the front, and the fact that there wasn’t a little boy in that SUV with them made my heart squeeze painfully.
Nothing prepared me for the frustration and anger in Bodhi’s body language, though. Jenn looked determined with a hint of devastation, but Bodhi just looked angry. She came up the stairs and fell into Mike’s arms with a sob that I could tell had been coming for a while. I went the opposite way, stilling Bodhi before he got far from the SUV.
“Hey, can you take a deep breath for me?” I stepped right in front of me, but something in the way he looked made me hesitant to touch him.
He swallowed, gaze darting everywhere but my face, and then he made eye contact. I almost jerked back at the hardness I saw in his ever-familiar eyes.
He took that breath, then rolled his shoulders in a distinctly agitated way, and gritted his teeth.
“Please don’t… don’t push me right now, Wren.”
That hurt, but I hid it like I had hidden how in love I was with him for decades. Instead, I nodded and stepped back, letting him follow his parents into the house.
