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“Still not telling you, buddy. You gotta wait. Are you ready to go?”
“Yep! I hope there are new dinosaur books.” He looks up at me as we walk out of Jones’s Diner. “Mommy, did you get more dinosaur books?”
I have to clear my throat before I can answer. “I think there’s a few more you haven’t read.”
I never knew being called Mommy would be my undoing, but as I look at my blue-eyed boy, I feel my heart get pieced back together.
I grab Noah’s hand and feel Tucker take my other hand as we walk out to the car. These boys are my family. My entire world finally feels like it’s spinning in the right direction.
* * *
We pullinto the garage after finishing up at the library. Noah is about to burst out of his seat from excitement. He’s been wiggling and fidgeting since we got in the car to come home.
Tucker gets him out of the car and he races inside, trying to figure out what the surprise is before we tell him.
“Where is it?” Noah asks, and Tucker just points to the backyard. The sun is setting, providing a beautiful glow to the evening sky. Noah races out of the back door and stops in his tracks at the sight before him.
A huge playset stands in the backyard, inviting anyone to come and play. It’s got a rock wall, a slide, and a few swings to play on. I’ve never seen such happiness on a little boy's face.
“Is that for me?” Noah asks.
“Yep, all for you buddy,” Tucker says and takes off towards the playset, encouraging Noah to climb up the ladder and go down the slide.
My phone rings in my hand while my boys play, and I look down in confusion at the unknown number.
“Hello?” I answer.
“Hi, Natalie. This is Craig from the city council.” What the hell is he doing calling me? I haven’t needed anything from them since the computers back in February.
“Hey, Craig. What’s going on?”
“First of all, I wanted to apologize to you for all of the trouble you’ve had with the council. After the communication debacle earlier this year, I did some digging into Edward’s past behaviors and found a lot of nefarious dealings with residents.”
My jaw drops at his words. I can’t believe someone started looking into Edward’s behavior. I catch Tucker’s eye, and he immediately comes over to me in worry.
“I can’t tell you everything we’ve found as it’s still an ongoing investigation, but I can tell you we know he was attempting to stop your requests. I wanted to apologize for the added stress it’s caused you,” he continues, and I still can’t wrap my head around this.
There were more people involved than just me? It’s not exactly surprising, but it’s still hard to believe he’s managed to be a dickhead for so long.
I thank Craig and hang up the phone. “Edward is being ousted from the council. Apparently, I’m not the only person he’s been messing with,” I say to Tucker.
“Not exactly a surprise, given what we know about him. I’m glad he’s getting what’s coming to him.”
“So am I.”
I look towards Noah, who’s shouting for Tucker to come push him, and I just smile. My family is finally whole. Despite all of the things that have happened, we’re stronger now than we ever were before.
They’re my everything, and I love getting to be theirs.
