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Thirty-Four
Nick had made them bring clothes to change into, so they could play and stuff. Noah didn't exactly play anymore. But he'd done what he was told. That was what he was supposed to do, after all. So Nick didn't get rid of him. It had been like nine days—surely, the guy was sick of two kids by now?
This was the first time he'd been with someone other than Nick, though. It felt weird. Made him uneasy.
Like...maybe he didn't want Nick to be out of his sight right now.
Which was just stupid. Nick wasn't his real dad. He would never be. Nova held his hand as they got in Nick's girlfriend's van. Nick had pulled Nova's booster seat out of his truck and put it in the van already.
The blond lady who'd been with Robin took Nova by the hand. "I'm Rory. Robin and Glenna are my best friends. You guys doing ok?"
He just nodded. What else could he say?
Lunch was in an hour. Nick would be back by then. He'd promised.
Nova was chattering with the little girl she said was her best friend now. Phil had Becky in his arms. Noah checked on her once, just to make sure she was ok. Becky was so little. Like Nova used to be.
But she seemed perfectly ok. If a baby could be ok, so could he, right? The twins were bickering about something, but Rory sent them a look that had them behaving.
Then they were in the van and on the way to Phil's house again. Some of the kids in their car weren't even Robin's or Nick's. Somehow, the twins went with Parker, and Patton rode with Noah and this Rory and Nova and Becky. Like...they just traded kids all the time or something.
Of course, they were all going to the same place. Did it really matter whose car they were in?
He'd never done a Sunday dinner before. He had no idea what that even was.
Phil's kids were everywhere. And they were adults, too. And he had a bunch of sons-in-law that were important people in town. Even the sheriff was there.
They all said hi to him and Nova like they'd been there forever.
Like they belonged.
Didn't they get it? He didn't feel like he belonged here at all.
Patton told him he could use his room to change clothes in. Noah hurried, then stepped out into the hall. Patton had changed in his brother's room. "You good?"
"No. I'm not good." The words just came out. "This feels weird."
"How so?"
He felt like a total dork for saying anything. "Nothing."
"I'm sorry about your mom, by the way. It sucks what happened to her. I was nine when my mom died. She was in a car wreck."
"That stinks. I’m sorry."She’d died, too. And she’d had all those kids? That really was bad.
"I remember everybody crying and being mad. My brother Phoenix was mad the most. But he was driving. He blamed himself, my dad said. For not...changing things somehow."
Noah couldn't imagine how that would have felt. If he’d actually been there when his mom had died. "She was always taking medicine and stuff. Said it made her feel good. Not sad. Now we have to live here with Nick. And...I'm just not used to stuff around here, I guess. We lived in an apartment before." An apartment barely bigger than the two bedrooms next to him. He had clean clothes, plenty of food, a good bed to sleep in. And all of it was because of Nick. "It just feels weird. Like I'm on an alien planet."
"I can understand that. I used to think I'd just wake up and my mom would be there again. Like before. It took me a while to get used to her not being here. I was really sad for a long time."
"But your dad's girlfriend is here now. Do you hate her?" She was a nice lady, he thought. And her little girls weren't total brats. They'd welcomed Nova like she was one of them. He liked that. A lot of kids they'd known hadn't wanted Nova to play with them on the complex playground. Probably because of her hair and the way she'd smelled sometimes and her old clothes. He'd done his best.
It just hadn't been good enough.
"Not at all. She makes my dad smile. And she is nice. Really nice."
"I don't know how I'm supposed to feel. Or act. Or anything. I'm not Nick's real kid."
