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“Sure thing, love. I’ll check her over and see what all needs immediate attention and I’ll let you know, okay?”
I follow him to the cab of the truck, calling out a ‘bye’ and ‘thanks’ to the sinfully hot cop. I can’t fall for a pretty face anymore, I tell myself. Silas opens the door, so I climb in while he goes and says a couple words to Odin. The ride home is quiet for the most part. It’s a comfortable silence other than when he asks a couple questions about the car and how my grandmother is doing. I can’t help but keep stealing glances at him. These men are hot as hell. He looks like he would be intimidating to anyone else, with his face tattoos and all his piercings, but he has the softest blue eyes. When we arrive he gets out and comes around to my door before I even have my seatbelt off. After getting my number, and helping me get the kids’ car seats out of my car, he says a quick ‘bye’ and is gone. Well, that was a stark difference from his brother.
I don’t even make it in the door fully before I’m tackled by my three tiny humans, who are acting like I’ve been gone for days. “Hey my babies did y’all miss me or something?” I ask, leaning down to hug each one.
“Well, Maw-Maw said we couldn’t get in the pool till you got home to help watch us, ‘cause she’s too old to keep up with us by herself,” Arden tells me rolling his eyes.
I laugh at my son’s theatrics. “Okay babe, let me go get changed and then we can swim for a bit. I need to eat lunch first and talk to Maw-Maw. Where is she hiding?’’
“In the kitchen making tacos.”
“Okay, well y’all go to the kitchen and wait since you’re in y’all’s bathing suits, and I’ll meet you there, okay?’’
“Okay! Just hurry up momma, I wanna swim!” Lochlan says as he follows his brother and sister running to the kitchen.
“STOP RUNNING!” I call after them.
Three little voices yelling “Yes ma’am!’’ is the reply. I rush to our wing to get changed and twenty-five minutes later I finally make it to the kitchen just as my grandmother is serving up food. As I walk in, my stomach growls, as if on cue.
“Mommy, your belly is funny!” Vivi giggles.
“It’s hungry,” I tell her. “I think I’m going to have to just eat you up then, huh?” I lunge for her and kiss all over her face as she screeches and laughs.
“Okay now kids, no playing at the table,” Maw-Maw chides, smiling as she hands the kids their plates, then hands me mine.
“Maw-Maw, I could have fixed our plates.’’
“Hush and eat, child. Where is your car?’’
“Oh, it broke down about ten miles down the road. An officer Odin stopped and called his brother. Silas, I think his name was? He dropped me off and towed my car to his shop. He’s supposed to call me in the morning to tell me how much it’ll be to fix everything.”
“Well, you let me know so I can send a check, and don’t even try to tell me not to.’’
I’m left gaping at this crazy lady. “You already gave me my part of the inheritance, Maw-Maw. I can pay for it.”
“That money is for you to start your life over, and that’s the end of it. Now how did it go at the school? Were you able to get the boys registered?”
“Yes ma’am I did and it went great, other than the old bat at the front desk being a judgy bitch. Oh, and I met the principal Chris and his husband Nathan, the counselor.”
“Mommy you’re silly, boys can’t marry each other. Daddy said that's a sin and they will go to hell. Does that mean they are bad people and are going to hurt me? Gigi said boys who like boys are bad people and will hurt me.” Arden looks so scared as he asks. I’m so appalled that I’m practically seeing red. I can’t believe those homophobic assclowns told my kids that bullshit.
God, I really fucking hate that family.“Baby, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with someone who likes the same gender. Love is love. Not everyone believes in heaven and hell, or even god for that matter. You know how you went to church with your dad, Gigi and Pops? Well, there are over 4,000 different religions in the world. Some believe in God, some don’t . Some believe you can’t eat pork, some believe that hunting and fishing are sins. As long as they aren’t hurting others, it’s no one’s business what anyone else does in their life, okay?”
“Okay mommy. Daddy was mean and believed you and sissy didn’t matter as much as me and bubba, so is he in hell?”
I stare wide-eyed at my grandmother, because how the hell do you explain that to a child? Before I can even try to come up with something, Lochlan pipes up.
“I hope daddy, Gigi and Pops are all in hell. They always said such mean things about mommy and Vivi. I hated daddy!” he exclaims, bursting out in tears. Just seeing my son in this much pain has my heart clenching. One glance at my grandmother and we both are moving toward them on instinct.
Maw-Maw and I grab the kids in a big hug. “Mommy and I promise, from now on all of you will be safe, and happy. I am so sorry I couldn’t protect y'all but I promise it won’t happen again.” She kisses their heads. After that brutal conversation is over, we sit down and eat. When Maw-Maw sees the kids finishing up, she stands up “Now, I have something to show y'all, cause I finally got it ready, so follow me.’’
I grab Vivian and follow Maw-Maw down the hall, distracted by my thoughts until she opens a door that I hadn’t noticed before.. You’ve got to be kidding me.
“A PLAY ROOM!!!!” Arden runs into what can only be described as a huge, indoor tree house… thing. Lochlan and Vivian run after him laughing. This room is insane. It's about the size of a freaking basketball court, but painted all different colors, and it almost looks like a small town, right down to the ‘streets’ that are painted on the floor. One wall is set up for pretend play, complete with a kid’s kitchen, cafe, even a small fire truck. Another side is set up for different sports, and the built-in fort monstrosity that takes up the two other walls has swings, different things to climb, a ball pit, and slides.
“Maw-Maw, are you serious? This is crazy! And it’s so big!”
She just shrugs. “Well, this was originally a ballroom that we didn’t need, and now they have somewhere to run wild. There are cameras for every inch of this place, so you can watch them on your phone or any TV in this house. Plus there are speakers so we can hear everything. There is an exit door, but it is keyed the same as the pool house and conservatory and all exterior doors, so only we can open them.” She grins like a mad woman. “What do you think, kids?”
