Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
“Hmm, I’ll call her mother to check, but I don’t see why not.”
“Does that mean I’m going to be stuck with Grandma and Granddad by myself on Saturday? They’re cool, but they always do old people stuff.” DJ scowled.
“Not if you don’t want to. And just remember you’ll be old one day, too, if you’re lucky, so how about cutting them some slack, okay? They really enjoy your visits.”
“Sorry.”
“All right, but you should be more aware of what you say, because you can hurt people’s feelings.” She gave her son a brief smile. He was a good kid and she knew he meant no harm by his comment. “Maybe we can do something together. A movie perhaps?”
“That sounds cool, but I don’t want to see a girlie movie, okay, Mom?” Her son was making a skyscraper out of his mashed potatoes.
“And what do you consider a girlie movie?”
“Any movie with people crying, and old women.”
Brandi had to cover her mouth. Her children always said the craziest things. “I see. I suppose you would like to see something with lots of blood, guts, and guns?”
“Well, yeah. That would be cool. I wouldn’t mind seeing Blood Ring, with Jean Stallone-Segal.”
“Yuck. Isn’t he that horrible actor who can barely speak English?” Brandi frowned.
“Jean Stallone-Segal kicks butt, Mom!”
“You know we’re not allowed to watch those types of movies,” Mya piped up, her mouth full of chicken.
‘Mya, I don’t need you to speak for me.” She gave her daughter a stern look before turning back to her son. “You know I’m not going to allow you to watch something like that. You’ll have nightmares.”
“Aww, Mom. I’m not a baby.” DJ looked mulish.
“I know you’re not, but I’m still not letting you watch something as violent as
Blood Ring sounds. Maybe we can see a nice family comedy.”
DJ looked less than enthusiastic.
“Hey, don’t look so sad about hanging out with your old Mom.”
“It’s not that it’s just…” his voice trailed off.
“Just what?” Brandi prompted, frowning at DJ’s worried expression.
“It will be just you and me? No Uncle Rodney?”
She frowned. That seemed like an odd question because she thought her kids loved Rodney. “Yes, sweetie, it will be just you and me. Do you have a problem with Rodney?”
DJ didn’t say anything.
“DJ, you do like him, don’t you?”
“I liked him better when he was just Daddy’s friend.”
It never occurred to her that DJ wouldn’t like Rodney. Why was it that everyone suddenly seemed to be having issues with him, and why hadn’t she realized it before?
“Do you feel this way, too, Mya?”
“He’s okay. He brings me toys.” Her daughter shrugged and stuffed some peas in her mouth.
“Toys aren’t going to make him my daddy. I hate him! I wish I had Daddy back!” DJ leapt from the chair and ran out of the dining room.
Before she went after DJ, Brandi looked at Mya, who sat as still as a statue.
Her son was sprawled on his bed, sobbing silently into his pillow. Brandi sat down next to him and stroked his soft hair.
“Honey, it’s okay. I know how you feel,” she whispered sympathetically.
DJ turned around with angry eyes. “No, you don’t! You love Rodney better than you love me. I know you do.”
She gasped. She could never love Rodney as much as she loved her babies! Where was this coming from? “Baby, why would you say something like that? You and Mya are the two most important people in my life. Nothing will ever change that.”
“Then why are you going to marry him? When I see you with him, it hurts me right here,” he said pointing to his heart.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She hadn’t realized how her engagement to Rodney affected her children. They seemed to like Rodney, so she never thought to ask them how they felt about her getting married to him. Come to think about it, the night she accepted Rodney’s proposal was still kind of murky in her head. That entire night was a complete blank.
An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach, but she pushed those thoughts out of her mind to focus on her son.
“Do you feel this way about Rodney because you still miss your dad?”
“Dad was great. Rodney’s okay, but he’s not Dad.”
“Is it Rodney you have the problem with or just the idea of me being with someone other than your father?” She wiped the wet tracks from his cheeks. “What if I didn’t marry Rodney, but later I found someone else I wanted to marry?”
DJ seemed to be giving this question serious thought. “I dunno. On Friday, when I was at Ben’s I thought his dad was really neat. I liked him a lot. I guess I wouldn’t mind if you were with someone like him.”
Brandi froze. How was it that everything always came back to Mason somehow? How ironic that DJ would say this after her earlier speech to Mason about the kind of man she thought she might end up with.