Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 68576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
“Thanks,” he murmured, handing Forest over.
Forest transferred his hold to my neck and buried his face under my hair.
I was so very angry.
I was getting angrier by the second when Emory argued with Auden, saying she had every right to see her child and that we’d stolen him from her.
I looked out the window, trying to get myself under control, and saw my sister leaning against her car smoking a cigarette.
Upon catching my eyes, she wiggled her fingers at me in a ‘fuck you’ gesture.
Of course she’d orchestrated this. Of. Course.
I flipped her off, then moved farther into the hallway close to the bathrooms when Emory’s shrill, angry yells got louder.
I took Forest into the bathroom and sat him on the counter.
His eyes were filled with tears as he said, “Mommy mad.”
I seriously could happily punch her right in the face.
“Uncle Daddy can take care of your so-called mother,” I grumbled. “In the meantime, let’s wash our hands. Do you want to try to go to the bathroom?”
That was another development last week.
After watching not one, but four of the uncles pee outside of their houses in the last week, he’d declared that he was done with diapers.
Crazy enough, he took to it naturally, and we’d only had one accident at night since he’d declared himself diaper-free.
“No.” He shook his head adamantly.
We washed our hands, and while I was drying my own my phone rang.
I immediately answered since it was my brother.
“Hey, sis,” Tarrant greeted. “Dad’s Dad today.”
I closed my eyes as my good day returned.
Nobody could ruin this day for me.
No one.
My dad is mad that I have an attitude, but I’m literally just him in girl form.
—Pepper to Atlas
PEPPER
“I know.”
Atlas’s angry growl had me wincing.
“It’s not why I’m calling, though,” I sighed.
There was surprise in his voice when he said, “What’s wrong?”
“I have a question.”
Atlas shifted away from the group of men I could hear talking, and said, “What’s up? Everything okay?”
“Forest is fine. I’m fine,” I assured him. “Auden is dealing with Emory. I assume he’s going to take care of Sage, too, since she’s in the parking lot watching the show through the plate glass window.” I hefted Forest up onto my hip. “I was wondering if it would be okay if I headed back home to Kilgore today. I’ll keep Forest with me overnight. My brothers called and told me that Dad was my dad today, and he wanted to see me.”
There was zero hesitation in his voice when he said, “Absolutely.”
I blew out a breath. “I don’t need anything for him but clothes and he assures me today that he will go pee in the potty.”
He chuckled at that. “He told me that, too, remember? And then I had a wet truck.”
That was true but…
“I don’t know what to do about that. If he doesn’t want to wear it, who am I to say that he has to wear it?” I waffled.
“For this, I think it’s okay to agree that he doesn’t have to wear it if he doesn’t want to. But eventually you’re gonna have to be tough with him,” he said softly.
I knew that.
He knew that.
Hell, Forest probably knew that.
He was probably going to use my lack of ability to be stern every way possible, but for now…
“I’ll let you be the disciplinary parent,” I said. “I’ll be the fun parent.”
He growled low in his throat. “Parent. I like that.” I realized what I’d said, and started to correct my words, but he kept speaking. “I guess that could work out.”
I felt a delicious shiver run down my spine.
Again, we weren’t addressing the elephant in the room.
We hadn’t talked about how, when his son had come into the picture, we were just co-parenting like we’d done it every day. How I’d moved into his house to help. How we just worked together like a well-oiled machine. Like we’d been married for years and years and years. How he hadn’t paid me a single cent to babysit or whatever it was called that I was doing.
One day we’d have to address it, but not this day.
“I’ll call you when I’m there, let you know I arrived safely?” I offered.
“That sounds perfect,” he said. “I’m going to head to the jail after this and go see the newest occupant in Sunnyvale Police Department B&B.”
I laughed at that. “She’s arrested?”
“She’s arrested,” Atlas confirmed.
I headed out to find the Chick-Fil-A back to normal.
When I walked toward the window, it was to find a couple of cruisers out front, and Sage, not surprisingly, nowhere to be seen.
I headed outside as I said, “You’re right. Bye, Atlas.”
“Bye, baby,” he murmured quietly.
Auden caught my attention and waved me on to my car.
I watched Maven wave from her own car, and I got Forest situated in my back seat.
Then the two of us headed to Kilgore.