really late to find Dad gone, Piper passed out on the couch with chocolate on her face, and my son in Dad’s room with the door locked and some cheap-ass porn music coming through the door. I was embarrassed, for sure, but this is the life of a boy in puberty. I can’t tell him to stop doing his business, because as a grown-ass woman and mother of two, I need my alone time or I’m going to kill somebody. I just figure he’s like his momma and appreciates a little self-loving. I want to say I’m a cool mom, but it’s taken me two years of wigging out to get to this point. Now I only ask that he keep it to himself. Another reason he needs his dad around. The best advice I’ve given him when it comes to sex is to keep it in his pants, and then I handed Piper off to him and walked away. Needless to say, I think his baby sister is a pretty awesome form of birth control. She’s cute all right, and I love her to bits, but holy fuck is she a demanding little terrorist at times. Just like her older brother, she needs her dad, too. They need their dad, and I need a nap.
“Been waiting for you to ask,” Dad says. He sticks his thumb over his shoulder and tells me to go.
“Why the hell do you get to go to the clubhouse but I can’t?” Zander whines. He seriously whines. He’s bigger than half the men I know, and he’s starting to grow in facial hair, but he’s not a man. He’s a little boy who’s on his way to becoming the man he think he already is. It’s crazy how he straddles the fence between being a child and an adult at times. I just wish I had Wyatt here with me to share these small moments with.
“Because I have shit to do,” I snap. I hate losing my patience with him. He just wants to go see his dad. I know that. But his dad knows about him, and he knows where we are. He hasn’t shown up. I’m not telling my boy that, so I just don’t tell him anything. Elle’s told me time after time that Wyatt’s changed, but with every passing day that he doesn’t come by and meet his kids or contact me, I doubt it more and more. Not that I necessarily want him coming up here unannounced. My eyes slide to my baby girl for confirmation that I really, really don’t want him coming up here before I can tell him about her.
“That’s crap,” Zander says with some serious attitude.
I grab my purse from the kitchen counter and cross the room to where he stands. I could lay into him about mouthing off, because normally I would be pissed about the way he’s talking to me. But this time it’s different. My teenager isn’t being a dick because he can. He desperately wants to meet his dad, and as much as I want that for him, I have to make sure Wyatt’s in the right head space for it.
“Hey,” I say in the gentle voice I use for sensitive situations like this. “I know you want to see your dad. And I want you to see him—I do. But remember what I told you?”
He doesn’t respond immediately, so I wait until he does.
“It has to be the right time,” he finally says.
“Yeah. Know why?” I squeeze Zander’s cheeks with a big grin on my face. He tries to block me, but he’s still not learned to anticipate my moves. “Because it’d be a shame to spring you on him and have him say the wrong thing. I don’t want to take him out right when you just get to meet him.”
“You’re insane,” Zander says. He finally manages to evade my love pinches and heads for the living room where his sister is parked in front of the TV watching some godawful kids show that makes me want to drink myself into a stupor. Zander grabs the remote and changes the channel. Half a second passes before Piper’s head whips around and she glares at her big brother. I have one foot out the door when she yells, “No!” and I’m running down the drive by the time she’s in a full blown fit. Before I can even get into my SUV, the TV is back on her channel and Zander is griping about something or other, but he’s doing it in a
“Been waiting for you to ask,” Dad says. He sticks his thumb over his shoulder and tells me to go.
“Why the hell do you get to go to the clubhouse but I can’t?” Zander whines. He seriously whines. He’s bigger than half the men I know, and he’s starting to grow in facial hair, but he’s not a man. He’s a little boy who’s on his way to becoming the man he think he already is. It’s crazy how he straddles the fence between being a child and an adult at times. I just wish I had Wyatt here with me to share these small moments with.
“Because I have shit to do,” I snap. I hate losing my patience with him. He just wants to go see his dad. I know that. But his dad knows about him, and he knows where we are. He hasn’t shown up. I’m not telling my boy that, so I just don’t tell him anything. Elle’s told me time after time that Wyatt’s changed, but with every passing day that he doesn’t come by and meet his kids or contact me, I doubt it more and more. Not that I necessarily want him coming up here unannounced. My eyes slide to my baby girl for confirmation that I really, really don’t want him coming up here before I can tell him about her.
“That’s crap,” Zander says with some serious attitude.
I grab my purse from the kitchen counter and cross the room to where he stands. I could lay into him about mouthing off, because normally I would be pissed about the way he’s talking to me. But this time it’s different. My teenager isn’t being a dick because he can. He desperately wants to meet his dad, and as much as I want that for him, I have to make sure Wyatt’s in the right head space for it.
“Hey,” I say in the gentle voice I use for sensitive situations like this. “I know you want to see your dad. And I want you to see him—I do. But remember what I told you?”
He doesn’t respond immediately, so I wait until he does.
“It has to be the right time,” he finally says.
“Yeah. Know why?” I squeeze Zander’s cheeks with a big grin on my face. He tries to block me, but he’s still not learned to anticipate my moves. “Because it’d be a shame to spring you on him and have him say the wrong thing. I don’t want to take him out right when you just get to meet him.”
“You’re insane,” Zander says. He finally manages to evade my love pinches and heads for the living room where his sister is parked in front of the TV watching some godawful kids show that makes me want to drink myself into a stupor. Zander grabs the remote and changes the channel. Half a second passes before Piper’s head whips around and she glares at her big brother. I have one foot out the door when she yells, “No!” and I’m running down the drive by the time she’s in a full blown fit. Before I can even get into my SUV, the TV is back on her channel and Zander is griping about something or other, but he’s doing it in a
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