15. Sip-In-Snow Crashers Aftermath Part Four
JANUARY 2040
AFTER CHAPTERS 56 IN FEARLESS LIKE US
We listened to "Every Night" by Josef Salvat while writing this scene.
Character List:
Loren Hale - 49
Lily Calloway - 48
Xander Hale - 17
Kinney Hale - 15
**
LILY CALLOWAY
“ARE YOU BLEEDING?” I ASK, looking Xander over with wide eyes. His hair is caked with flour, and he has a couple scrapes on his elbows. He bends down to scratch Erebor’s fur in front of the fireplace like everything is hunky dory. But he just confessed to getting into an argument with Ben, his cousin. Oh, and they’re back from a high school party at the Cobalt Estate that no one (not even the nerd stars) knew about. Everything is not hunky dory!
Lo left to go talk to security about the Royal Leaks, and I’m with my two youngest kids. While I’d love to wave some pompoms in celebration of having a lead on the source of the leaks, I can’t. I’ve been instructed to be the private investigator tonight, grilling Kinney and Xander on what went down at this high school party.
I barely had to grill.
There was not even a flame or a beam of light blasting down. Xander just spilled everything like I uncorked him with a single question: “What happened?”
I think someone should hire me as a PI.
“I’m not bleeding,” Xander assures me, not even looking at me as he pets his brown-furred Newfie.
“How can you not be bleeding?” I ask in confusion. “You fell onto a glass table!” I think Rose bought that table at some fancy antique store in New York, but I know my sister and she won’t care about the table as much as her son and nephew.
“Technically, Ben pushed me,” Xander says, patting Erebor’s belly.
“Whaaaat?” My eyes grow to saucers. That piece of information was not in the briefing he gave me a minute ago. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t be a PI.
Kinney sits on the couch’s armrest, her arms threading over her chest. She's wearing a baggie black tee and cotton shorts after I told her she needed to change out of her "party" outfit before Lo got home.
“That’s not exactly what I saw," she says.
Xander’s brows furrow in confusion.
Kinney winces. “Or maybe Ben did push him. Maybe I didn’t see the whole thing. Ben is a giant. He’s one beard and flannel away from being Paul Bunyan, Mom.”
“Thatcher and Banks are taller,” Xander mutters. “And Thatcher actually wears flannels.”
“And you don’t see him coming at you,” Kinney states like it all makes sense, but she has just flip-flopped her story. My Spidey-senses are tingling.
The oven beeps. Shit. I hope those weren’t “cookie senses” tingling. “This conversation is not over,” I point to each of them and scurry to the kitchen. I hurriedly remove the cookies before I’ve burned them. They’re the sugar cookie cutouts from the grocery store. The kinds with seasonal shapes that cannot be resisted. These have little snowflakes on them.
I whirl around and see Kinney and Xander have followed me into the kitchen like I’m a magnetic pole they can’t get away from. They’re not even looking at me and completely focused on their own conversation—yet, they followed me here.
“Maybe we fell on it together or something. It all happened pretty fast,” Xander says while Erebor circles his feet in affection for treats or more pets or both.
“If you think he pushed you, then he probably pushed you.”
“But you didn’t see it?” Xander questions.
“I did,” Kinney retorts, her cheeks roasting in the lie. “It was a flash, a blur.”
Xander grimaces. “Yeah, right.”
“Ben sucks,” Kinney says.
“Hey,” I jump in with a frown. “Your cousin doesn’t suck. We all love Ben. We all love Xander.”
Kinney gawks. “He’s not as cool as Xander, okay? Xander is awesome, and Ben sucks for starting that stupid fight in the first place.”
“Maybe I started it, Kin,” Xander says, his neck reddening now.
“You were trying to stop him from opening the door,” Kinney says flatly. “I didn’t want those trolls inside Aunt Rose’s either.”
I haven’t blinked in a full minute, devouring these new details at rapid speed. If the cookies weren’t so hot, I would be eating them too.
“We were wrestling each other,” Xander says, going to the fridge. “That happened, I know that happened.”
“Wrestling?” I cut in and turn off the oven. “Since when do you wrestle? Is this an MMA thing?”
“No,” Xander groans. “Not an MMA thing. Ben wanted to go help Winona outside, but by opening the door, he was about to let a bunch of assholes from Dalton into his house.”
Kinney says, “Xander was trying to protect Vada and Audrey.”
“And you,” Xander mumbles.
“I was fine.” Kinney shrugs and lifts her chin. “I’m scared of nothing.” I suddenly hear her as a toddler, telling me very seriously, “I’m scared of nothin’ in the world.” My heart pangs at the long-ago memory.
They grow up so fast.
But I still see remnants of who they were inside of who they’re becoming, and I’m happy to be able to witness their growth into teenage-hood. For as long as they’ll let me have a front row seat, I’ll be there.
“Why did Ben want outside so badly?” I ask them.
“He was trying to protect Winona,” Xander says, his eyes softened in gratitude at Kinney for taking his side. She nods to him, and he turns back to me to add, “It felt like he was doing it at the expense of everyone else, and I was just trying to stop it. That’s all.” He shuts the fridge, a can of Sprite in hand, and as he pops the tab, he looks to me for my opinion.
Oookaay. I nod diplomatically like this all makes perfect sense, but I’m guessing that unless I have a video of the event, I’m not going to know the exact details of what took place. Kinney will cover for Xander, and Xander is having a harder time recalling the fast-paced fight.
Could my son have started it? Maybe. I don’t want to make excuses for him just because I birthed him…on Christmas. At the end of the day, they both still threw a party at their aunt and uncle’s house without telling any parent, and I know high school—alcohol was likely involved.
“I think…I think it’s sweet how you all were trying to protect each other,” I say. “But maybe if security was there to begin with that wouldn’t have been a concern, right?”
Xander looks to Kinney like she can answer this.
“It was supposed to be a super small party, Mom. Without the narks.”
“A sip-in-snow,” I say, remembering that’s what Xander called it when he spilled most of the info. “Cute name. What exactly were you sipping?”
“Snow,” Kinney says.
My eyes go wide again.
Xander laughs.
Kinney blushes. “What?”
“Snow is slang for cocaine,” he tells his little sister.
My fifteen-year-old glowers and then rolls her eyes. “Obviously we’re not sipping cocaine.”
“Then what were you sipping?” I wonder.
“It was party punch, and before you ask, I had one sip to try it, but it was gross and I threw it in a bush.”
“She did,” Xander confirms.
“And you?” I ask him.
“Me, what?” He takes a swig of Sprite.
“Did you have any party punch?” I wonder, my heartbeat accelerates. We have a strict no alcohol rule, but Lo and I both knew that once our kids were teenagers, they might try beer or cheap liquor drowned in a sickly-sweet chaser. We just hoped they’d make good choices. Better than ours, at least.
“Maybe a little.” Erebor nudges her face into his legs.
I stare at the puppy for a long second. Her brother was bugged, a device planted on his collar, and I wonder if she might be too. Not a strong possibility seeing as how no leaks originated from this house. But… “Maybe we should take her collar off.”
“Why?” Xander frowns at me.
Shit. I don’t want to make him nervous. “It looks dirty. We should wash it.”
Kinney stares at Erebor. “Yeah, when’s the last time you gave her a bath, Xander?”
His frown deepens. “I…I don’t know…”
Kinney’s face cracks for a split second in guilt. “I didn’t mean it to be rude,” she snaps. “She smells fine. Dogs don’t need that many baths. Right, Mom?”
“Right,” I say. “And anyway, she needs a good haircut. Maybe I take her to the groomer this week?”
“I’ll come,” Xander says, but I see anxiety creep in him just from that one offer.
“We’ll figure it out,” I say into a casual shrug. “I can do it myself too. I’m this one’s grandma after all.” I bend down and give Erebor a good scratch. “Aren’t I, you big fluffy mountain?” I unclip her collar, and Xander gives me an appreciative nod.
I give him a smile back.
I couldn’t be prouder of him these past couple of weeks, and a fight at a high school party seems so mild in comparison to the strides he’s been making. This month, he’s begun attending Dalton Academy. No longer homeschooled, he had to face the social viper pit that is prep school. If my mom gave me the chance to be homeschooled, I probably would have taken it. Never looked back. Avoided the private school setting every single year until I left for college.
The fact that he even wanted to try was a big, enormous deal.
At seventeen, I wouldn’t have tried.
But I know that being at Dalton means seeing his cousin Ben more. And I wonder if there’s more to this than disagreeing about opening a door.
“Do you and Ben talk at school?” I ask, scooping some cookies onto a plate.
Xander sighs heavily. “This has nothing to do with school, Mom.”
“Okay,” I say into a nod.
Kinney sits on a barstool. “They avoid each other in the halls. Audrey says it’s like watching two north magnetic poles sharing the same space.”
I frown. That is…sad. But I’m not unaware of the friction between Xander and Ben. I just hoped it’d smooth over now that the two of them might have a chance to talk at school. Hope—a dangerous but wonderful thing.
Xander steals a cookie before I’ve plated them all. He tells me, “Just because we’re cousins doesn’t mean we have to be friends.”
“You used to be friends,” I remind him.
“I mean, were not not friends,” Xander says, avoiding my eyes. I can tell he looks a little guilty about proclaiming his anti-friend status with Ben. “We’re just different. I don’t think we’d ever choose to hang out together if we weren’t cousins is all.” He shrugs like that’s just the way it’s become.
And maybe that’s okay. The friends he clings to when he’s little don’t have to be the same when he gets older. I just don’t want a Charlie/Moffy situation where there are literal fistfights.
My brows scrunch. There was wrestling tonight. A broken table.
Oh no.
Kinney waves a hand at my face. “She’s doing the thing.”
Xander smiles. “Earth to Mom.”
“Luna’s sparkly green aliens aren’t taking you,” Kinney says like she will fight anyone off who tries to beam me into their spaceship. “They’re gonna have to get through me first.”
“And me,” Lo says, walking through the kitchen door. His voice sparks a grin so wide it hurts my cheeks. He strides over and wraps his arms around my waist. “The ugly little aliens can go kick a rock on Mars. They’re not getting you, love.”
I smile harder and sway in his arms. “I’m sure they’d take one look at me and fly away on their spaceship anyway.”
He scoffs. “Never. They’d take one look at you and want you for eternity.” He bends down like he’s going to kiss me but then our kids make loud coughing noises.
Xander and Kinney usually don’t care when we kiss. Actually, none of my kids make a big deal about it. They’re usually used to it. Is it because they’re both in high school and can’t stand the sight of their parents having PDA?
It makes me wonder, is it because I’m old now?
Do I look old?
I don’t feel old.
But kissing Lo is suddenly uncool? My face heats at the thought.
Lo abandons the kiss to glance up and tilt his head. “Do you hear something, Lil?”
“Sounds like our kids,” I whisper.
“Unless our kids have tuberculosis, I’m not sure if these are ours.” He squints harder at them. “No, definitely not ours.”
They both stop fake coughing, and Kinney says, “We have something to tell you both. And we know how you two get when you’re together.”
“Obsessed,” Xander says.
Okaaay. I frown harder. “So you’re not embarrassed we’re kissing in front of you?” I wonder.
“What?” Xander’s face cinches like he doesn’t understand how I came to that conclusion.
Kinney adds, “If it embarrassed us, we’d be living in constant embarrassment. No thank you.” She mock brushes it off like it’s dust on her shoulder.
Xander says, “Yeah, I mean you two love each other. Why would that be embarrassing?”
My heart fills up way too much.
“And look at that,” Lo smiles. “These are our kids.”
“I claim them,” I say into a confident nod, then I look to Kinney. “What do you have to tell us?”
Lo reaches around my waist to grab a cookie from the plate. “What your Mom is asking is what could possibly be so important that you stop a hello kiss?”
Xander and Kinney share a look.
“Just ask, Kin,” Xander encourages.
Kinney takes a deep breath. “I got asked to Winter Formal by a senior girl who is gorgeous and amazing and she’s graduating next year?—”
“No,” Lo says, dropping his arms off me and tossing his half-eaten cookie in the plate.
“Dad—”
“I said no, Kinney,” Lo declares. “You just turned fifteen. This senior girl is what eighteen?”
“Seventeen,” Xander says. “She’s seventeen.”
“Going to be eighteen then,” Lo says. “She’s graduating and you’re a freshman. No.”
I take Lo’s half-eaten cookie. “You two might not even be allowed to go to this Winter Formal thing,” I tell them. “We’re still deciding on a punishment for the party.”
Lo nods in agreement. “Exactly.”
Xander shrugs. “I wasn’t going to go to it anyway.”
Kinney gives him a look. “Not helping.”
He frowns. “You’ve barely talked to this girl, Kin. She just asked you to the Formal to say she went out with the Kinney Hale.”
Kinney’s face goes red. “You don’t know that.”
“I know a lot about being used. It happens.”
That statement unsettles my stomach, but their teenage experiences aren’t totally the same as mine or Lo’s since they’ve grown up famous.
Kinney thinks this over, her face looking more and more pained.
Lo glances between our kids like he’s watching a car crash. “All right,” he says quickly. “How about you two get ready for bed and let me and your mom talk?”
“You mean kiss?” Kinney corrects, already headed for the door.
“That too,” I say into a nod.
Xander tosses his empty can of Sprite in the trash, and I watch them both leave the kitchen. Lo runs a couple hands through his hair when he turns back to me. I’ve been waiting for an update on The Royal Leaks, but tonight has been so long and nuts that I just really want the Cliff Notes.
“Just give me the basics,” I tell him.
“We know who’s behind the Royal Leaks.”
I thought I’d feel relieved by this news, but I sense more dread than relief.