Chapter 41
We kept the kids at home.
It didn’t matter that it was a school day; it didn’t matter that I was supposed to be on a job site, or that Eli was supposed to be at the firehouse. After last night, there was no way in hell we were letting those kids out of our sight knowing that Danny was trying to get them in his custody.
So, I made breakfast, Eli kept the cartoons rolling, and when Toby asked why Mom wasn’t there, I gave him the first lie I could stomach.
“She’s got a really nasty stomach bug, bud. Grammie Blake is taking care of her for a few days so she doesn’t get anyone else sick.”
He frowned, suspicious in that sharp way of his, but nodded slowly. Emmie just clutched her stuffed goalie bear tighter and asked if she could call Frankie to see how she was feeling.
I swallowed down bile as I gave her a smile and told her we’d call her soon.
Eli and I were able to keep them entertained and distracted for a few hours before they started getting suspicious. Eli tried to referee a hockey scrimmage in the living room using couch cushions as goals, but when Toby launched himself across the coffee table, I knew we needed backup.
So, I called my parents.
Mom and Dad showed up within the hour, arms full of board games and cookies, love beaming out of them bright enough to hold my brittle smile together.
My mom swept Emmie up into her lap, cuddling with her on the couch like she’d been waiting her whole life for that hug. Dad set up Candy Land with Toby on the coffee table, letting the boy cheat just enough to win every round.
The house felt lighter with them there. Softer. Like maybe we could shield the kids from the storm brewing outside our walls. But every time I caught Eli’s eye, I saw the same thing I felt in my chest; the weight of what we weren’t saying.
Frankie wasn’t here. She was at her mom’s, broken and alone, fighting a war she should have never been thrown into.
It didn’t help that she wouldn’t answer any of our calls. She sent a few texts, mostly asking about the kids, asking how we were doing, but anytime we asked about her, she deflected.
She was firmly back behind those walls that Eli and I had worked so hard to break down.
And it fucking gutted me to the core, I felt like at any moment, my insides were going to fall out onto the floor, and I’d have a moment to recognize the impeding pain and death heading my way, but I wouldn’t be able to stop it.
I hated the doom lingering in my chest.
As much as I smiled for the kids, as much as I held Emmie’s hand and gave her unlimited cuddles on the couch when she missed her mom, and high-fived Toby’s “hockey goals,” and eased his worries, my gut burned with the truth.
We were holding the line. That was all it was. One day at a time. One step at a time.
We would keep the kids safe, we would keep them loved, until Frankie came back to us.
But God help the man who thought he could rip them away from her.
Because if DCFS didn’t see the truth of who she was, I’d carve it into the world myself.
After lunch, Emmie lay down in her bed to watch a movie, and Toby passed out on the couch after one too many chocolate chip cookies from my mom’s loot, leaving the house quiet.
I stepped into the kitchen, hands braced on the counter to breathe, I just needed to catch my breath and then I’d go back in.
Eli followed, sliding a hand over my shoulder as he leaned against the counter next to me, and not long after, my mom and dad joined us. It was the first kid-free moment we’d had all day.
My mom’s eyes were wet, her voice low so Toby didn’t hear from the couch. “How bad is it?” When I called them this morning on an SOS, I gave a very condensed version of what was happening, but they deserved to know the truth.
Eli and I shared a look before I answered, my throat felt like glass shards had taken the place of my tonsils as I spoke.
“Bad. They are claiming neglect and abuse. Things that hold the weight of felonies if she’s found guilty of them, let alone the fact that they’ll take the kids in a heartbeat over them. All because her ex is a psychopath.”
My dad’s jaw set, his rough, weathered hands curling into fists on the counter, “That bastard’s been poison since the day I met him. If he thinks he can take those kids, he’ll have to go through us too.”
Mom reached for my arm, squeezing hard. “Travis, Eli—you’re not in this alone.
And neither is Frankie; we’ll stand with her.
Publicly, if that’s what it takes, we’ll tell anyone who asks what kind of mother Frankie is.
How those kids light up when she walks into a room.
How they’re thriving because of her, not in spite of her.
” Her voice cracked, but she straightened her spine and stood strong, mirroring the brave woman I’d admired my whole life.
“And if they try to take them away from her, from you both, then they’ll have to look me in the eye while they do it. ”
Something in my chest loosened for a moment. It didn’t feel like just me and Eli holding the line with my parents here. It felt like a family.
I nodded steady, “Good, because we’re going to need every ounce of strength we can get.”
Dad clapped me on the shoulder, his eyes hard with the same determination I felt in my gut. “Then it’s settled. Whatever storm’s coming, this family weathers it together.”
I glanced back into the living room, at Toby’s sleeping frame on the couch, echoed by Emmie’s sweet musical playing from her bedroom upstairs, and my throat burned again.
Together.
That was the only way we were going to win this.
The kids were tucked into bed, sleeping soundly. We managed to hold them off on yet another request to call Frankie when Eli set their imaginations free as he described how bad her stomach bug was. There was just something about kids and poop, they loved talking about it.
My parents left, lingering as long as possible, making us both promise that they could come back in the morning, maybe even take the kids to their house for the day so we could support Frankie.
I was hesitant to let the kids out of my sight, but I desperately ached to be there for Frankie too. She refused to let us come to her.
And I tried—fuck, I was trying so damn hard—to respect her wishes and let her keep some of her power over the situation, but I was unraveling the longer I didn’t have her in my arms.
Eli wasn’t weathering it any better than I was, and my pressing need to console him, since I couldn’t get to her, was overwhelming me.
He sat slumped at the end of the bed in our room, hands fisted in the blankets as he stared off blindly at the fireplace across the room.
His broad shoulders slumped as if the weight of the world pressed down on him.
I leaned against the doorframe, watching him for a moment, the knot in my chest pulled tighter. I was a provider, a protector, and so was he, but right now it was obvious he needed something.
He looked how I felt. Broken. Useless. Adrift.
I crossed the room and dropped down beside him, and for a long stretch of time, we didn’t say a word. We simply sat there, breathing in sync, the quiet was thick with everything we couldn’t fix or change.
Finally, Eli muttered, “She begged me to take care of the kids. Like she thought it was already over.” His voice cracked, raw. “I didn’t know what to say, I still don’t.”
I turned, pressing my shoulder into his until we leaned together, solid and steady, and he leaned back into me. “You said enough by being there. She needs to know we’ll catch her when she falls apart. That’s all she’s asking for.”
His hands scrubbed over his face, “And if she doesn’t come back from this? If they take—”
“No.” The word came out sharp, and absolute. “We don’t think like that. She’s coming back. And we’ll fight like hell until she does.”
He looked at me then, eyes red-rimmed, and for once there wasn’t anything cocky or bright in him. Just raw, desperate need for comfort.
So, I did the only thing I knew how; I reached over and gripped the back of his neck, grounding him the way I always did, pulling him close until our foreheads touched. “We’ve got her. We’ve got them. And I’ve got you.” I murmured.
His breath shuddered, and his hand came up to grip my wrist, holding on tight like he was afraid to let go. For a moment, there was no noise, no fear, no Danny Masters. Just us. Leaning on each other. Borrowing strength we didn’t have to spare.
And God help me—it was enough to keep me breathing.
Neither of us moved, Eli just breathed hard, like he was drowning, and I was the only solid thing left to grab. I held him there, my hand firm on the back of his neck, my thumb brushing against the tense line of his jaw.
Then he exhaled, sharp and ragged, and it broke something in me. His shoulders sagged, his whole-body folding toward me like he’d been holding it all in for too long.
So, I let him.
I tugged him forward until his face was buried in my neck, his chest shaking against mine, and wrapped my arms around him tight, letting him pour all that hurt out.
“This is killing her,” he muttered, his voice raw. “And I can’t fix it.”
I tightened my grip, my chin resting on the back of his head, “We don’t fix it for her, Eli. We fight beside her. That’s enough.”
His fingers curled into the back of my shirt, knuckles white. He was strong, always so damn strong, running into the scariest situations to save other people, protecting and supporting them on their worst days, but in that moment, he leaned on me like he didn’t know how to stand on his own.
And I realized I didn’t mind carrying him, not for a single second did it feel any different than it did when I supported Frankie.
He lifted his head after a moment, eyes red-rimmed, his mouth locked into a hard line.
Our faces were too close, breaths mingling in the quiet.
Something flickered between us, fear, need, maybe even hunger.
I didn’t overthink it, I just leaned in, slowly, giving him time to pull back, but he didn’t.
Our lips brushed once, tentatively, clumsy almost without the desperate lust driving us like last time, but God, it felt right.
It wasn’t about lust; it wasn’t even about curiosity. It was about not being alone in this. About holding onto something solid when the ground kept crumbling.
And when he finally kissed me back, soft, shaky, filled with desperation I recognized, I knew this was a line we weren’t coming back from. And for the first time in days, that didn’t scare me.
The kiss ended as fast as it started, but it knocked me sideways all the same.
Eli pulled back first, eyes wide, chest heaving like he’d just sprinted a mile. For a second, I thought he’d bolt and run away from what he felt growing between us, but he didn’t move. He just stared at me, caught between panic and relief, like he wasn’t sure if he should apologize or beg for more.
I didn’t let him do either.
I kept my hand at the back of his neck, grounding him. “Don’t,” I said quietly. “Don’t make this into a mistake.”
His throat bobbed, “Trav—”
“I mean it.” My voice was rough and low as I fought to control myself. “We’ve been holding Frankie together, holding the kids together, but who the hell holds us? We do. And I fucking needed that. And there’s nothing wrong with it.”
He slumped forward again, his body trembling like a coiled spring finally breaking loose. “I didn’t even think about you.” He groaned painfully, “I’ve been so preoccupied with my own feelings and the pain, and stressing over Frankie and the kids and I—”
“Don’t,” I said again, giving him an out as I stood up, forcing myself to put space between us. “It’s okay. I just needed a second.”
I wasn’t ashamed of it. Not of the kiss, or the closeness. Hell, I wasn’t even ashamed of admitting that I was weak for a moment. Frankie opened a door between us, one I hadn’t seen coming, and I wasn’t about to slam it shut because of pride or fear. Not when I’d felt how right it was.
“Go to her,” He said, rising to his feet and stopping right in front of me.
“Sleep at Lucy’s with her, give her what she needs, and get some of this tension out of your body.
Settle it by making sure she’s okay. I know you’re going nuts inside there,” He put his hand on my sternum, “not being able to ease her pain right now.”
I groaned, “I don’t want to leave them, I swore to her I wouldn’t.”
“You aren’t,” He reassured, using the pressured dominance I used on him and Frankie all the time.
The same dominance they craved from me, and it was weird to be on the other side of it.
But I didn’t hate it. “I was already planning to sleep up on the couch in the loft in case they need me, so you might as well go sleep next to her. I know she needs you, even if she won’t ask for it. ”
“Are you sure?” I hesitated, and he nodded firmly.
“Let me take it all from you,” He said with a small smirk before he leaned in and kissed me again.
It was new.
And he didn’t linger more than a second or two, like he was testing out if it was an appropriate time to use the move or not, but when he pulled away, I had to fight the urge to pull him back for more.
But he was right. Frankie needed one of us, and even if she wouldn’t ask for it, we could divide-and-conquer right now, taking care of her and the kids.
“Okay,” I backed away toward the closet to pack a bag for the night, “Thanks, Eli.”
“It’s kind of nice being the boss,” he said with a cautious chuckle.
“Don’t get used to it,” I chided good-heartedly.
And within five minutes of kissing my best friend for the first time in a private moment just the two of us, I was rushing out the door to go to our girl to take care of her.
For the first time since the nightmare started yesterday, I didn’t feel like the world was tearing us apart; I felt like maybe it was pushing us all closer together.
Or at least that was what I was going to make sure came of the whole ordeal in the end.