Chapter 10 #5
Becks stuck her nose up in the air. “You know the rules. You brought a guest to the table, so it’s open season on all your most embarrassing moments.”
“Oh, really? And does your husband know how old you were when you stopped believing in Santa Claus?”
“Liam!” their mom scolded warningly, but was again ignored.
Becks’ cheeks brightened as Ghost lifted a ginger eyebrow. “I would very much like to know the answer to that question.”
“Christmas was our dad’s favorite time of year,” Becks defended, her voice an octave higher than normal. “He wanted to keep the spirit of Christmas alive.”
“Eleven,” Ranger mouthed to Ghost, who sat catty-corner to him.
Ghost tried his hardest not to laugh, which only caused Becks to drop her face into her hands.
Then suddenly sat up, and while pointing a wagging finger at Ranger across the table, said louder than necessary, “I’m not the one who got so distracted by a cloud that I rode my bike into a stop sign and knocked out my three front teeth!”
Ranger felt the back of his neck heat at the memory. “It was shaped like a bunny!” he reminded her, preparing to die on that hill.
“It was a penis, and you know it,” Becks said warningly.
“Rebecca!” came from their mother.
Ghost got up and refilled his coffee, bringing the pot over to the table to top off Toni’s and Cross’, too.
“You were three! You didn’t even know what a penis was,” Ranger triumphantly said.
Becks grinned widely at him. “Maybe not, but Dad told me allll about it, and I still have the pictures Ma took after I converted all her printed photos to digital.”
“Dad knew damn well it was a bunny,” Ranger growled.
“Language!” Loretta scolded.
Becks put her hands on the table as if getting ready to stand up. “I will drive down to Ma’s house right now and get you that printed photo where Dad’s handwriting clearly states ‘Liam, age eleven, knocked three teeth out while looking at a penis cloud’.”
“It was a bunny!”
“You say that like that helps your cause at all,” Becks laughed.
Toni leaned around Ranger to look at Ghost. “Are they always like this?”
Ghost shrugged, “Pretty much. I’m an only child so I have no idea if this is normal or not.”
“Same, but it’s entertaining as fuck.”
Loretta stood. “That’s enough!” The entire table fell quiet.
Becks and Ranger’s mom closed her eyes and took three deep breaths before she opened them.
“Becks, baby, your father loved Christmas, but he loved you more and he didn’t have the heart to break yours when you were so insistent that Santa was still real.
Liam, for the love of all that is holy, it was a penis cloud.
I know, because I was there and a neighbor boy shouted ‘that cloud looks like a penis’ right before you crashed.
Taran, if you start laughing, I will withhold cookies from you, too.
You may be my favorite son-in-law, but do not test me on this.
Toni, sweetheart, I hope you don’t judge my family too harshly.
These two have been bickering since Becks learned to speak, but they love each other very much.
” Sitting back down, she turned to her left where Cross sat in silence, watching the conversation at the meal play out.
But before she could apologize or whatever she planned to say to him, Cross leaned over and patted her hand. “Chaos is the best form of love between family,” he told her, clearly entertained.
Ranger was glaring at Cross’ hand on his mom’s and didn’t see Ghost’s hit on his arm coming. “Ow! What the fuck!”
“Liam, language,” his mom snapped again.
Ranger sent her an apologetic look before turning back to Ghost. “What the heck, man?”
“You got me in trouble with Loretta. If I lose cookie privileges because of you, I will hunt you down and make you suffer in unimaginable ways.”
“Your wife started it!” Ranger defended.
Ghost did not deny it. “Yeah, but she can make it up to me in ways that you can’t.”
Ranger gagged as Toni and Becks laughed. Groaning, Loretta dropped her head into her hand, covering her eyes as she shook her head.
“For the sake of all our pie and cookie privileges, perhaps we should move this conversation onto more delicate topics,” Cross suggested gently.
* * *
Nearly an hour later, the table was cleared but for their drink cups as new rules were laid out—and not just for Ranger.
At the start of the conversation, Toni had taken Ranger’s hand and announced that she would not be a part of imposing rules onto Ranger because of his addiction, but she would be committed to establishing boundaries for them as a couple.
The emotions he’d felt at that proclamation were many, but rather than analyze them as Dr. Rutenberg would have wanted him to do, he’d pulled Toni in for a kiss in front of his family and Cross. It was the best he could have done with an audience.
A text thread was set up between Toni, Becks, Ghost, and Ranger.
Every day by eight in the morning, three in the afternoon, and nine at night, Toni and Ranger had to check in with the thread.
It didn’t have to be much, a simple “I’m alive” message, but enough that the others in the group knew they were okay.
Ranger and Cross worked out a new schedule so he could attend meetings at the same time as an Al-Anon or Nar-Anon for Toni. Becks also proclaimed that she wanted to start going more than she’d been, admitting that she was struggling when Ranger was out of her sight at nighttime.
Cross brought up drug testing, stating that many couples where one or both were addicts participated in regular testing.
Not out of distrust, but as an incentive.
In a way, Ranger could understand it, but it also felt extreme.
Toni, however, said that she had to quarterly at work, as did her business partner and both their secretaries.
While it might be unusual practice for a small firm like theirs, Ranger suspected the requirement had been created due to her history with her parents.
It wasn’t something he was overly happy about, but Ranger did agree to also participate in the drug test when Toni had to do hers.
The biggest discussion was about Ranger’s sleeping arrangement.
Becks was not happy with the idea of Ranger having sleepovers elsewhere.
He knew his sister meant well, and he couldn’t argue that her worry was not warranted, but he also had the right to privacy.
Becks eventually, begrudgingly, agreed that Ranger was allowed to sleep at Toni’s only if Toni spoke to Ghost and Becks directly, not over text, and Ranger had to call Becks in the morning rather than his standard morning check-in on the thread.
Ranger was happy with the arrangement, though he wished that Becks would loosen the reins just a little. But he supposed after everything that he put her through, he didn’t have room to complain.
They were just finishing up when Toni’s phone rang. Pulling it from her pocket, she said to everyone, “Excuse me, please. It’s my secretary.”
Ranger’s eyes trailed after her as she stepped into the living room.
Becks rounded the table to bump hips with Ranger. “I like her. She’s quiet, but she’s got a backbone.”
Pride filled Ranger at his sister’s praise. Just because he felt like being an ass and ruining the moment, he nudged her back. “It was still a bunny.”
Becks’ laugh was interrupted by Toni returning to the kitchen, her phone pressed to her chest. Her face was too pale for his liking. “Um, Liam? Ghost? Could I borrow you a moment?”
Frowning, Ranger hurried over to her, Ghost on his heels. They followed Toni back into the living room. “I’ve got Gwen muted on the phone, but I’ve got a serious problem. She says my dad is at the office looking for me.”