Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“I CAN’T HEAR IT NOW (FROM THE SERIES ARCANE LEAGUE OF LEGENDS) BY FREYA RIDINGS
BLOSSOM
After Anatole’s claiming, the rest of the night was perfect. We all got a bit tipsy, aside from Nox who was the designated driver, and danced the night away into the early hours, arriving back home just as the sun peered over the horizon.
The guys had organised with Tina that she’d watch the kids on Sunday morning, so took me to the pool house, all of us sleeping on two of the beds which they’d put together to create a space big enough.
It was bliss, being surrounded by Anatole on one side, Steele on the other because apparently they were still salty about Nox keeping me for so long.
Nox was next to Ant, his arm over the other guy so it could rest on my hip all night.
I guess I’ll have to make sure things stay equal between them, just like the bloody kids with a birthday cake. I don’t mind though, because being so wanted is such a head rush. It makes me feel a million feet tall.
We slept most of Sunday morning, showering then coming into the main house for a Sunday roast that Tina cooked with all the trimmings, and the guys ate a huge amount with gusto. They each complimented her until she was as red as a tomato and it was my turn to laugh at her blushing.
All too soon it’s Monday morning again, and I’m back at home after the school run, wondering what I’m going to do next in the garden. My phone buzzes, and seeing Marie’s name, a flutter of nerves flow through me. It’s either a new kid, or… something else.
“Hi, Marie,” I greet, my voice steady despite the worry in the pit of my stomach.
“Morning, Blossom.” She sighs, and that pit grows. “I have some bad news. Noah’s parents completed their court ordered anger management and parenting classes and a judge ruled first thing this morning that Noah has to return.”
My breath stutters out of my lips, my fingers numb as I clutch the phone.
“But, Marie, when he arrived they’d beaten him so badly he could hardly walk, and he has only just stopped wetting the bed,” I try, but she gives a frustrated grunt and I know that I’ve lost before I even got the chance to start.
“I know, Blossom. And I expressed my concerns. But you know that the system always chooses reunification with biological family.”
My heart cracks, then breaks, and tears slide down my cheeks knowing that we have no choice. That Noah is going to be forced to go back to parents who hurt him badly. Who gave him bruises and broken bones and nightmares, all because the system doesn’t take what Noah wants into account.
“How will I tell him, Marie?” My voice breaks on the last word.
“I’m so sorry, Blossom,” she sighs again, sounding as defeated as I feel. “He needs to be ready to leave tomorrow morning.”
I take a shaky inhale. “Okay.”
“Goodbye, Blossom.”
“Bye.”
The screen blurs when I pull my phone away to end the call, and before I know what I’m doing I’m finding Steele’s contact and hitting call.
“What’s up, Flower?” He answers on the second ring, and a sob falls from my lips. “Blossom, talk to me, baby.” The sounds of the garage fade as he clearly walks out of the shop.
“Noah,” I croak out, the lump in my throat so thick I can hardly get the words out. “They’re sending him back.”
“I’m on my way, Flower. I’ll be home in five minutes, okay?” His voice is full of concern and it just makes me cry harder.
“O-okay, S-Steele.”
“We’ll sort this out, sweetheart,” he tells me, and I hear him murmur something to someone, then the sound of him getting into the truck. “I promise.”
“W-we c-can’t,” I stammer, my breaths coming too fast and leaving me lightheaded.
“I need you to breathe for me, Flower. Deep breath in.” He waits until he hears me follow his instructions. “Good girl. Now out.” I do as he says, clinging to his voice like it’s the only thing keeping me afloat because it is. “Again, baby.”
He stays on the phone with me until I hear the front door opening.
“Flower?!” he calls, the sound of his pounding boots loud.
“In the kitchen,” I say back, just as his head appears in the doorway, the skin of his brow deeply creased in worry.
“S-Steele!” I’m in his arms before his name fully leaves my lips, his scent of motor oil, pine and something woodsy filling my lungs as I cry into his huge chest.
He holds me close, the usual feeling of safety when I’m in his arms eluding me because how can I feel safe when Noah won’t be?
“Bloom?!” Ant’s voice shouts after the door opens again.
“In here!” Steele yells back, and I feel the deep rumble of it against my cheek.
“What’s wrong, Petal?” Nox’s voice sounds next, and then I feel them come up on either side of us.
“Fucking system is sending Noah back home,” Steele grumbles, and I hear their sharp intakes of breath but can’t bring myself to open my eyes yet.
“Bloom, baby, open your eyes for me,” Ant cajoles, and it feels like a huge effort to lift my lashes. When I do, his blue eyes swim into view. “Good girl. Now, can you tell us what happened?”
I swallow, keeping my cheek on Steele’s chest, uncaring of the oil stains on his work overalls.
“M-Marie called. N-Noah’s parents completed their court ordered anger management and parenting courses and the j-judge decided this morning he had to go back to them.
” Fresh tears spill down my cheeks, and Ant grabs a tea towel and uses it to brush my cheeks.
His hands are dirty, so he must have come straight from work.
“That’s bullshit!” Nox hisses and I flinch. Not because I’m scared of him, but because he’s right, and there’s still nothing I can do about it.
“Nox,” Steele rumbles, rubbing a huge palm up and down my back, trying to soothe me.
“How am I going to tell him?” I whisper brokenly. “He has to leave tomorrow morning.”
“Hey, baby. You’re not alone,” Ant assures me, leaning down to press a kiss to my forehead. “We’re here, and we will help.”
“But he’ll be so frightened, Ant. He’s only just stopped wetting the bed and having nightmares eight months after he left them. How can I send him back?”
I know he can’t answer any of those questions, hell even I can’t answer them. But I just wish someone could.
“Fuck, I know, sweetheart,” he replies, running his dust covered hand over his hair and leaving it in disarray. “But we will find a way. I swear. Okay?”
I nod, knowing that he’s wrong. There is no way. No legal way.
STEELE
Ant and I go shower once Blossom has calmed a little, though now she’s like a ghost, and we leave her curled up on one of the couches with Nox. I’d messaged them in our group chat before I got into the truck, telling them to come back home as I talked Blossom out of her panic.
I love that we’re here to help her, can’t imagine how she’d manage all alone like she must have done before.
I just wish it weren’t for this reason. Nox is right.
It’s bull-fucking-shit that the system which is supposed to care for kids like Noah put him in danger again because of their stupid policies and don’t even ask the kid what he wants.
The same fucked up system that looked at Ant's care file and used it as a weapon.
The same one that decided our apartment was insufficient and our income unstable and sent Justin to a different home. It takes and takes and calls it policy.
We sit with Blossom when she tells him after they all get back from school, and I watch as the fear creeps over his face, his usual warm umber skin turning ashen as his eyes turned lifeless. He didn’t speak, and I could see it broke something in my Flower to watch as he retreated back into himself.
Fuck!
We stayed in the house with them, Blossom holding Noah as he tossed and turned and cried all night in his sleep.
She looks wrecked this morning, eyes rimmed red, skin pale and pasty looking as she helps Noah pack his things and I watch from the doorway, so fucking useless, unable to do a damn thing just like when my dad beat the shit out of my mom for all those years.
The kids are devastated, Henry driving them to school with Tina as Blossom didn’t want to leave Noah’s side. He’s quiet, withdrawn and I hate how I know that feeling. How I recognise it for the survival technique it is.
Soon Marie’s Sedan is coming up the drive, and my teeth grind even though I know it’s not her fault.
“Morning, Noah,” she greets as she gets out, and Noah just stares past her. “Ready?”
“There has to be something you can fucking do?” Nox snarls, and she flinches, taking a step back as he steps forward, but nowhere near her. He scoffs, but I put my hand out, stopping him getting any closer.
“We’ve tried everything. I spoke to the judge, gave my evidence and my concerns were overruled,” Marie replies, looking from Nox to me to Ant warily and I shake my head.
Same fucking bullshit as always. We're threats because of what we look like.
Never mind that we're the ones who've been here for Noah.
Never mind that we'd never hurt a kid. Just three big men, two of them Black, so we must be dangerous.
Blossom ignores us all, crouching down in front of Noah and gaining his attention. I see the strain in the way she’s barely holding it together, but she is trying for him and fuck it makes me love her more.
Yep. I’m in love with her and will be telling her soon, because life has taught me that you can’t waste time.
“I will keep fighting, Noah, darling. Okay?” He nods, his lower lip trembling. “And keep your phone hidden. Call me if you need to. I mean it, Noah. Any time, day or night.”
“Yes, Miss. Blossom,” he replies, the first words he spoken since she told him.
“I love you, darling,” she rasps out, pulling him into a fierce hug that he returns, clinging to her like that will stop him being taken away.
A lump forms in my throat watching them. I wish I’d had someone like her when I was growing up, and here is Noah, losing her because of some shit that is all red tape bullshit and not based on reality.
They reluctantly pull apart, and I can see the tears in her eyes but she refuses to let them fall, giving Noah a small smile instead.
“Any time. Day or night,” she repeats, before standing up, placing a kiss on top of his head and taking his hand.
“We’ll see you soon, Noah,” Ant states, and Noah looks at him, his throat working as he gives a small nod.
No one says anything else as Blossom leads him to Marie’s car, helping him get buckled in, giving him another kiss and shutting the door. She gives Marie a stiff nod, and then steps back as the social worker looks over with a pained expression before getting into the car and driving off.
Blossom wraps her arms around herself, Ant’s already stepping up to her when the car disappears and her legs give out from underneath her, a sob ripping from her throat. Ant catches her, Nox and I taking a step as he picks her up and cradles her to his chest.
I want to reassure her that we’ll find a way. That we will get him back. But I can’t.
I know the system, have lived through it. And so I know there’s not a fucking thing we can do.