Chapter 23
CARSON
I bolt upright in bed, my fuzzy brain still trying to wake up as I blink and look around the room. The curtains are still drawn, so it’s dark, but obviously morning.
Nylah’s beside me, struggling to sit up as I rush to ask her, “What the fuck was that?”
“Harley?” Nylah looks at the door, and I glance that way until another scream echoes through the house and I’m bolting off the bed.
“Portia.” Grabbing a shirt, I rush to put it on as I wrench the door open and run into the hallway to find Sienna and Zander coming out their door.
Zander gives me a worried frown. “Who is that?”
“I think it’s Portia,” I call over my shoulder, leaping down the stairs and running into the chaos.
My twins are going at it again, and in spite of Grady trying to calm things down, my girls are totally ignoring their uncle and yanking on a teddy bear.
“But it’s my turn,” Harley argues in her soft voice while Portia lets out another ear-splitting scream.
Grady winces. The poor guy is standing right in the “make you deaf” zone.
“Girls!” I try to grab their attention with no luck.
Portia pulls on the teddy, and with a determined little grunt, Harley yanks right back… and then the inevitable happens. The arm comes flying off, and Harley is left standing there with one paw in her hand while Portia gapes down at the broken bear and lets out another chilling scream.
“Enough!” I thunder over the noise, and finally she shuts up.
With a little gasp, she stares up at me with bulging eyes as Harley shrinks in on herself, clutching the teddy arm and looking on the verge of all-out bawling.
I sigh, dipping my head and forcing a calm I’m far from feeling.
Crouching down, I take the arm of each of my children and try to bring this emotional circus into order.
“Guys, let’s go this way.” Zander and Grady usher the other kids out of the doorway, distracting them with promises of games once everyone’s dressed. There’s a flurry of activity as the tribe runs around to get themselves ready.
Nylah limps into the room, leaning on her cane and standing behind me, looking down at the girls with a disapproving frown.
“What a spectacle.” She shakes her head.
Harley’s bottom lip quivers as she holds up the bear’s arm and tries to explain. “But I started playing with him first. She tried to take him away from me.”
Her big brown eyes are so damn adorable. Affection blooms for my little caramel, but I can’t go softening just yet.
Portia’s blue eyes spark with indignation. “But you know I like this one best. I always play with this one, and you took it on purpose.”
“Girls, we share our toys, remember?” Nylah cradles her belly while she leans forward to get a little closer to them. “If Harley got it first, then she should get some time to play with it, and then you can switch after that.”
“But that’s not fair!” Portia complains. “She could pick any other bear. Just not this one!” She squeezes it to her chest. “And now she’s broken it!”
I close my eyes with a sigh. It is way too fucking early in the morning for this much drama.
“You broke it too,” Harley quietly argues. “You’re always too rough with our toys. You have to be more careful. You were pulling on it so hard.”
“Because you wouldn’t give it to me!” Portia shouts.
“It was my turn.” Harley frowns at her.
“With the one toy I like best. You could have picked any other toy, and you got this one on purpose. I know you did.”
“Portia.” Nylah tries to calm her down.
“No! I don’t like Harley. She ruins everything! I don’t want to share with her anymore! I don’t want a sister!”
My eyes snap open in time to see Harley’s crushed expression, which only gets more crumpled as Portia keeps shouting.
“I want a sister like Jane or Charlotte or Nichelle!” She points at her twin. “Harley’s mean! I don’t want Harley!”
I give Portia’s arm a squeeze. “That’s enough.”
Portia huffs, then bursts into tears while Harley’s chin bunches, her eyes glassing over before she bolts from the room.
“Harley,” Nylah calls after her, but our little rabbit is gone.
She always does this. When things get too intense, she’ll find a little place to hide, and there’s no point trying to get her out too early. It just makes her retreat even further. I nearly got stuck under her bed once, trying to coax her out of the back corner.
“Leave her for a sec,” I remind Nylah, who stops with a sigh, then turns around to frown at Portia.
“That wasn’t kind.” Her voice is firm, laced with irritation. “You don’t say things like that to your sister.”
“But—” Portia’s argument is quickly cut off.
“No.” Nylah points down at her. “In this family, we love each other and are kind to each other even when we’re feeling angry.”
Portia’s bottom lip sticks out.
“You are going to apologize to your sister. And you can give me that bear too.” Nylah holds out her hand, and Portia steps back with a horrified gasp.
“It is not yours,” Nylah continues. “That bear actually belonged to me when I was girl, and I let you two play with it.”
Portia’s blue eyes dart down to the broken bear in her arms, her lips still curled into a sad pout.
“Portia Denée McAvoy,” Nylah clips, and my kid knows the jig is up, but she still stands her ground until Mama starts to count. “One… two…”
With an annoyed huff, she hands the bear over, then falls into my arms, wailing like she’s just lost a limb.
I stand tall, cradling her against me but not finding any words of comfort.
I can’t believe she said those shitty things to Harley… and I didn’t stop it fast enough.
Now I’ve got one kid wailing in my arms because she thinks Mommy is so unfair, and I’ve got another hiding who knows where because she thinks her sister doesn’t love her anymore.
Parenthood is so fucking hard.
And Nylah thinks I can run a business on top of all this shit.
I love that woman with all my heart, but she’s out of her damn mind.