Chapter 11
LUCY
“Maaaamaaaa!” Levi’s voice wails. I bolt up in my bed confused and disoriented. They weren’t supposed to be back until ten. No, I was supposed to pick them up at ten. A quick glance at my lock screen tells me it’s ten thirty. And there are a dozen missed calls.
Shit.
“I’m coming!” I yell as I scramble out of bed and pull on the nearest floor clothes I can find. When I run down the stairs, Summer’s face greets me at the bottom with a knowing smile.
She places a comforting hand on my arm. “Hey! My kids are in the car, but yours have been washed and fed. Well, Levi’s been washed. I wasn’t sure if Micah could get his cast wet, so you may need to wipe him down.”
“He’s fine. Thank you.”
“I was worried about you when you didn’t show up at ten.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“And you weren’t answering your phone.”
“About that…”
She shakes her head. “You don’t have to say anything.”
I look over at the boys, relieved they’re distracted by the TV, and glance back at Summer. Does she know?
“Don’t be mad.”
Fuck. She knows. “Who else knows?”
“Just me and Bella. When I couldn’t get a hold of you, I started to panic. You never ignore your phone, especially with playdate stuff. But suddenly Bella was chill about everything. Too chill.”
“Fucking small towns.”
“It wasn’t her fault. She was just trying to calm me down and then I knew that she knew something, and I made her tell me after Raven left.”
“What did she tell you?”
“That you went up to the firehouse to… check an item off your list last night.”
“Fudging popsicles.”
“I want a Fudgsicle!” Levi cries.
“Of course that’s the part of our conversation he hears.”
“Can I have a Fudgsicle, Mama?” Micah asks.
I sigh. “You can each have one Fudgsicle, just eat them in the kitchen over the counter.” I turn back to Summer. “That’ll buy us a few minutes.”
“So it’s true? You and the firefighter hottie?”
I nod, unwilling to share more.
Summer keeps her squealing to a minimum. “Did you see anyone else while you were up there?”
“Nope, just Mike.”
“Oh,” she says, and I remind myself to ask her about that later. “Are you going to see him again?”
“I don’t know. I’m not looking for anything serious. I don’t want to bring someone into Micah and Levi’s lives just to have them leave.”
“What makes you think he would leave?”
“Everyone leaves. You and the girls are the only people I can count on.”
“What about your sister?”
“Her too if she lived closer.”
My sister and I didn’t have the best childhood.
Our father regularly cheated on our mom, and they bickered constantly.
He’d always been a yeller. They finally divorced when I was in middle school, and when my mom wanted to move to start over in Chestnut Mountain, I went with her.
But my older sister stayed with my dad. She was two years away from graduating and was planning to go to a school in state for college.
Even though my mom has since remarried and left Colorado, I decided to stay.
And it’s in large part because of these women and the community we’ve found in one another.
Summer grips my shoulder and smiles, pulling me from my thoughts. “I’m excited for you, but I’d love to see you in a relationship if you decide that’s what you want. You deserve someone who will treat you like a queen. Maybe Mr. March is up for the job?”
“I don’t know. He seems nice enough, but he hasn’t truly seen what my boys are capable of.”
She chuckles. “They’re a handful, but they’re good kids. Try having three on your own. It’s a never-ending cycle of chaos.”
“No thanks. I’m good with my two.”
“I’m gonna head out. I left the twins in the car, and they’re liable to figure out how to hotwire it and turn it into their getaway vehicle.”
“Thanks again,” I say, pulling her into a hug.
“Seriously, though, Lucy—if you want something more with him you should go for it. You never ask us for anything, but any one of us would be happy to help with the boys more. That’s what we’re here for.
I know I’d have a whole lot more grey in my hair if it weren’t for Raven and Bella helping with mine. ”
“I’ll think about it.” It’s not that I don’t want the help, but I’ve just been doing everything on my own since they were born. And I’ve been doing everything for myself since I was a kid. I wouldn’t even know how to ask for help.
I walk her to the door and say goodbye, shutting it behind her. When I turn back to check on the boys, Levi is missing.
“Have you seen your brother?”
Micah points to the bathroom. “In there.”
My gut sinks. How long has he been in there? He could have half of his Hot Wheels collection in the toilet right now, using it as a car wash again. When I approach the door, I hear his soft little voice, and I crack it open to check on him.
“Pee-nis! Heehee. Poop. Poopoo in the potty. Peepee in the potty. Fart! Toot toots!” He makes a fart noise. I can’t tell which end of his body it came from since I only have the door cracked.
It’s hard to stifle my laughter, but I muster the strength.
I push open the door a bit more, and Levi startles. “What are you doing, buddy?” I use my sweetest voice, like I’m trying to tame a rabid raccoon. And since it’s Levi, I pretty much am.
“I’m in the potty! You said I could use potty words in the potty. Those were the rules.” He places his hands on his hips and pouts.
I get that he’s trying to stand his ground, and he has some solid logic, but I stare at him dumbfounded, trying to suppress my laughter, impressed by how his mind works.
I love this kid so much, and all I want to do is scoop him up and tell him how amazing I think his brain is—but I can’t encourage this behavior, or his preschool will be constantly calling me. “Are you using the potty?”
He shakes his head.
“You came into the bathroom just so you can say potty words?”
He nods his head. “Am I in trouble?” His voice is soft, his eyes big, as he gives me “the face.” You know the one.
The face that all guilty kids make when they know they are in trouble and make themselves extra cute to avoid punishment.
Except this time, he didn’t do anything wrong.
He probably thinks he’s in trouble because I look angry when really I’m just trying not to laugh.
My sweet precious boy decided he wanted to use potty language, so he went into the bathroom to use it because I told him that potty talk is only allowed in the bathroom. It’s so freaking cute. Inside, I’m dying of laughter. Outside, I’m composed, ready to handle my foul-mouthed preschooler.
“You’re not in trouble.”
“Can I have another Fudgsicle?”
“No, buddy, you’ll spoil your lunch.”
He runs out of the bathroom and launches himself onto the couch. Micah is still in the kitchen finishing his Fudgsicle.
“Micah, can you keep an eye on your brother for a minute while I grab my phone? Make sure he doesn’t try to sneak another Fudgsicle.”
“Yes, Mama.”
“Thanks.”
“Can you put the code in the iPad so I can play?”
Taking the device from him, I punch in the code, figuring it might keep Levi distracted long enough for me to actually check my phone and return some texts, not just grab it.
I kiss Micah on the head and run upstairs with the fifteen minutes I just bought myself.
There are dozens of missed texts from Bella.
Bella
Hey! It’s 10 and your kids are ready for pickup.
Lucy?
Are you on your way?
Where are you?
Okay I’m starting to get worried.
Helllloooooo
Seriously, are you okay?
Why aren’t you answering?
Do you need an ambulance or are you just ignoring me?
Never mind
Just talked to Hardy.
He said you were up at the firehouse late last night.
Lucy, you got some ’splaining to do!
[gif of Lucille Ball]
I’m just going to assume you had a late night and that you’re dick drunk and sleeping it off.
Summer is going to drop the boys off.
Also, I may have told her about the firehouse.
She was worried since you weren’t answering your phone.
I’M SORRY
Also, I’m going to need details!
Did you hump the hot firefighter?
I’ve been begging Hardy to bang me at the firehouse but he keeps shutting it down.
You’re a lucky girl.
I’m alive. Sorry for the scare.
I pocket my phone and head downstairs before I’m gone too long and the boys get into trouble.
Or make another mess like the poopocalypse of a few years ago.
I shudder at the thought of a repeat of that disaster.
My Bissell still looks at me with disdain.
Is it normal that my longest, most dependable relationship is with a vacuum?
When I hit the middle step, I hear a deep male voice. A deep male and slightly Irish voice.
I look around the space, terrified I’m going to run into Mike while looking like a total bridge troll. My hair is in a bun—and not the cute messy kind—I have no makeup on, and I’m wearing clothes from two days ago that were on the floor of my bedroom. And no bra. Fuck my luck.
He wouldn’t have shown up here the morning after our hookup, would he? I did agree to after-hookup dates, but surely, he’d give me some warning.
My boys wouldn’t just open the door and let him in, would they?
Yes, they absolutely would.
I get to the bottom of the stairs and look around, praying I don’t see his ridiculously handsome face, but the boys are sitting on the couch, eyes glued to the iPad.
“Do it again!” Levi laughs.
Micah’s fingers swipe on the screen, and a loud fart noise comes from the tablet. Oh, thank God, they must be watching one of those stupid YouTube videos again. I walk over to the kitchen and start straightening up the island.
“How was that?” the familiar voice asks, and I pause my movements. “That one sounded real, right?”
“It did!” both boys squeal in unison, and another fart sound blares from the device.
Micah turns around from his spot on the couch and holds the tablet up, pointing the screen in my direction. “Mama, say hi to—”