Chapter 33
THIRTY-THREE
LARS
“You’re going to sue me for custody?” Mel said, her voice full of disbelief as she shook her head.
Lars sighed. “Obviously I don’t want to do that. I love you, and I don’t want to put any of us through that. But I’m not going to just let you take them halfway across the world without a fight.”
“You said this could work,” she reiterated.
“Because I felt bad for asking you not to go after your dream job. But you’ve been gone for nearly two weeks, and a lot has happened in that time.”
She scoffed. “Yeah, our toddler ended up in the ER with a broken arm and you fucked our best friend.”
Clenching his jaw, he counted to three in his head before responding. “I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the conversations I’ve had with my mom and friends, who reminded me that I deserve to be happy too.”
Mel opened her mouth but paused. Brow furrowed, she asked in a softer tone, “You’re not happy?”
“I am. Here. With my friends and family. With a good-paying job that has fairly flexible hours and lets me take care of the girls.” He took a step closer. “This is their home. Do you really want to rip them away from everything they’ve ever known?”
“They’re young enough that I don’t think it would hurt that much,” she said, crossing her arms.
He disagreed wholeheartedly. “Do you remember how upset they were that you were leaving for a couple weeks? Chloe cried almost every night for you that first week, so did the other two. How do you think they’ll feel having to say goodbye to their grandparents?
Their friends?” He took a deep breath before adding, “Aaron.”
“It’ll be an adjustment for everyone—”
“Yeah, changing everyone’s life so you can take this job.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Did you even ask about it being remote or in one of their other locations? Hell, their headquarters is in Chicago. Even that wouldn’t be nearly as bad.”
Mel visibly swallowed, which was answer enough. She wanted to go to London.
“That’s what I thought.” He pushed past her toward the door.
“Where are you going?”
Lars turned with one hand on the doorknob. “To check on our girls. And I think you should come with me because they missed you like hell, and I know you missed them.”
He didn’t wait for a response, instead opening the door and storming out. But he paused at the top of the steps, needing to say one more thing.
Facing Mel, he lowered his voice. “As for Chloe’s broken arm, you know damn well that girl is hard to keep from danger twenty-four-seven.
She’s a wild child, and it was an accident.
So before you go off yelling at Aaron, just know that he already feels guilty as hell.
He didn’t think he should be left alone with them ever again, and I had to convince him of how good he is with them. ”
“I wasn’t going to yell at him about that,” she hissed, as if it was an absurd assumption.
“Then, why bring it up like a weapon?”
She glared at him and whispered, “Sorry, but things are a little overwhelming right now. What, with finding you two together in my bed and then you threatening to sue for custody.”
“Because you threatened to move them to London!”
With a groan, she shoved past him and started down the stairs.
Lars followed, but the minute they reached the bottom, he gently grabbed her by the arm to stop her.
Aaron had Allie and Chloe with him on the couch, the TV on in the background.
Maddie played with her blocks on the floor.
None of them had seen Lars and Mel yet. They crept closer to the corner of the wall, listening to what he was telling them.
Bri snapped her eyes up from where she sat in the recliner, and Lars quickly lifted a finger to his lips. She gave a little nod and continued watching TV.
“You four girls are the most important people in my life. And I… No matter what happens with your mom and dad, I’ll still be here too.”
“Always?” Allie asked quietly.
Leaning over, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Always. I promise.”
“I’m scared,” she said, breaking Lars’s heart.
“About the future?” Aaron asked. “Me too. But that’s okay. We can be worried together. The important thing to remember is that we all love you so much, and nothing is going to change that.”
Lars glanced at Mel, but she was focused on them. She stepped forward, as if unable to hold back any longer, and said, “He’s right.”
Simultaneous shouts of “Mommy” rang out as Chloe and Allie jumped up and ran to her.
Mel knelt to pull them both into her arms. Maddie was a little slower to her feet, but then she joined them.
For a second, all the anger Lars had been feeling melted away.
He knew Mel loved them as much as he did.
He knew she didn’t want to break apart their family.
That didn’t make this any easier though.
Aaron stood and walked to his side. In a whisper, he asked, “You okay?”
“Not really.” Lars sighed and tried to force a smile. “Thank you for bringing them down here.”
“Of course.” Glancing over his shoulder, he said, “Bri, go get your stuff.”
She got up and crossed the room, pausing beside them. “I still need to get ready for school.”
“I know. I’ll take you to my apartment to get dressed and do whatever else.”
She nodded and took off up the stairs.
When she was out of sight, Aaron nonchalantly hooked a finger into one of Lars’s. With a deep breath, he said, “I’m going to head out, take Bri to school. Then, I’ll head home… let you have some family time…” His hesitation killed Lars. “I’ll come get my stuff later once things cool down.”
Lars wanted to tell him to stay or at least come back after driving her to Perrington, to insist that he was a part of this family, but the words caught in his throat.
Aaron squeezed his hand before releasing him and walking toward the door.
Bri returned with her bag, and they quickly put on their shoes before slipping away.
Lars could only watch with deep sorrow and regret.
He should’ve stopped them. He should’ve told Aaron that he belonged here with them all.
“Daddy?”
Fighting through the tightness in his chest and throat, Lars turned to smile down at Allie. “Yes, Munchkin?”
She held her arms up like she used to when she was younger, and he lifted her. “Where’d Uncle Aaron go?”
“He went to take Bri to school. He’ll be back later. He wanted us to have some time just with the family.”
Her brow furrowed. “But… he is our family.”
Lars’s face fell. Even she knew it was wrong that he’d left. Nodding, Lars hugged Allie close. “He is, isn’t he?”
He pressed a kiss to her cheek then slowly walked to Mel and the other two girls. Mel met his gaze, and he sighed before kneeling with them. “Did you guys finish breakfast?”
When they shook their heads, he brought Allie and Maddie to the kitchen while Mel carried Chloe.
As they sat around the table, the girls told their mom all about Halloween and what had been going on at school, even though they’d talked on the phone nearly every day.
Chloe showed off her cast and the stickers she’d decorated it with, among the drawings by Allie—plus the new one Elliot doodled before trick-or-treating last night.
She was especially proud of the stars and flowers he’d given her.
The second they finished, Chloe stood on Mel’s lap and said, “We play pirates outside?”
“How about inside? It’s too cold out right now,” she said with a smile. “Why don’t you and Allie go play in the living room, and we’ll join you in a minute.”
Chloe ran off, but Allie hesitated.
As she bit at her lower lip, Mel asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want you guys to fight anymore…”
Lars reached for her, turning her to face him, even as his heart broke. “I’m sorry. No more fighting this morning, okay?”
With a nod, she started toward Chloe. Maddie waddled after them but got distracted by one of her books on the bottom step. He straightened once more and looked at his soon-to-be ex-wife.
“I don’t want to fight over custody,” she whispered.
“Neither do I, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to just sit by and let you take them.” He angled toward her more. “And I don’t want to uproot our whole family to an entirely different country either.”
“Then, what do we do?”
Lars sighed and shook his head. “I have no idea.”