Chapter 28 – Logan
Twenty-Eight
LOGAN
“That’s it, good job,” I call out to Zuri as she kicks the soccer ball she brought into the foldable goal I set up in the front yard. “Next time, I want you to try to focus on keeping your eyes up rather than at your feet,” I tell her when she kicks the ball back to me.
“I’ll miss the ball if I do that.”
“If you keep your eyes on your feet, you’ll miss the person coming at you when you’re on the field.” I kick the ball back to her, and she dribbles it across the yard with her head up, only glancing down a few times before she kicks it into the goal.
“See.” I walk to her and raise my hand. “Good job.”
“Thanks.” She gives me a high five, then passes the ball to me before jogging over to Nalia, who’s sitting on the porch with Dozer. Picking up her water bottle, she takes a drink, and I walk over to join the two of them.
“Are you guys going to be able to come to my game tomorrow?” she asks while handing her water bottle back to Nalia. She places it down next to her on the step.
“We might be a little late, but we’ll be there for the second half for sure.”
“Cool.” She smiles then looks to the driveway when a car pulls in. When I see that it’s Billie, I frown. Her and Coop made plans to stay at their mom’s tonight and are supposed to meet me in the morning at the baseball field, so they shouldn’t be home unless one of them forgot something.
“What’d you forget?” I ask Billie when she gets out of her car. She doesn’t answer; instead, she slams her door closed hard enough that her car shakes. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” She bites out while Coop gets out with his school bag. As she gets closer, I notice that her face is red and blotchy.
“What happened?” I repeat, when she walks past all of us into the house, opening the door so hard it bangs against the wall.
“What’s going on?” I question Coop as he walks towards us slowly looking completely shell shocked.
“Mom and Billie got into a fight.”
“About what?” I ask him and he turns to looks into the house. “Bud, what’s going on?”
“Aaron asked Mom to marry him.”
“Tonight?”
“Ugh, I don’t know. Mom just told us about it, then Billie got really upset, and she and Mom got in a big fight.”
Shit.
“Does your mom know the two of you left her house?”
“I don’t know, Mom was in her bedroom when we left.”
“Alright.” I let out a frustrated breath and take my cell phone out of my back pocket. “Go put your bag down and come out and play soccer with Zuri while I call your mom to let her know that you guys are here.”
“Okay.” He looks at Zuri, who gives him a sad smile before following behind him up the steps.
“I’m going to go up and check on Billie,” Nalia tells me when the kids walk into the house.
“I’ll be up in a sec.” I dial Kristy’s number and listen to it ring.
“Logan,” she answers, sounding panicked. “Please tell me that you’re calling because the kids are there.”
“The kids are here.”
“Oh my god,” she whispers. “I can’t believe that Billie just took off without telling me she was leaving with her brother.”
“What the fuck reaction did you expect her to have, Kristy? Just last weekend, she saw Aaron on a dating website and was under the impression that he was moving out, not putting a ring on her mom's finger.”
“The dating website thing was a misunderstanding.”
“Really? Is that what he told you?”
“Yes,” she snaps, sounding angry, which pisses me off.
“And you believe him?” I ask, unable to hide the disbelief in my voice.
“Of course I do.” Then you’re an idiot. I don’t say it, but fuck, I want to.
“I gotta go, I need to go check on our daughter.”
“Tell her to call me.”
“I’ll tell her, but I’m not sure that she’s going to be up to doing that tonight,” I mutter before I hang up.
As I’m stepping up the porch to go inside, Coop and Zuri walk out of the house.
“You two okay?” I ask, wrapping my arm around Coop’s shoulders, hugging him into my side.
“Yeah.” Coop shrugs.
“Is Billie okay?” Zuri asks.
“Yeah, honey, she’s okay,” I lie because I don’t know what’s waiting for me when I get upstairs. “You two okay out here alone for a bit?”
“Yeah.” They both answer.
“Alright, stay away from the road.”
“We know, Dad,” Coop grumbles like I’m an idiot.
I let him go and walk into the house, leaving the door open.
When I get upstairs, Billie’s door is open and her and Nalia are sitting on her bed.
Both of them with their backs to the headboard, Billie with her legs pressed to her chest, leaning into Nalia, sitting next to her with her arms wrapped around her.
“First,” I say, and Billie’s red-rimmed eyes come to me. “You do not ever fucking drive when you’re upset and crying.”
“Dad,” she whispers.
“Logan,” Nalia snaps.
“No.” I look at both women before focusing on Billie. “Do not Dad me, Billie. You put your life and Coop’s life in danger doing that, and that is absolutely unacceptable.”
“I’m sorry,” she whimpers while Nalia glares at me.
“Now, come here, sweetheart,” I order softly, and she shakes her head. “Come here,” I repeat, and she hesitantly gets off the bed and walks to me. “I’m sorry about your mom.” I pull her into my arms and hold her tight.
“She’s so stupid,” she chokes out.
“Love makes you act stupid, sweetheart. You’ll unfortunately figure that out for yourself someday.”
“I’m not going to be stupid enough to stay with a guy who is on a dating site while living with me.”
“I hope not.” I sigh, holding her tighter, my gaze landing on the woman still sitting on my daughter’s bed, watching us.
“I can’t believe that she is going to marry him.”
“That’s her decision, and unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about it if that’s what she decides.”
“But I can decide I don’t want to be around him.”
“You can,” I agree, wondering what the fuck Kristy’s thinking with this bullshit. Things between her and the kids just started improving, and now, understanding what changed Billie’s mind about Aaron months ago, I get why she didn’t want to be around him.
And Nalia was right. Coop didn’t know about his dating profile, but he loves his sister, so when Billie decided that she didn’t like her mom's man, he went along with her. I just doubt there is going to be any way Billie will ever accept Aaron, and she will likely always assume that he’s up to no good, even if he’s not.
And, again, Coop always having his sister’s back is going to act accordingly and I won’t blame him.
“Did you and Coop eat dinner yet?”
“No, we were trying to figure out what we were going to order for dinner when Mom told us about Aaron.”
“Does pizza sound good?”
“Yeah,” she mumbles. “Hawaiian.”
“You got it.” I kiss the top of her head. “Go on and wash your face and meet us downstairs, we’ll order dinner, watch a movie, and hang out.”
“Okay, Dad.” She lets me go and sends Nalia a sad smile before walking into the Jack and Jill bathroom between her bedroom and the guest room.
Going downstairs with Nalia right behind me, I stop at the front door and look out at the kids.
It’s starting to get a little dark, but they have a few minutes before the sun fully sets and the street lamps turn on.
“We’re going to order pizza,” I yell out at the two of them and they both stop mid run and look at me. “What kind do you want?”
“Pepperoni,” Zuri shouts.
“Cheese,” Coop yells.
“Got it.” I walk back into the house and go to the kitchen, where Nalia is standing with her purse in one hand and Zuri’s iPad in the other.
“What’s going on?” I ask her with a frown.
“I think Zuri and I should go and give you guys a little time alone.”
“You’re not leaving Nalia.”
“Really, Logan, after what happened, I think that…”
“Please don’t leave,” Billie’s voice cuts her off as she walks into the kitchen. Her face clean of the makeup that had stained under her eyes. “I like when you’re here, and so does Coop.”
“Honey,” Nalia whispers.
“Seriously, I’m not out numbered when you and Zuri are here, and it’s nice having you two around, please don’t leave.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” She walks to the fridge and looks at me. “Can I invite Cat over, or should this just be a family night?”
Shit. I fight back the urge to laugh because she just threw down the gauntlet, and it’s obvious that Nalia sees it because her entire frame has gone still.
“I think it might be good if we just keep it family tonight.”
“That’s cool,” she mumbles, opening her soda. “I’m just going to go call her and tell her what happened.”
“Alright, sweetheart.” I watch her walk away, and when I hear her footsteps on the stairs, I walk across the kitchen and drag Nalia into my arms before placing a kiss on her mouth. “You okay?”
“I don’t know.” She tips her head back to look up at me. “I’m worried about her; I’m also worried about Kristy.”
“Kristy is a grown woman who will have to deal with her own consequences. And it sucks, but Billie is learning a lesson about life and proving that I didn’t raise my girl to think it’s okay for a man to step out on you.”
“This is true,” she mumbles.
“What kind of pizza do you want,” I change the subject with a quick kiss to her forehead; we have already spent way more time than I’d like on the topic of Kristy and her relationship. And sure, it might make me sound like a dick, but I don’t care.
“I’m okay with whatever.”
“Anchovies?”
“Sure.” She shrugs, and I tickle her sides, making her laugh. “Okay, meat lovers with olives, mushrooms, and peppers.”
“Alright.” I lean over her, kiss the smile off her lips.
“While you order dinner, I’m going to go out with the kids.”
“I’ll be out in a sec,” I tell her, and her face softens before she leans up, kissing my jaw. When she falls back to her flat feet, her eyes roam my face for a moment before she lets me go and walks away with me watching until she’s out of sight.
Pulling out my cell, I call in our pizza order, then I go out to join Nalia and the kids and find that Billie has joined them for a game of soccer.
I join Nalia’s team, and we play against the three of them.
And despite what happened earlier, the kids’ laughter fills the evening air and I feel completely at peace seeing them happy, seeing how naturally we have all fit into each other’s lives.
It’s a simple moment that means everything.