Twenty-Five #2
Edgar shakes his head. “Not technically. One of the rooms is actually a secondary living room. It has a big fireplace. And another doesn’t have a closet and is too small by city standards to legally be considered a bedroom. We’ve made it into a four-bedroom, though.”
“Come on,” I say, pushing them all inside. “I want to hear about your lives. Catch me up.”
“Fine,” Gravity says, “but we’re coming back to Owen.”
I smile and look at Clarinda. “The kids? Are they doing okay?”
Clarinda sighs, a soft smile on her face.
“Yeah. They’re adjusting very well. I’m not sure if the littles have figured out that we likely won’t be seeing mom again, but Janessa and Dante have.
Either way, I think they’re happy. Janessa and Dante began their new school and seem to like it.
Dante already has a girlfriend and Janessa has a whole flock of besties.
The twins are in preschool and there’s an Auntie approved sitter for Logan when I need to work. ”
“Who’s with them now?” Gravity asks.
“Auntie Faith.” Clarinda gives me a sly smirk. “She loves that she has a family to take care of since someone wouldn’t let her have that.”
I roll my eyes and don’t respond.
“But really, she loves to play with the kids. She’s so careful not to be intrusive, but she visits a lot. And the kids adore her. She was there when I got your text and basically pushed me out the door. I had to remind her a few times that I wasn’t due to come over for like six hours.”
Grinning, I can just imagine Auntie like that.
“Have you heard from Dani?” I ask.
Clarinda sighs, her light mood fading. “Yeah. As shitty as it is, I think this was the wake-up call she needed. I get that it’s a teenage thing to be selfish, but she’s not the only one going through this shit. You think I asked to raise six fucking kids?”
Edgar pats her hand, making Clarinda roll her eyes.
“I made it clear there needed to be a huge attitude adjustment from her if she was going to move back in with us. Like, I’m talking fucking epic proportions.
It’s not like I’m asking her to be a mother too.
I’m not and I never would. But for fuck’s sake, stop being so fucking self-centered and oblivious. ”
The thing about Danielle is I never thought she was oblivious. When she left the kids alone after her mother took off and knowing that Clarinda was at work, she did so knowing that she shouldn’t. It wasn’t the first time. Not even the first time that they’ve had that exact argument.
I don’t think badly of her for it, though.
She’s not wrong. They’re not her responsibility and she shouldn’t be held accountable for them.
She shouldn’t have to give up her life and childhood because her mother makes shitty decisions.
Clarinda never thinks that, either. But at the very least, she should have called Clarinda to tell her mom left.
“She’s coming over next week,” Clarinda continues. “I’ll have another conversation with her and then Auntie Faith will.” She shrugs. “We’ll see what happens.”
“I’m so relieved you’re somewhere safe and stable,” Gravity says.
Clarinda smiles. Then she gives me a glare. “I both hate and love you for what you did. You know that, right?”
I nod. “Yes. I’ll take both emotions, gladly. If it was just you, I’d have let you figure it out because I know that’s what you’d have wanted. But I also know it would destroy you to lose your siblings and you just didn’t have anywhere to turn. I did what I had to do.”
She sighs.
We all look expectantly at Edgar. “I feel like we need popcorn for this conversation,” I say. “Tell us what’s been going on in your zoo.”
Edgar lives with five other people in the aforementioned apartment. He shares a bedroom with Flynn. Bast and Cinder share a room and are on again, off again lovers. When they’re not lovers, they’re epic enemies. Then there’s Benji and Leighten in their own rooms.
“Benji tried to bring home a squirrel. Cinder tried to convince him to let them eat the squirrel,” Edgar says. “This, of course, set off Bast and there was a fight so loud that we had neighbors above and below us hitting the ceiling and floor to shut them up.”
I shake my head, sitting back in my chair with a blanket wrapped around me. I love this. My friends. Their lives. I could do this for ages.
Which is exactly what we do. For four hours we talk about what they’ve been up to. Most of that time was filled with Edgar telling us about his roommates’ latest shenanigans. We keep trying to get him to write a book. He’d be a bestseller. I can even see it as a sitcom.
Just as we’re talking about ordering dinner, I hear the beep of the buttons as if someone is trying to get in the front door. My blood runs cold as fear grips me. Who the hell could be trying to break in?
I look around frantically for something to defend us with as I jump to my feet and freeze as I’m staring straight at the door with my heart in my throat. It opens, but before I can scream, Owen’s looking at me with a smile.
My heart leaps. A smile breaks out across my face and I practically sprint toward him. He takes me in his arms before the door even closes behind him, holding me tight.
“You scared the shit out of me,” I say, squeezing him. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home? Wait, why are you home? What happened to hockey?!” I pull back to look at him with concern.
He kisses me. That’s his answer. I feel that kiss all the way down to my toes.
“I missed you,” he says as he layers kisses all over my face. I’m grinning far too wide. “So I changed my flight as soon as the game was over and came home early. I wanted to surprise you.”
“We’re definitely surprised,” Edgar says.
I flinch. My anxiety climbs again as Owen’s eyes move over my head. Fuck. I didn’t ask if my friends could come over. Oh, fuck. They’re in his house. They’re in his house without permission. Ohmygod!
Owen presses his thumb to my cheek, and I blink through the haze of panic. “I’m so happy you invited your friends over,” he says in a tone that only meets my ears. The smile on his face is genuine. His tone is earnest. His eyes sparkle.
He… means it.
“This is your home, Zak. That’s what I want. You can have your friends over any time you’d like. You have no idea how happy it makes me that they’re here.”
I swallow around the lump and close my eyes. “You’re not upset?”
“Why would I be upset?”
I don’t exactly have an answer for that. Not one that he hasn’t already addressed.
Owen kisses me again and I lean into him. “Want me to leave you guys be? I can?—”
I shake my head vehemently. “No. Will you… sit with us?”
His smile makes my knees weak. “I’d love to. But I’m starving. How about if I make us dinner?”
“Gravity is going to order. I’m going to tell you right now that arguing with him is more painful than trying to run through a brick wall. It’s best just to let it happen,” I say.
“He’s right,” Gravity agrees cheerfully.
Chuckling, Owen nods. “Okay then.”
I take his hand and bring him into the living room. “That’s Clarinda and Edgar. You know Gravity.”
“Wow,” Edgar says. “That’s what a hockey player looks like up close.”
Clarinda sighs heavily, while Gravity just laughs.
“Please don’t judge us based on Edgar,” Clarinda says.
“Not at all,” Owen says. “I’m very happy to meet you all.”
Again, it sounds like he means it. Owen sits in the chair I was in and pulls me into his lap, bringing the blanket over us. “What’s on the menu tonight?”
“Hockey players,” Edgar mumbles, not quite covering it with a cough.
Gravity cackles and try as she might, Clarinda doesn’t quite hide the smirk behind her hand. I only grin because I’m not sharing this hockey player.