Chapter 28 #2
Letting her go, I follow behind her into the kitchen.
When we step inside, I see Coop sitting at the dining table with Lola curled up at his feet.
Ivy has the whole place decorated for Christmas except the tree, just like always.
We’ll spend the morning decorating it next week as a family like we always do.
As tradition goes, we wait till the last Sunday before the holiday to decorate it to commemorate my first Christmas with her.
We did the same thing when Carter came to live with us and once Willow and Coop started coming around for the holidays, they joined in too.
“There’s my second handsome son. How are you?” Ivy asks, stepping away from the stovetop and reaching for a hug. I smile down at her and encase her in my arms.
“I’m good, Mama. How are you? Did you have a good week?”
“I did. It’s better now that all of my kids are home,” she says, releasing me and looking at the four of us. One thing I can only hope to have is the kind of heart Ivy does. She cares for everyone and everything, even if it’s not hers to care about.
My phone buzzes in my back pocket and I pull it out to read the message.
What’s this one going to be? A deranged turtle?
I’ll have you know I went back and fixed my deranged bunny’s ears and they look much better!! Instead of looking deranged he just looks like someone whacked him in the face with a frying pan.
I chuckle under my breath at her message because I can hear her voice getting defensive about her little crocheted creatures.
“There it is again, the face,” Carter calls out. Looking up from my phone I see him pushing himself up to sit on the counter. “Who ya texting, Miles?”
“Get off my countertops, you know better than that,” Ivy chastises before smacking him on the leg with her dishtowel.
“Oh, please, you know you love when I sit up here. Reminds you of when we were small and you’d put us on the counter to watch you cook.”
She rolls her eyes but gives him a sideways smirk.
“Why so smiley, Miles?” Coop asks from his seat.
“Is a guy not allowed to be happy? Who’s to say I’m not happy because I get to spend my Sunday with all of you?”
“Because you’ve been nothing but a perpetual grump since this summer. Suddenly you’re smiling at your phone and have a pep in your step that wasn’t there before,” Carter explains.
He and Coop stare at me before passing a glance between them.
“I bet it’s the therapist,” Carter says matter of factly.
“Therapist?” Ivy says with concern. Her brows meet in the center of her face as she gives me the classic, something-is-wrong-with-my-child-and-they-kept-it-from-me look only mothers can give.
“It’s nothing, I’m fine. Chief sent me to see one a couple months ago, it’s nothing to worry about.”
“And now he’s sleeping with her,” Carter snaps with a smirk.
“I’m not sleeping with my therapist.” Technically I’m not lying because Hanna and I aren’t sleeping together. And, as of last week, she’s not my therapist anymore. So even if we were sleeping together, I wouldn’t be ‘sleeping with my therapist.’
“Why the fuck not? She’s cute. She’s the one we saw at the coffee shop a couple weeks back, right? Her friend is a social worker?” Coop asks.
“Yep, that’s Hanna. Her friend’s name is Rae, she’s the social worker,” I remind him.
“That’s right. I have her card. I meant to call her to come in and do a training on how to handle calls with people needing mental health support.”
“So when did you start bopping your therapist?” Carter asks again, grabbing a piece of bacon Ivy’s just placed on a paper towel on the counter.
“I’m not sleeping with her. I already told you that.”
“She must not like you very much then,” Carter jests, shoving another piece of bacon into his mouth.
“Carter, what do you know about people liking you?” Willow pipes up. She cocks her head to one side and shakes her head at him with attitude.
“Don’t even get me started, Willie. I’m not the one dating a half-baked social media influencer who’s trying to pretend like content creation is a real job.”
“Oh, leave Bobby out of this,” she sneers, scowling at him from across the island. “Just because you don’t like him doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy.”
“I think he’s a bad guy because he treats you like shit.” He jumps off the counter and leans over the island towards her. When I look down at his hands that are holding him up, I see that his knuckles are turning white.
“Well lucky for me, you’re not my brother so it doesn’t matter what you think about my relationship, now does it?” She glares at him.
Suddenly, the inquisition into my love life has turned into something much bigger. The two of them look at one another intensely and I feel like I’ve stepped into something I don’t fully understand. Sensing the tension in the room, Ivy steps in.
“Alright, children, that’s enough of that. Breakfast is ready. Everyone grab a plate and let’s eat. Each of you can put an ornament on the tree if you want before we decorate it completely next week.”
Continuing to glare at one another, Carter and Willow grab a plate and fill them up with the myriad of food Ivy’s spent all morning cooking.
When we all have our plates and are sitting at the table, the tension finally seems to evaporate.
Once breakfast is cleaned up, we each pick out a single ornament to place on the tree.
As I watch the others diligently pick out which one to place first, I do my best to keep my mind focused on the task at hand and not the semi-pornographic thoughts cluttering my mind surrounding my ex-therapist.