67. Kiera
KIERA
Calm and normal my fucking ass.
I’d never needed so many cleaning supplies for a single breakfast. Despite already being teenagers, Abi and Caleb had the chaotic capacity of a small kindergarten class. And the circumstances surrounding their stay with us only amplified the anarchy.
The four of us had woken up bright and early to prepare a special breakfast for them with what we had in the house. We’d hoped a nice spread might help ease their transition into staying with us, make it into a fun thing instead of a necessity.
But apparently, they didn’t need any help getting comfortable; with their teenage appetites in full swing, they absolutely demolished the platters of waffles, eggs, fruits, bacon, and croissants.
They’d gone through half of our orange juice, and Caleb had managed to down an entire gallon of milk on his own.
“Why do teenage boys drink milk like that?” I whispered to Leo as we ferried a set of dirty serving platters to the kitchen. “I mean like, where the fuck is he putting all of it? The kid’s a rail!”
“At least we don’t need to worry about him breaking an arm again,” Leo smirked. “I think he just had a year’s worth of calcium.”
As a smirk pulled at my lips, Caleb and Abi came hurtling past with their own dirty plates, nearly knocking my heap from my hands with a gangly elbow.
“Sorry, Kiera!” Abi called back as they dumped their plates in the sink.
Spencer shot her a warning glance from her spot at the counter but didn’t say a word; she’d already contacted Abi’s school, but she was still on hold with Caleb’s guidance counselor. There was a lot to get in order for the next few days.
It wasn’t that the kids were trying to make a mess — clearly, Spencer had instilled manners in them from a very young age — but the practical skills didn’t always match their level of effort.
It’s fine. We can work on that after the dust settles on the whole Bill thing. They’ve got enough going on for now.
While I got busy wiping a stray smear of syrup from the doorway, Abi and Caleb bounded past, already on the hunt for new ways to pester Dom.
“Ohhh Dommmmm!” Abi called down the hallway. “You’d better watch out!”
“I’m not home,” Dom replied from the dining room, earning a cacophony of giggles as Abi sprinted into the room to get her.
Not ten seconds later, Dom’s faux cries of agony echoed down the hall.
“Sounds like she might need some back up,” I mused as I set my stack of dishes on top of Leo’s. “Why don’t you get out there?”
“Are you sure?” Leo eyed the mess. “I don’t want to leave you alone to clean all of this up.”
“I won’t be alone. Spence is here. Plus, the kids probably need to have some fun today, and I don’t know them nearly as well as you do.”
“If you’re sure,” she nodded, giving me a kiss on top of my head. “Just call if you need me.”
“Will do, Doctor,” I smirked, pulling a set of rubber gloves from the drawer by the sink.
Plugging the drain, I ran the hot tap to fill the sink, pressing two pumps of soap into the mix to ease off the grime. Once it was close to full, I shut off the water, grabbed the brush, and started scrubbing the muck off of each dish before slotting it into the dishwasher.
From her stool, Spencer frowned, drumming her fingers against the counter. “Leave it, I can do that.”
“I’m already doing it. You’ve got enough on your plate, anyway.”
“You shouldn’t be cleaning up all of this mess though. Here—” but as soon as she stood to stand, a voice murmured from her phone. The guidance counselor.
She sat back down with a huff before unmuting her phone. “Hi Mrs. Donaldson, how are you doing today? Uh-huh, yeah, I bet.”
I could only hear one end of the conversation, but it was clear from her easy, familiar tone that Spencer had been putting in the work with the kids’ schools for months if not years. They didn’t just know who she was — they trusted her.
In the other room, I could catch glimpses of Dom and Leo entertaining the kids. Before breakfast, Abi had asked to borrow some nail polish from me, and she was hard at work making sure that everyone left the dining room with a manicure.
Meanwhile Caleb was hanging close to Dom’s side, muttering quietly about comic books and old cars while Abi had at their hands.
Good, they don’t need to worry about these logistics…
“Yeah,” Spencer forced a smile. “I’m just calling to give you a heads up that he won’t be in for a few days.
I already faxed in a doctor’s note to the main office, but I know that there’s a lot going on with graduation, and I didn’t want him to miss out on…
No yeah, he’s okay. Just a bit under the weather. Thank you for asking.”
There was a lot that went unspoken in the exchange.
I was willing to bet that if the school didn’t already know it, that Caleb’s hospital stay a few months ago had given them a pretty clear idea of what his home life was like.
And I’m sure they were more than happy to bend a few rules to let Spencer step in to help.
Listening in on the phone call, I was both impressed and saddened by just how much Spencer had to juggle. The fact that she managed to keep such a good attitude through all of it was a miracle.
She shouldn’t have to carry all of it with a smile, though.
All I wanted to do was to make all of it better. But short of that, the most I could do was to try to take care of Spencer, to give her a bit of relief from constantly looking after everyone else.
The dishes are a start.
Despite the chaos that they introduced to the house, it was genuinely nice to have the kids around. For one thing, it brought out the nurturing side of my captors in a different context than I was used to.
I’d never seen Dom as willing to sacrifice her peace and quiet as she was when Abi or Caleb wanted her attention. And Leo had hardly gotten off her feet since the kids had arrived, constantly playing or running around to grab things for them.
Caleb needed a bit less hands-on attention than Abi did, but in the full-swing of his teenage hormones, his mood was far more variable.
Still, I could tell that having some safe adults who he could speak to candidly did a lot for his mental state.
The sharp, icy attitude he’d worn last night thawed a bit more for every hour he was in Dom’s mansion.
Most of all, having them here gave me a chance to see exactly why these kids were so special to Spencer. And as fucked up as the circumstances were, being all together almost felt like having a normal family.
I hadn’t realized how much I wanted that, but now that I had it, I could feel a bit of my own inner child healing too.
As I loaded the last plate, Spencer finally hung up with the guidance counselor, resting her head on the counter with a sigh. “You really should have let me do that.”
“And you should really learn how to accept help.” I smirked, pulling off the gloves. “A thank you would be nice, though.”
“Thank you, Bunny,” she muttered sheepishly.
I walked over to the counter, leaning across to grab her hand. “How’re things going with Caleb?”
“Ya know… icy,” she sighed. “He doesn’t want to take any accountability for breaking his promise last night.
He’s probably worried about the position he’s put Abi in, and probably hurt by whatever Bill said to him during that fight.
And if I had to guess, it’s a lot easier to vent that frustration onto me rather than him right now. ”
She shrugged, “I guess I get it, in some sense. And I don’t want to push him too hard on it right now.
He’s a good kid, and he gets pushed so hard in every other part of his life.
It hasn’t even been twelve hours. But at some point, I need him to talk about it.
We can’t just live in this limbo forever… ”
Her gaze grew distant, but I gave her hand a squeeze, hoping it might ground her. “It’s all going to be okay.”
“I know,” she frowned. But in the silence that followed, I wasn’t sure she really believed that.
I let the silence lie for a moment, listening instead to the chatter drifting in from the kitchen. And as another wave of laughter rippled from Caleb and Dom, I had an idea.
“If you want to get Caleb talking… he seems pretty comfy with Dom.”
Spencer raised an eyebrow. “What are you suggesting?”
“Well, maybe if you give him the chance to chat with her away from prying ears, he might open up a little more. Maybe she can try talking some sense into him so that he takes it a bit easier on you.”
And maybe a break will help you undo the knot in your stomach that you refuse to acknowledge.
“I mean, I feel like I’ve given him plenty of space.
” She shrugged. “I’m in here right now, aren’t I?
But I can’t stay holed up in my room all day hoping he’ll warm up to a chat.
You know how teenagers are — it’s like he can sense my presence through the walls.
If I breathe too loud, it pisses him off. ”
“More space, then.” I smiled, pulling her hands closer to my lips as I looked up at her with pleading eyes. “Do you trust me?”
Spencer scoffed, “That’s such a leading question! Of course I trust you.”
“Then let me take care of it,” I grinned.
“Mmmmm….” she narrowed her eyes suspiciously as I kissed her hands. “What are you planning, Bunny?”