Chapter 14
LUCY
AKA: BEAN. AKA: ⒈／⒋ OF THE FEARSOME FOURSOME.
The little girl I now know as Mia Fletcher wanders through Justin’s home with Elle on her left and June on her right. Elle is younger than Mia, and June is older, but as a trio, they’re almost evenly sized.
Not poor Claire, though. She’s still so little, so I swing her onto my hip and follow the other three through a rich man’s beautiful home while everyone else makes their way to the dining room.
I’m being paid a boatload of money to babysit these kids tonight, which means no wine for me, and no Soph-Is-Picking-On-Everyone-Else show.
But that’s okay, because boatloads of money are the best kinds, despite the dollars my fighter family already has squirreled away in the bank, and when I’m done for the night, I get to go back to my hotel.
To my man.
For now, he’s providing a little muscle and spending a few hours working with June’s stepdad. After that, he’ll spend a few hours working me. Honestly, that’s my favorite way to spend my time.
The girls drift closer to Justin’s pool, drawn to it by the sunlight creating diamonds on the surface. Elle goes closest, because that’s what she does. She tests boundaries. But Mia hovers just half a foot behind her, while June is our rule follower. Our people pleaser.
“Can you swim?” Mia stops on the edge with a proud smile, stretching her face wide and fisted hands on her hips. “I can mostly swim, because Cato teaches me every single day.”
“Who is Cato?” Elle squints her eyes and leans too damn far forward, all so she can grab a floating leaf from the surface. “Your dad’s name is Fletch, isn’t it?”
“Actually, my dad’s name is Charlie. Our last name is Fletcher, so that means sometimes his friends call him Fletch.”
“I know a Charlie,” June happily announces. “He’s in my class at school.”
My big, brutish nephew.
I wonder how Mia would react if she knew that Charlie is already a champion fighter, too?
“He’s super nice and stuff, but he’s a bit silly sometimes.”
“My dad is super nice, too. And silly.” Giggling, Mia draws her eyes around to June. “Ya know how I said Fifi isn’t my mom?”
Piqued, both girls nod.
“Well… she’s not. But my dad loves her, I fink.”
Oh dear.
“Sometimes I wish Fifi was my real mom, ‘cos she’s so pretty and nice, and even though she always makes my dad growl and stuff, I see her smiling when he’s not paying attention.”
“Really?” Elle’s wide skirt juts at an awkward angle because of her crouch. “My mom makes my dad smile, even when she is looking.”
“My dad didn’t make my mom smile at all,” June confesses. “He made her cry. A lot.”
Mia gasps and grabs June’s arm. “Your dad who works wif Sophia makes your mom cry? You should tell someone so they can make it better.” She snarls. “We should kick him!”
“Aw, nah.” She snickers. “My real dad made my mom sad. But not anymore, ‘cos he stopped coming around. Pres works for Soph, and he makes my mom growl and smile, sometimes both at the same time.”
“He’s her stepdad,” Elle clarifies. “B’cos June’s mom and dad got married and made June. Then they got a divorce. Now Pres and June’s mom are married, and it’s way better. The cakes are better now, too.”
I cover my mouth and the silent giggle rolling along my throat, and though the girls are a little too close to the pool’s edge for comfort, I stay back and give them space.
Worst case, if one of them slips, I’ll jump in after them.
“What’s it like having a stepdad?” Mia wonders aloud. “Is it okay?”
Despite the question not being aimed at her, Elle shrugs.
“I really like it,” June answers. “Pres is funny and goofy and super nice to me and my mom.” Leaning closer, she asks, “What’s it like having a mom who died?”
Again, Elle shrugs. Because she needs to be a part of every conversation. Kinda like her mother.
“It feels…” Mia considers for a beat, frowning until two deep lines form between her brows. “It feels like maybe I’m doing it wrong.”
Unaccustomed to confusion, Elle rotates her head and scowls. “How do you mean you’re doing it wrong? That doesn’t even make sense!”
“I mean, sometimes I fink I’m s’posed to be more sad, ‘cos my mom died and that’s sad. But she was sick, and I fink now she’s not.” She grabs a loose ringlet and gently pulls it to its full length. “I fink people are scared to talk about moms in front of me, ‘cos they fink I’m gonna cry.”
“I’d cry if my mom died,” Elle inserts. “I’d cry a lot.”
“Me too,” June agrees. But just as Mia’s little expression falls, she adds, “but I didn’t cry when my dad went away.”
“Really?”
“Really. Sometimes people are weird about dads in front of me, especially when Mom and Pres got married. It felt like I was doing it wrong, too, ‘cos I didn’t get mad about them having a wedding. But my dad made my mom cry a lot, and now Pres makes her laugh a lot. And besides, he’s way better at card games anyway.
” She shrugs. “It’s okay to not be sad if you don’t wanna be.
” Oblivious to my presence mere feet away, June stares straight toward the house with a smile.
“Is Fifi gonna be your stepmom someday? She’s really pretty, and I heard Soph talking about her in the car. ”
“Yeah.” Mia toes her shoes off and plops onto her butt. She drops her feet into the water, then lies back on the tile and releases a happy sigh. “She’s gonna be my stepmom someday. But we can’t say so out loud yet.”
“Really?” Elle follows suit, but without removing her shoes. Because she’s a shithead like that. She simply drops her feet into the water and lies down. “Why can’t we say so out loud?”
“‘Cos my dad and Fifi are shy.” Mia’s lips crinkle teasingly to the side. “But guess what?”
Lord. Is this what we looked like when my cousins and I were kids? Conspiring little turds who thought the adults couldn’t hear a thing.
While June settles in on Mia’s other side, Elle tilts her head and asks, “What?”
“I invited Fifi over for a movie the other day, but I picked one that had a number two, so when the first one finished, I jumped up straight away and pressed play on the second.”
“Okay…”
“It got really late! Like nine or ten o’clock, and when Fifi said it was time for her to go home, I cried.”
Elle gasps. “You cried?”
“Uh-huh! On purpose. I cried and cried and cried so much that she felt awful and didn’t leave, then later, when I was not crying anymore, and she said how she should go home in twenty minutes, I climbed onto her lap and pretended to fall asleep so she couldn’t.”
“You’re sneaky!” June cackles. “My mom says that’s called manipulation.”
Unbothered, Mia shrugs.
“What happened after?” Elle questions. “When you pretended to fall asleep.”
Mia’s little cheeks burn red. “I dunno. ‘Cos I actually fell asleep, and when I woke up the next day, she wasn’t there anymore.”
“Aw man,” June grumbles. “Good try, though.”
“Next time,” Elle declares with a sharp nod of her head. “Maybe you should have some soda or something, so you don’t fall asleep.”
Good lord.
Swallowing my laughter, I wander silently to the outdoor table and chairs Mayor Lawrence keeps out here. Taking out my phone and carefully sitting so I don’t startle Claire, I keep one eye on the girls and the other on a group chat that never goes silent.
Me
These kids are seriously planning adult relationships over here!
Hitting send, I lift my phone and take a quick picture of the trio, then I add that to our chat, too.
Me
The one in the middle lives with her dad, and she’s trying to play matchmaker with him and the mayor’s assistant. It’s adorable and evil and so insanely well thought out.
We were never like this, right?
Smalls
I made Biggie take me to the bakery almost every single morning for a whole year just so he could buy my mom coffee and a pastry. I was terrified they’d fall out of love, and I wouldn’t be able to keep him anymore, so I did what I had to do to make things stick.
Smalls
Turns out my efforts were unnecessary, since they were, and still are, stupidly in love with each other. But I wasn’t gonna risk it.
Mac
I almost accidentally sold my mom to a fuckin’ pervert. Clearly I was on the ‘get mom hitched’ bandwagon.
Ben
You’re all a bunch of freaks. I would’ve stuck a pitchfork in Oz’s brain if I knew it would keep him away from my mom.
Mac
Yeah, but you’re selfish like that. The rest of us care about our parents’ happiness.
Ben
YOU NEARLY SOLD YOUR MOM TO A PERVERT! Sit the fuck down, dude. The adults are speaking.
“What about Lucy, anyway?” Mia tilts her head back and studies me upside down. “She’s a dancer and a fighter? My Uncle Cato might be interested.”
Elle cackles. “Naw, don’t do that. She’s already got someone, and he doesn’t play.”