Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
Molly
“What made me think this was a good idea again?” I whisper to Ramona from my spot next to her on their cushy loveseat.
We both watch as Luke models the new scarf Ramona gave him while Blake looks on like he’s hatching plans to use the scarf to tie Luke to his headboard and have his dirty way with him later tonight.
She throws an arm around my shoulder and whispers back, “You’re in the running for goddamn mom of the year for giving Matty both his parents on Christmas.” When Blake leans in to kiss Luke, she springs to her feet and announces, “Time for Christmas morning Bloody Marys!”
“I’ll help!” I jump at the chance to escape for a breather. I mean, sure, I’m happy for Blake and Luke, but I’m also fresh off a three-day Hallmark holiday movie marathon where I spent the better part of each film yelling at the characters that love is a lie and they’re better off alone. Yeah, I’ve had better weeks.
I can’t stop thinking about how I allowed things to get so out of hand that Bobby and I actually had a conversation about having babies together! Babies! What was I thinking, traipsing off into la la land like that and not thinking rationally? Ripping it off like a Band-Aid was the right move, even if it had me emptying every tissue box in the house.
“Who’s Bloody Mary?” Matty asks.
“An excuse for your Aunt Ramona to drink her breakfast,” Amir replies as we duck into the kitchen.
“Thanks again for being so awesome and letting us crash your Christmas,” I say as I dig through her fridge for the tomato juice. Matty and I had planned to spend the day with Bobby before everything fell apart, and I wanted to give him something better than a morning hanging out alone with his mom.
It was Luke’s idea to combine parties and spend the day together once Matty spilled to Blake that Bobby and I are on pause—a thoughtful gesture that makes me feel even worse for being a love Grinch today. I haven’t had the heart to tell Matty that Bobby and I are likely over for good.
“Please, girl. Any excuse to avoid Amir’s mother for a few hours.” She slams the freezer door after grabbing the vodka. “Did I tell you she suggested I might want to buy the next size up in dresses the last time I saw her?”
“Yikes.”
Ramona waves a hand and sets the vodka on the counter. “Matthew’s having a good time; that’s all that matters.”
“He asked me earlier if I could take him to give Bobby his present.”
“Damn. What did you say?” Ramona asks with a wince.
“I panicked and told him where I was hiding the Christmas candy. Thank god he’s so easily distracted.”
“What did Matthew get him anyway?”
“A hockey bobblehead. Some player named Roman LaFontaine? He said it was a joke between them.” I frown down at the jug of tomato juice and then feel Ramona’s hand on my shoulder.
“You’ll get through this, Molly.”
I muster a half smile and put my hand over hers. “Then why do I feel so awful?” When I woke up this morning, I had a few beautiful seconds where I forgot Bobby wasn’t in the bed next to me. Those tiny seconds felt like the best Christmas in history. Until reality crashed the party.
“Because you made a grown-ass adult decision, and you’re facing the fallout like a grown-ass adult woman.”
I sigh and return to the fridge for the celery. “I’m never dating again.”
“Hm.”
I poke my head over the top of the open fridge door to look at my friend. “What does hm mean?”
But Ramona only shakes her head. “Nothing. Hand me that celery.”
I straighten instead. “Ramona Nasiri, don’t you lie to me.”
“Fine,” she huffs and pushes her glasses up on her nose. “I was just thinking about the next guy you’ll likely date.”
“I just said I was never dating again.”
“Don’t pretend you’re not a realist. You’ll get back out there, and you’ll bag yourself a homely fifty-something investment banker with an impressive golf handicap, a membership at the yacht club, and an affinity for Cuban cigars. Either that or a librarian.”
I scowl at her and hand her the damn celery. “Shows how much you know. Golf is boring, I get seasick, and the smell of cigars makes me want to puke.”
“You’ll adapt. Or go for the librarian.”
We’re both silent for several beats. “Matty would hate those guys.”
“Well.” Ramona shrugs, infusing the single word with a whole lot of ambiguity while at the same time making me feel like she just won an argument. How does she do that? “Speaking of Matty. You never told me what happened the other day at school with the latest fight.”
“Oh my god.” I shake my head at the memory. “That child.”
“This sounds like it’s gonna be good. Was it more shoving, or did he actually punch someone this time?” she asks as she empties half the juice into a glass pitcher with candy canes on it.
“Neither. It turns out that Raiden kid hasn’t let up on his bullying at all, and Matty got together with a couple of his other victims and hatched a plan.” I cross my arms and lean against the closed refrigerator while Ramona mixes the drinks. “Apparently, Raiden has a habit of stealing choice items from other kids’ lunches, so they brought bottles of soda that day and made a big deal about it so he’d notice. Sure enough, Raiden came over and swiped Matty’s soda from his hand and started to drink it. But the boys had punched holes in the bottles, so when he upended it, it all spilled on his pants.”
Ramona slaps her hand over her mouth, her shoulders shaking with laughter.
“And because they’re twelve, all it took was one kid to yell, ‘Raiden just peed himself!” before the entire cafeteria was laughing.”
“Ha! You have a burgeoning genius on your hands, Molls.”
“I don’t know about that, but I do have to give him points for creativity.” I shrug. “I mean, the school’s hands were tied since Raiden is pretty sneaky about his bullying, so I guess I can’t be mad that the kids took things into their own hands—especially since it was nonviolent.”
In fact, the vice principal appeared to agree, although he didn’t say as much. He just told me he’d continue keeping an eye on Raiden and let me know what Raiden’s parents had to say about the incident after the break. I’m just hoping getting a taste of his own medicine is enough to settle Raiden down.
“Mom! I’m getting ready to open Dad’s present, so you gotta get in here!” Matty shouts from the living room.
“You got this covered?” I ask, and Ramona shoos me out of the kitchen to go hang with my patchwork family. The look on Matty’s face when he opens the guitar Blake bought him is almost enough to make me forget about what could have been a very different Christmas.