Chapter 11
ELLA
Idon’t hear from Leo for a week, and I welcome the reprieve. I can’t wrap my head around everything that has happened between us recently. Memories I buried long ago are resurfacing, mixing with the Leo of today, and it’s confusing the hell out of me.
“Auntie Ella, when can Leo come over again?” Oliver asks from his perch on the couch.
I’m making his favorite dinner, boxed macaroni and cheese, while cooking a sweet potato for Violet to try.
The pediatrician suggested I try solids with her again, but we’re taking it slowly.
Ember saved this high chair that fits onto a kitchen chair, and it’s perfect for Violet.
She looks quite confused as she watches me at the stove, her bottom lip stuck out in an adorable pout.
Whitley got her a set of six-to-nine-month sleepers, each featuring a different fruit, and today’s sleeper is covered with raspberries.
No one can convince me that sleepers, especially the fleece ones, aren’t one of the most brilliant inventions for parents.
It’s horridly cold today, with a fierce wind that sucked the breath from my lungs when we came home from Oliver’s preschool earlier.
“I don’t know when Leo will come over again. He was helping us out before. Right now we don’t need any help,” I finally answer.
“We could make stuff up. I like playing with him. He lets me have all the good Play-Doh. And he doesn’t tell me to be quiet.”
“That is very nice of him,” I comment. “Has someone told you to be quiet?”
Oliver nods. “Teacher gets mad at me cuz I talk a lot. And that man who Mommy brought home a bunch did too.”
This is the first I’m hearing about Ember bringing a man home in front of Oliver. I wish she were here, because I’d rip her a new one for that fact. “Oh? Did Mommy bring him here a lot?”
“No. I didn’t like him.”
“And what about your teacher? Do you like her?”
“I do!” he shouts. “She’s the best. She gives me smelly stickers on my hands every day.”
I open the fridge, pulling out the half gallon of milk, and measure enough for the mac and cheese. “Where are these smelly stickers? I’ve never seen them.”
“They’re on my hand, silly!” Oliver holds up his hand, and I can see a discoloration. Walking to him, I peer down, noticing a circle mark. I pull his hand to my nose and sniff.
“Huh. Blueberries.”
“It’s my favorite one. She has a whole set. They look like lip ticks.”
“Lipsticks?”
“Uh-huh. Lip ticks.” Whipping out my phone, I google scented lip products, and a line of lip balms come up. I show Oliver the image, and he squeals with excitement. “That’s them! They’re my favorite.”
“Good to know,” I say with a smile. The mind of a four-year-old. Always intrigued with unique things and easily amused. How nice it must be to get smelly stickers, have a personal chef, and never have to drive anywhere.
As I’m plating up the mac and cheese, the power goes out.
“Shit,” I gasp.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Oliver chants gleefully.
“Shoot. Oliver, don’t say that.” It’s already dark outside, and the only flashlight I own is in the other room. I feel along the room until I reach the couch, finding Oliver’s head. “I’m going to go grab the flashlight, okay? It’s by my bed. You stay right here.”
“Okay!” he exclaims. The darkness doesn’t faze him. Even Violet is cooing and shrieking in the highchair, oblivious to the distress I’m feeling.
As I feel my way down the hallway, I’m running through my options.
What if the power doesn’t come back on quickly?
I live in an older building. The windows aren’t the best at keeping outside temperatures where they should be.
I can certainly keep the kids huddled up with me in one room, but we’re bound to get cold. How much of the town is out?
I’m in my room when my cell phone rings, sitting on my nightstand. The flashlight on the phone sure would have been nice moments ago. I look at the screen to find Gia calling.
“Hey,” I answer.
“You okay?” she asks immediately.
“Uh, yeah? Why?”
“The whole town is without power. A transformer blew. They’re not sure when power will be restored.”
My stomach sinks. “Damn. I’m glad I just finished cooking dinner so I can at least feed the kids.”
“Nuggets or mac and cheese tonight?” Gianna muses.
I snort. “Mac and cheese.”
“We’re headed up to Everlasting for the night. There are a bunch of open rooms. Do you want to come?” she asks.
“I can’t afford that,” I confess. We’re living paycheck to paycheck right now. I love Everlasting, and I’ve stayed there a couple of times, but right now, I can’t drop that much money on a hotel room. “How do they still have power?”
“Bunch of generators. Besides, I’m sure you could get the friends and family discount,” she teases.
“Especially after what happened with you guys on the phone last week. Did I tell you that Leo reached out to Luca for advice, and Luca threw him in a group chat with all the guys? Even Travis. The thread was hysterical.”
“I don’t think I want to know what anyone said,” I say hurriedly, grabbing the flashlight on my dresser.
Turning it on, I walk back to where Oliver and Violet wait patiently.
“I’m going to act like it never happened, so you should too.
Everyone should. Besides, it’s not like your family is hoping we start back up.
I broke up with him last time. Anytime I’ve seen your mom, she’s crossed the dang street. ”
I grab Oliver’s mac and cheese, place it on the table, then motion for him to follow the flashlight into the kitchen. Once he’s situated, I make Violet’s bottle. My goal for her tonight is to try five bites of the sweet potato puree, but I know the majority of her meal is the bottle.
“My mom said she’s done that because she didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.
Not to avoid you.” Gianna’s voice is hesitant, like she wants to tell me more.
I hear murmuring in the background, recognizing Travis’s deep timbre.
“We’re heading out. You should come to Everlasting, El.
Get out of the apartment for the night. You know the buffet always has nuggets and mac and cheese anyway. ”
“Thanks, but we’ll be okay.” Putting a small dollop of sweet potato on the tiny baby spoon, I push it through Violet’s pursed lips, then wait for her reaction.
“Are you sure? Snow is supposed to start tonight. I don’t want you to be stuck, especially with that creepy neighbor of yours.” Violet’s face is screwed up in confusion as the puree hits her taste buds, and I wish I wasn’t on the phone so I could take a video.
“We’ll be fine.” God, I’ve really used the word “fine” way too many times over the past few weeks. I’m not sure I even know what it means anymore to be “fine.” When Violet pushes my hand away after the fifth bite, I set the container down victoriously. She ate solids!
“I’ll check in with you in the morning, okay? If it gets too cold, come find me!”
“Alright,” I say with a laugh as I settle Violet into my lap. Ending the call, I watch as Oliver inhales his mac and cheese, and Violet happily drinks her bottle. We’ll be fine. Whatever that means.
We are most definitely not fine.
“Auntie Ella, I’m scared,” Oliver whispers, his body suctioned to mine in my bed.
“I know, buddy. It sure is loud,” I answer.
Loud doesn’t even begin to describe the sounds coming from all around us.
Without the normal noises in our apartment when the furnace kicks on, or Oliver’s sound machine, we hear every creak and moan of the apartment building.
The wind whips around from every direction, howling fiercely.
What’s worse, however, is how quickly the temperature plummeted in our apartment.
My concern for the windows was valid. I can see the curtains moving because of drafts coming through the window seams. With every blanket I own piled onto my bed, and the three of us wearing winter coats, it’s still freezing.
Checking the screen on my phone, I find it’s just after ten o’clock.
My battery is under ten percent, and I silently curse myself for not buying a portable charger when I saw it on sale for Black Friday a few months ago.
I’m completely unprepared for this, and it makes me feel absolutely awful that my niece and nephew are suffering because of me.
“When will it stop?” Oliver whines.
“I don’t know. I wish I had an answer.”
A sudden banging makes me scream in fright, and it takes a repeat of the sound for me to realize someone is beating on the front door.
“Ella!”
“Leo?” I ask incredulously, ripping the blankets off the bed.
Grabbing Violet, wrapped up in three sleepers, I run to the door.
Throwing it open, I find Leo with his hands braced on either side of the door.
Wearing a thick camo coat, a black and tan trapper hat, and massive boots, he looks like some kind of soldier lumberjack here to sweep me off my feet. “What are you doing here?”
He steps toward me, making me instinctively step backward. When he feels the air temperature in the room, he winces. “Saving you from yourself, woman. Why aren’t you at Everlasting with the rest of my family?”
My gaze locks on his boots. They’re tied today. It must mean his leg is feeling okay. “I’d be too uncomfortable, and I really can’t afford the price of a room there.”
“They wouldn’t have made you pay, El. You should know that,” he says quietly.
“Why? I’m nobody. I’m nothing to any of them. That’s just dumb,” I snap.
Leo steps toward me, his hand coming up to grip my chin. He pushes upward until my eyes meet his. “That’s not true, and you know it. You’ve always been mine. Put some shoes on. You’re all coming with me. Oliver, you want to go on an adventure?”
“Yeah!” Oliver shouts.
I don’t move, staring in shock at Leo.
“You good?” he asks, smirking, and that gets me out of my stupor.
“You can’t just come in here and demand that I stay at your family’s hotel!” I sputter.