by Nora Blake
I scrunched my nose. “You said most likely. Do you think there is a chance we won’t stay together?”
“Forever isn’t a promise, no matter how much we all wish is could be. I strongly feel that you two will last, but you just never know, sweetie. Things change every single day. You two will figure it out.”
I set my fork down and took a drink of my milk. “I love him, Mom. With all my heart.”
Her soft smile comforted me in ways only a mother could. “You always have. He loves you too. You two are perfect for each other.”
I took a deep breath and let it out, trying to calm my nerves. I felt terrible telling Aaron I wasn’t coming over. He sounded so sad, but tonight he needed to enjoy his boys and try to calm down after all the drama.
“I’m gonna clean the kitchen, then head to the basement. I love you, Mom.”
“Love you, too.”
We both stood and hugged before parting ways. She went into the living room to watch TV with Dad and I cleaned the kitchen, completely consumed with my thoughts.
I was lying on my stomach in my bed watching a movie on Netflix when my bedroom door flung open. I jumped a little, startled by a very determined Aaron.
I sat up. "W-what are you doing?"
“I’m following some advice.”
I laughed. "Oh, ummm, o-kay, and what advice is that?"
“He told me to drive here, pick your ass up, and tell you that you aren’t allowed to let Melany win.”
I laughed again and got out of the bed. "He must be Nick."
He grinned and scooped me up into his arms. “Yep.”
“Aaron …”
“Sarah.”
I huffed and hit his chest. “I’m serious. I don’t want to cause any issues between you and the boys’ mom.”
He shook his head adamantly. “You let me worry about any issues that may arise. The boys are mine, too. Not just Melany’s. She doesn’t get to call all the shots.”
I bit my bottom lip as I surveyed his eyes for any doubt. There was none, and I knew when he got like this arguing wouldn’t be an option. “Okay. But I can walk. I also need to grab some things if you're taking me hostage."
He looked at me seriously. “You’re going home with me, right? Because if I put you down and—”
"I’m coming with you, Aaron. I don’t think I have much of a choice.” I smiled up at him.
“Damn right you are.”
"I should've known something was up when your brother texted me a little bit ago and told me I was a 'fucking idiot'." When he set me on my feet, I went over to my drawer and started grabbing things. I looked over my shoulder at him. "Did you inform my parents you're taking me hostage?" I put my things in my bag, then went to my closet to grab some jeans.
“Yes, I did. Your dad is the one who let me in.”
After grabbing two pairs of jeans and some shirts, I folded them and put them in my bag. I set the bag on my bed and zipped it shut. I grabbed my pink Converse and put them on. I turned everything off, put my bag over my shoulder, and followed Aaron upstairs.
“You behave yourselves,” Dad teased from the couch as we passed the living room.
We laughed and headed outside and to his truck.
When we got to his truck, he kissed me. “The boys really missed you at dinner tonight.”
"I’m sorry. I just thought it’d be best.” I got in and, after he shut the door, I moved to the middle seat. After he was in and driving, I laid my head on his shoulder.
“What’s going on in your head?”
I picked my head up and looked at him. "I just worry that if you keep pissing her off, she's just going to get worse."
“Baby, everything is going to get worse, but I can’t do this alone. I found out from the boys they are moving in with this Chris guy. I don’t know if it’s true, but as upset as Kallon was when he told me, it has to be.”
My eyes widened. "She's what?"
“She’s moving in with her boyfriend. She told me when I confronted her about being an ass to you. She’s had the boys keeping it a secret.”
"Yet, I'm the spawn of Satan?" I frowned. "I don’t understand. I care about those boys so much. She can’t keep acting like our feelings don’t matter."
“Yeah, I know. I’m beyond pissed. I’m furious, Sarah. For so long I’ve tried to keep the peace, but I can’t anymore.”
I tried not to say anything else bad about her. She was Keeton and Kallon's mom, and I didn't ever want them hearing me say a negative thing, but this had all gone too far.
“I need you to know that, even if we hadn’t started dating, I have no doubt she would have found something else to cause problems about.”
"What is her deal with you? You're an amazing person."
“Her and her parents blamed me for getting her pregnant and ruining her life.”
I grabbed his free hand and kissed the back of it. "You could never ruin anyone’s life."
I looked at him, saddened deeply by the hurt look on his face. "I can't imagine marrying someone and not being in love. That must've been so hard. You were trying to do the right thing. I don't know how they could ever think you ruined her life." I wanted to wrap this man in my arms and hold him forever. He deserved nothing but good things. "I'm so sorry, Aaron. It's all going to work out."
“I hope so. I swear my heart broke into a million pieces today.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Kallon said he didn’t want to move in with Chris. I didn’t know what to tell him.”
"That's something to tell the lawyer on Monday."
“I will.” He let go of my hand and wrapped an arm around me.
“Keeton and Kallon are amazing kids. I know they know that you want them more and would let them move in in a heartbeat. If Melany isn’t careful, when the boys get older and understand things more, they’re going to be so upset with her.”
“Try telling her that. She doesn’t listen.”
“When we get to your house, let’s make a list of everything you want to talk to the lawyer about on Monday. That way, we don’t forget.”
He kissed the side of my head. “Sounds like a plan. And, Sarah?”
“Hmmm?”
“Thank you.”
I smiled a little. “For what?”
“For being you. Being supportive and understanding.”
“Even though I tried to hide away tonight?”
He chuckled and nodded. “I understand why you did.”
I kissed his cheek. “I will be here for you always.”
The meeting with the lawyer went well. Well, in the sense that he had all the information he needed to make a case for the custody battle. Aaron was a complete mess the entire time. I hated seeing him so upset. I never expected him to get so emotional during the meeting with his attorney, but he completely broke down into sobs. He just wanted more time with his boys. It was literally killing him inside being away from them so much.
Neither of us said anything the entire drive to Los Ranchitos. We were going to eat lunch, which we planned this morning before every going to the lawyer’s office. Now, I was thinking maybe we should just head home.
I touched his thigh. "How about we go back to your house and just fix sandwiches or something. We could go work on the car and clear your head."
He nodded and grabbed my hand from his thigh. He brought it to his lips and kissed the back of it.
I thought for a moment and bit my lip before grinning. "You know … we could take a quick detour somewhere else. I like to go to this place when I need a pick-me-up."
“Sure. Just tell me where.”
"Okay, but you can't say no."
His brows drew together. “Okay.”
"The Humane Society. Seeing all the animals makes me so happy. Maybe it’ll help you, too."
He gave me a small smile and turned toward the highway.
When we got there, I was relieved to see his huge smile back on his face as we looked at all the animals. He be
nt down looking at a puppy when two Siamese cats caught my eye across the room. I went over to their section and knelt down to get a better look. One of them walked over and started rubbing its body against the glass door.
A lady who worked there walked over to me. "Those two are sisters. We got them in last week. Poor things were found behind Los Ranchitos eating out of the garbage."
I looked up at her just as Aaron walked over. "They're so cute. How old are they?"
"The vet thinks a little over a year, but it's hard to be sure. I can let you in there with them if you want to pet them."
I stood and grinned at Aaron. When he nodded, she let us both in.
I sat Indian-style on the concrete floor and couldn't stop smiling when they both climbed onto my lap, purring up a storm. Aaron sat down next to me and reached out to pet their heads. One of them climbed across my lap and into his.
"Cats are usually assholes.” I laughed. "These are so sweet! I wish I could bring them home furever. Get it?" I snorted when I laughed. “Fur-ever?”
He shook his head, laughing. “Dork.” He eyes the one in his lap and smiled when it rubbed it’s head against his beard. The cat must’ve liked it because it kept doing it over and over.
“I hear they like Mexican food.” He grinned at me. “I think it’s a sign.”
"Huh?" Did he mean what I was hoping he meant?
“I think these little ones need a home, and the boys will love them.”
My mouth fell open and I squealed. "Shut up! Are you for real?" I smiled so hard I was sure my face would get stuck this way forever.
“Of course.” He kissed me. “Let’s find out what we need to do to take them home.”
I squealed and hugged the one sitting in my lap against me. It didn’t like that very much and squirmed out of my arms. We both laughed.
I looked at Aaron. "I swear I didn't come here with intentions of bringing anything home. I've given up on that idea after I begged my parents to let me get an animal, and they said no."
“Honestly, I think they’re just what we need. Especially the boys. They need something good to focus on.” He stood with the one he had in his arms. It was purring as it rubbed against his neck.
I stood, holding the other. "The boys aren't allergic, right?"
“Nope. They’ve been around cats before with no problems.”
I couldn't hide my excitement. We headed out and went to fill out all the paperwork.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Aaron
“What. The. Hell. Are. Those?” Nick said as he backed away from the cats as they walked toward him.
Sarah was cracking up. “They’re so sweet, Nick! I swear.”
Nick looked at me with a disgusted face. “You let this happen? Are you serious? We’re dog people!”
“Have you seen Sarah smile when she wants something?” I chuckled as I put my arm around her shoulders. “The boys will love them. Cats are easier anyway. They basically take care of themselves.”
Nick shook his head and hissed at the cats, trying to get them to stop rubbing on his legs. “There has to be some bad karma coming my way for spray painting that cat. They’ll murder me in my sleep.”
Sarah wiggled out of my hold and sat in the floor, calling them over. They came over to her and the smile that suckered me into this entire thing appeared. I pointed at her face and looked at Nick. “See! Sorcery!”
Nick laughed. “I guess it is pretty convincing. What are their names?”
Sarah looked up at him. “We haven’t figured that out yet.”
“Any ideas?” I asked her.
She pet both of the cats heads while she thought. “I have an idea!” She stood and went over to her phone. “I’m gonna pull up Spotify and hit a random playlist. The first song that plays is what we use to come up with their names.”
“That’s gonna be impossible,” Nick said with a chuckle.
Sarah shook her head. “It works, I promise! This is how my friend Kait and I named her dog.”
“And what did she end up naming it?” Nick asked with an amused grin.
Sarah giggled. “Sexy. The song ,I’m Sexy and I Know It’ came on.”
Nick and I both started laughing.
“Okay, hit play,” I said as I leaned against the bar.
“Oh, this should be good, there’s a 2009 playlist.” Sarah hit play and turned up the volume.
As it played, we listened. Nick’s eyes lit up. “Holy shit, is that the Bloodhound Gang? I haven’t heard them in forever.”
Sarah looked at her phone and nodded. “The song is ‘Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo’.”
“Well, there’s our names,” I said with a grin. I pointed at the cat with the green collar. “Foxtrot Uniform.” I pointed at the other with the blue collar. “Charlie Kilo.”
Sarah stopped the song, all smiles. “I love it! We can call one Foxy for short and the other Charlie.”
“Don’t ever get their collars mixed up or you won’t be able to tell them apart,” Nick said as he bent down to pet them. He barely touched their heads, acting as if they had a disease. “The boys will be happy.”
I nodded. “Very. They’re always asking me to get them a pet.”
Sarah stood on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek. “I’m gonna go get their litter boxes set up in the laundry room.”
I nodded and watched as the cats followed her out of the room.
“So, how’d the meeting with the lawyer go?”
I sat on a barstool and put my head in my hands. “I lost it, man.”
He sat beside me. “What do you mean you lost it?”
I looked at him. “I got super emotional. I was fine until I started explaining how Kallon’s little face looked so sad when he said he wanted to live with me and not Chris last night when I was bringing him back to Melany. Getting married was so stupid. If we would have just figured out all of this and never got married, the kids would be used to Melany and I not being together. They wouldn’t know any different. Did I tell you Kallon asked me before he fell asleep Saturday night, why I didn’t love Mommy anymore?”
Nick shook his head.
“Kallon may only be almost five, but that kid understands more than he should. Keeton doesn’t really get it.”
“What’d you tell him?”
I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. “I told him me and his mommy were friends and that was it. I just tried to dodge the question all together. He didn’t say anything else and just fell asleep.”
“It’ll get better, Aaron. It has to.”
I nodded. “I know. It just hurts so bad right now. Anyway, after that, Sarah was trying to cheer me up so we ended up at the humane society. I swear we had zero intentions of leaving with anything, but then she spotted these cats and that smile …”
Nick laughed. “So, when’s the wedding?”
I snorted from his surprise question, but my brother knows me so well. He knew I’d never let her go. “One day, I hope. Right now, is just not the time. I know she’d just tell me to focus on getting more time with the kids and working all that out. But I’d marry her right this second if she’d let me.”
“Yeah, there’s no need to rush into anything. You two will last. When it’s right, you’ll both know.”
“You’re pretty wise for a jackass,” I told him with a slug to his shoulder and then added, “We should go work on the car. I need to clear my head and get ready for the race this weekend.”
We both got off our stools. Nick headed out first, and I went to find Sarah. I leaned in the doorway of the laundry room and smiled. She was pouring food in the cat’s new bowls.
“Dammit. Would you look at that ass …”
She stood up straight and laughed, rolling her eyes at me. “I think they’re gonna like it here.”
“I do, too. I’m gonna go work on the car with Nick. You wanna come?”
“Yeah, I’ll come sit out there, but I really need to work on editing some pictures. I’ll just sit out there
and work on my stuff.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
She set the cat food bag on top of the dryer. “I’ll go grab my laptop and meet you out there.”
On her way past me, I wrapped her in my arms and kissed her. “Thanks for being there for me today.”
She grinned and touched the side of my face. “Always, babe.”
I kissed her again then headed out to the garage and cranked up a local country radio station. After putting on some work gloves, I went over and started helping my brother with the roll cage.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Sarah
Nick cracked up when he read the back of my shirt I had made with Aaron's racing number on it.
"#24's Boo Thang?" Really?" He had tears in his eyes.
I laughed as I put a handful of popcorn in my mouth. "Ya like?"
"You two are ridiculous." He took a drink of his Mountain Dew and looked out at the track. "Think he'll win?"
I grinned at the sound of engines revving. "He'll try his hardest." I closed my eyes and inhaled the smell of burning oil and the choir of engines, savoring every second of it. I opened my eyes and looked at Nick who was looking at me oddly.
“What?”
“You’re really strange.” He suppressed a laugh.
My dad came and sat next to me, digging his hand into my popcorn bag. “He better win or I’ll kick his ass.” He looked at Nick. “Sorry I haven’t been able to get out there and help. I’ve been super busy.”
“No biggie, Mr. Stone. Just come when you can.”
The three of us stood when the race started, along with everyone else in the stands.
By the second lap, I was out of the stands and at the fence, gripping the wire. Aaron was in second place, inches away from getting past the car in the front. I started biting my nails.
I looked at Nick when he came to stand next to me. "He's so fucking close!" he yelled over the roar of the engines.