by Toni Aleo
Fallon’s phone rang, startling her and causing her to throw the little post it notes up in the air. She pressed her hand to her chest as she reached for her cell phone, seeing it was Audrey.
“Hey,” she said, still trying to catch her breath.
“Hey, whatcha doing?” Audrey sang, but Fallon knew instantly something was wrong.
“Nothing, work. What are you doing?”
“Oh, nothin’. When are you coming home?”
“Fourish. Why?”
Audrey didn’t saying anything for a moment and then in a rush she said, “AidenbrokehisarmandIneedyounottofreakout.”
“SAY WHAT?!” Fallon screamed, standing up and knocking the chair into the wall. “How! Is he okay? Oh my God, I’m on my way home.”
Audrey said something but Fallon had already hung up on her, throwing her phone in her purse before running out the office. “Gotta go,” she said to Rob as she ran down the orange-filled hall. Fallon was in such a state of worry; she hadn’t even realized she had run out the office without her heels until she was tip toeing through the parking lot. She shook her head as she jumped into her car and drove quickly out the parking lot. She turned onto West End and pressed the gas to get home.
Fallon was shaking by the time she reached her house. She parked behind Lucas’ car and jumped out. She ran up the stairs before throwing the front door open. The first thing she saw was Lucas standing beside the stairs, looking worried. Her heart ached at the sight of him but she couldn’t deal with that right now. She glanced toward the couch to see her little guy laid up with a bright purple cast on his arm, propped up on a pillow.
“Oh my baby!” she exclaimed before running over to him and dropping to her knees in front of him. “Aiden, honey, are you okay? Can you talk baby?”
“Fallon, it’s a broken arm, weirdo” Audrey said from the kitchen. Fallon shot her a dirty look before cupping Aiden’s giggling face.
“Mommy, I’m fine. It doesn’t even hurt,” Aiden insisted. Fallon knew that he was trying to show off in front of Lucas, and for once it didn’t bother her. It hurt her heart that he was growing up but he was becoming a strong little boy, and she couldn’t have been more proud.
“He didn’t even cry when it happened, huh bud?” Lucas said from the side.
Aiden nodded proudly as a watery smile came across Fallon face. “My big boy, huh?”
“Yup. It was scary though mom! The puck was so fast and came out of nowhere! Dad is so awesome!”
Fallon stopped. “Puck?”
Fallon felt all eyes go on her as Aiden nodded. “Yeah, Dad shot the puck so hard that it broke my arm. Isn’t that so cool!?”
Cool was the last thing Fallon thought this was.
She slowly stood and when she turned, pinning Lucas with a look that could kill, he took a step back. “Now Fallon, it was a complete accident.”
“Get outside!” she yelled as she stomped by him. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she couldn’t see anything but red. When the door shut behind him she whirled around and let him have it. “Are you fucking kidding me?! You broke my kid’s arm with a puck!?”
“Whoa! It was an accident. I turned and shot and I didn’t even know he was in front of the goal,” Lucas stuttered. “I wouldn’t do this on purpose and I hope you know that.”
“I know that I trusted you with my child, and for the past seven years he hasn’t broken anything, and then you come along and he’s got a fucking broken arm! Explain that to me, Lucas!”
“I told you, Fallon,” he said, his voice getting as loud as hers, “that it was a fucking accident. He came out of nowhere. I’ve told him many times not to be in front of the net unless he is cleaning out pucks. He skated across and I beamed him right in the arm.”
“I wish I had a stick and puck so I could beam you in the arm! He is my baby and he is broken now!”
“It’s an arm and its going to heal, psycho, calm down, shit!” Lucas said. Fallon took in a sharp breath as her hands started to shake.
“Psycho? I’ll show you psycho when I fucking kill you!” Fallon screamed, taking a step towards him.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Lucas said, irritation filling his voice. “I don’t know if you realize but I’ve had a horrible afternoon. I’ve been sick with worry and dealing with you right now isn’t how I want my day to end.”
Fallon let out an empty laugh. “Well excuse me! I didn’t expect to come home to my child and his broken arm, so I guess we’ll both have to deal with shit we don’t want to deal with!”
Lucas rolled his eyes. “He’s a boy, Fallon. He’s going to break things. I’ve broken almost every bone in my body, it isn’t a big deal.”
Fallon saw only red as her face burned and her jaw clenched. How dare he act like this wasn’t a big deal? Aiden was a perfectly healthy little boy until he came along! Fallon couldn’t see straight as she screamed, “Because you’re stupid! Who thinks it’s okay to break bones?!”
Lucas froze.
Fallon’s heart dropped into her stomach when she realized what she said. She started to shake her head as his eyes held hers. Fallon’s lip quivered as she moved towards him to apologize but he stopped her, pushing her lightly away.
“Stupid, huh?” Lucas nodded as he moved past her, jogging down the steps. She followed behind him, trying to form a word but nothing was coming out. When he reached the truck, he turned and she saw the hurt in his eyes as he looked down at her. “I never thought I would ever hear you say that to me. You of all people, I never expected that.”
Fallon went to stop him, but he slammed the door and burned rubber trying to get out of her driveway. He didn’t even look at her twice, he just left. Fallon covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes filled with tears.
What in the hell had she done?
Chapter 29
Fallon stood in the driveway, taking in deep breaths as she tried to figure out what she was going to do. It was one thing to scream at Lucas for hurting her son, but it was another to call him something that he seriously loathed. She knew how much it hurt him when someone called him stupid. There wasn’t a day when he was younger that he didn’t get called that word. Lucas could be called anything else in the book and it wouldn’t faze him, but if anyone said he was stupid, he would shut down.
She knew this.
What was she thinking?
She was just so mad, and scared. Seven years had gone by and Aiden hadn’t even had more than a cough! Lucas comes along and Aiden has a broken arm! She understood that Lucas was rough and maybe Aiden was too, but still it scared her shitless to see her precious little baby lying on the couch with a purple cast on his arm. Her heart was still in her throat and she didn’t think it would go back down until she made sure Aiden was completely okay. She knew she had to apologize to Lucas also, that alone made her heart race because she wasn’t sure if he would forgive her. Did she really deserve his forgiveness? She was a selfish, heartless, bitch. She wouldn’t even forgive herself.
Fallon shook her head as the tears ran down her cheeks. Man, she had messed up.
Royally.
Hadn’t she just been in her office ready to give him another chance? Asking him to give her a chance was more like it now. She was going to have to beg for forgiveness, and she should have to. Fallon had no right to say that, but she wasn’t thinking — she was just acting.
Something she really needed to learn not to do.
Fallon turned to go back inside, and when she reached the stairs she saw Aiden looking out the window. His face was pressed against the glass and his eyebrows were drawn in at the middle. Fallon looked away as she pushed the door open and shut it behind her.
“Where did Dad go?” Aiden demanded, his hand on his hip.
“He left.”
“Why? He didn’t even say bye to me!”
Fallon let out a long breath, “Aiden Punkin’, sit down, he’ll call later,” Fallon said as she came towards him. Aiden’s face turned red as he move
d away from her.
“Did you send him away!? It was my fault he hit me! I skated in front of the net!” Aiden yelled.
Fallon was appalled he was yelling at her. She looked down at him. “Aiden James, watch your mouth right now!”
“No! You sent my dad away! You keep keeping him away from me! He’s my dad! I want him!” Aiden yelled irrationally as his other hand moved with each word that left his mouth.
“Aiden, buddy, calm down,” Audrey said from the kitchen.
“No! I want my dad back! I want to go live with him!” Aiden screamed pushing past Fallon and running towards the stairs. He turned to pin Fallon with the scariest look ever. Her sweet boy never looked at her like that. He was looking at her as if she was the worst person ever. “I hate you!” he screamed before running up the stairs and slamming his door.
Air rushed from Fallon’s lungs as she braced herself against the sofa.
That did not just happen.
“Oh, Fallon, he didn’t mean that,” Audrey said quickly, coming to her side and wrapping her arms around Fallon’s arms.
Fallon took in deep breaths as tears poured down her cheeks. Aiden did not just say he hated her. He couldn’t have. She must have heard him wrong.
“He loves you, Fallon. He’s just upset, he didn’t mean it, I swear,” Audrey reassured her but Fallon wasn’t listening. She was replaying the look Aiden gave her, the angry words that left his sweet mouth, and even the look Lucas gave her as he pulled out of her driveway. In a matter of minutes she had hurt two people she loved more than anything.
Yeah, she was a winner.
Fallon broke apart from Audrey and went into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of Big Rock Syrah wine on her way. She popped the top and poured a hefty glass before bringing it to her lips, drinking quickly. The hearty, spicy red wine burned down the back of her throat and she welcomed the pain. She deserved it. The wild black fruit and pepper danced along her tongue as tears gushed down her cheeks and she pulled in a lungful of air. She felt like she was going to pass out but it didn’t stop her from finishing the glass and reaching for the bottle to pour another. Audrey took the bottle from her before she could do so.
“Stop, stop right now.”
Fallon glanced over at her before crumbling against the counter. She let out a cry before letting her face fall into her hands, where hot tears coursed down her cheeks onto them. Fallon was hurting so bad that she swore she felt like she was bleeding from a gaping wound on her chest. She hated what she done and she hated that she had hurt two people who could honestly be the most important people to her ever.
“Fallon, you can fix this with Lucas. Aiden is just mad, he’ll be fine once he talks to Lucas and you know he didn’t mean that. You have to know that,” Audrey soothed as she sat beside Fallon, wrapping an arm around her.
“No, he has every right to hate me. I keep keeping his father away from him. He isn’t stupid, he knows that I am a bitter hateful bitch, and I don’t deserve him or Lucas,” Fallon cried.
“Okay, I’m gonna give you another two minutes for your little pity party, and then we’ll move on and fix things, okay?”
Fallon sat up to send Audrey a glare. “This ain’t no pity party.”
“Yes it is! Oh my God, my kid says he hates me. Oh, the guy I love hates me too, everyone hates me, blah blah blah!”
Fallon couldn’t believe that Audrey was teasing her, this was serious! Fallon was convinced her heart was breaking. “You told mom you hated her when we were five years old! I remember that like it was yesterday. Did you mean it? No! You were just mad that she took your dolls away. We say things when we’re mad, it’s a Parker thing. As long as you say you’re sorry and you mean it, then everything will work out.”
Fallon shook her head, “Mom took my dolls. I took Aiden’s dad away. Totally different scenarios here, Audrey.”
“No, Aiden didn’t mean it, the same way you didn’t mean to call Lucas what you did,” Audrey stressed.
“You heard it?” Fallon asked sadly.
“We both did, but it doesn’t matter. If you can apologize to Lucas, it will show Aiden that he should apologize to you. Be the bigger person, swallow your pride. Be the strong woman I love and know.”
Fallon laid her head against her knees, sniffling loudly before shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t know if I can.”
“You can. You can do anything. You are the strongest person ever Fallon. I wish I could be half of what you are.”
“You are way stronger than I am Audrey,” Fallon said, because it was true. Fallon wouldn’t be where she was without Audrey. Audrey was her back bone.
“No I’m not. You stand up for yourself, I don’t, but this isn’t about me. It’s about you, and I know you can do this. I know you don’t want what you said to Lucas to be the last thing you say to him, and I know that you don’t want Aiden to think he doesn’t have to apologize when he says hurtful things. Set an example Fallon, be the person I know and love. Don’t be scared.”
A stray tear went down Fallon’s cheek as she looked over at Audrey. How did she get so lucky to have such an amazing sister? She was completely right, Fallon needed to stand up and be the person that she wanted her son to be. Even though her heart felt like it was cracking in two, she knew that Aiden didn’t mean it. She also knew that she could fix things with Lucas — she had to, no matter how scared she was of his rejection. It would work out, she hoped.
“I love you, Audrey.”
Audrey smiled before reaching over and wiping Fallon’s tears away. “And I love you. Now get up, and go clean up. Go beg for forgiveness,” she said with a grin as she stood up, helping Fallon up.
Fallon stood for a moment as Audrey moved around the kitchen, cleaning up the bottle of wine and wine glass Fallon had brought out. “Not yet.”
Audrey turned looking at her, “Why?”
A slow hopeful smile came across Fallon’s lips, “I’m gonna make him dinner first.”
Lucas sat at the island in his kitchen, staring down at the sandwich and pop that sat beside his plate.
Because you’re stupid! Who thinks it’s okay to break bones?!
Lucas closed his eyes, digging his fingers into his eye sockets as he let out a long breath. He was hurting. Badly. Not only did what Fallon say cut him like a knife, but the whole afternoon at the hospital had taken a toll on him. Watching his little guy cringe in pain and try not to cry was so hard that Lucas thought he was going to break down. Aiden had stayed so strong. He never even cried. He screamed when the puck first hit him but there were no tears. He just kept saying, ‘I’m so sorry, Daddy’ and Lucas still wasn’t sure if Aiden understood that it wasn’t his fault. He is a kid, Lucas should have been more careful. Should have watched where he was shooting instead of doing it blindly.
Fallon was right, he was careless and stupid. How could he hurt his little guy? His one and only. He had been downstairs shooting pucks mindlessly since he moved into the house, but with Aiden down there with him, he should have known better. He should have been a better father. A good dad wouldn’t have hurt his kid. Lucas’ dad never hit him with the puck, even when Lucas would guard the net. James’ precision was on point. The puck never came anywhere near him. Lucas used to do the same thing with Fallon, he would hit everywhere but her. What was wrong with him? Was Fallon clouding his brain that much? Lucas shook his head as he picked the bread off the top of his sandwich.
Fallon’s words were like knives every time he thought about them. He couldn’t believe that nasty word came out of such a beautiful, special mouth. Even when Fallon was screaming at him about everything under the sun, he never cared. He knew that she would get over it and they would be making up sooner rather than later. But not this time, this time his heart felt like it was dead in his chest. The person that he would give anything to, the person that he trusted with his life and more had called him something that could really cut him in half. He wasn’t mad at her, he was hurt. In a way that was worse. It was
easy to get over angry, but being hurt to the soul could take a long time to get over. Lucas loved Fallon more than anything and that probably was why he was hurting so bad. If she thought he was stupid, no telling what else she thought.
Lucas hated the word. It was so easy to say, but it could honestly cut someone in half if they thought for a second that they were. Lucas was a confident man, but with his dyslexia, he never felt like he was smart. Fallon had never made him feel like he was less of a man; she always treated him like he was the smartest man in the room, until now. Now she had called him it.
Lucas was first called it in third grade when he couldn’t read what was on the chalkboard. Everyone laughed and called him stupid. It was one of the worst days of his childhood. Lucas remembered coming home and crying to Molly, but he wouldn’t tell her why his classmates had called him that. He only said they did. It went on all through middle school, and didn’t stop until he threw Jerome Ferrell into a locker. He threatened to kill the guy if he ever said it again, and no one ever did after that. That was when Lucas started walking around as if he was the biggest bad ass on campus, and in a way he was.
That was how he used to feel. Now he just felt empty and he couldn’t stand feeling that way. He wanted to go upstairs, sleep the night away, and forget about all the problems in his life, but Levi had females upstairs — and they were loud ones. That was the only thing he didn’t like about living with Levi, the dude was constantly sleeping with someone. Lately, he had been having a girl that was a screamer, and Lucas really thought one night that Levi was killing the girl; she was letting out blood-curdling screams. A shiver went down Lucas’ body at the thought. He liked when Fallon was loud, but not as loud as Levi’s chick had been. That was scary.
Lucas picked at his sandwich some more before standing up and throwing it in the sink. He wasn’t hungry and his stomach was turning, so eating was the last thing on his mind. He went back to the bar and sat down grabbing his iPad. He needed to see if Aiden was on, but Levi usually did that for him and since he was busy at the moment, Lucas decided he would play a game. Aiden was probably still laid up on the couch while Fallon and Audrey spoiled him.