MOTY (The Lady Kingpin Series Book 1)

by J Hoffman

  “It was really nice meeting you. I’m sorry about the circumstances, but you seem pretty cool,” Liz smiled, reaching out to shake Natalee’s hand again.

  She took it, shaking it firmly and she nodded again. “Thanks for the company! That doesn’t happen often around here, I don’t really get along with most of the other moms.”

  “I never get along with the other moms,” Liz howled, bursting into laughter again. She toddled down the driveway to the sidewalk and disappeared a few houses away.

  Natalee assessed the broken window, noticing the great tape job the boys did. The decorative tape was a nice touch. They chose white tape with different colored flowers scattered all over it. She collapsed on the couch, already exhausted for the rest of the week. She set up a taxi for Judah and slipped into a deep nap until she heard the front door open, and close quickly. Jonah was halfway up the steps before she could even pull herself into a sitting position. “Are you hungry?” She yelled.

  “Liz fed me!” His door slammed shut.

  “Oh, well okay.” She rocked her shoulders, mocking him, “Liz fed me. Geez, five kids, she’s probably a great cook.”

  Fifteen

  Natalee sat on the edge of the couch, chewing on the skin by her thumbnail. She replayed most of their conversation over and over in her head until she snatched her phone and texted Judah:

  Natalee: Can we have another baby?

  His response was rapid.

  Judah: Seriously?

  Natalee: Maybe, I don’t know.

  Judah: Well you definitely need to know.

  Natalee: I’ll figure it out before you get home, or I won’t and we can just practice.

  She sent a winking emoji.

  Judah responded with three kissing emojis.

  Natalee smiled and headed to the kitchen to whip up something simple for the two of them since Jonah was ‘already fed.’

  Once Judah arrived home slightly peeved she didn’t pick him up but didn’t have the energy to contest it, he noticed the window before he even entered the house. He was full of questions the moment he laid his eyes on Natalee. She answered all of them calmly, explained the entire situation with Liz, Gage, Jonah, their conversation, and even dinner. She apologized for not picking him up but confided that she was so mentally exhausted after all of that, she just didn’t have it in her to make the drive. Judah kissed her on the forehead, ate the microwave meal she had made for him, and met her in bed for the night.

  “So, Jonah has a new friend?”

  “Yeah, isn’t that great?”

  “Yeah, it sounds like you do, too.”

  Natalee smiled and shrugged, “Maybe, maybe not.”

  “Oh yeah? Speaking of maybe, maybe not…” Judah leaned over, nuzzling against her neck and squeezing her body against his. “Did you make your decision yet?”

  “Maybe,” Natalee snorted and wrapped herself around him.

  Natalee awoke while it was still dark. The house alarm had a steady beeping every four minutes to remind them a window was broken. Natalee was fully prepared to rip the entire system out of the wall but opted to take a hot shower instead. She climbed in and let the hot water soak her deep auburn hair. She thought about Liz and the possibility of her becoming her friend. She hadn’t had a friend in person since Svetlana left.

  There were women she had hung out with a couple times, and women she talked to specifically during school events and things of the sort, but no one that she truly enjoyed being around. She had fun talking with Liz but there was no saying if she was just being friendly because of the situation, or if she was genuine. Natalee decided she was going to leave it in the hands of the kids. If the kids were friends, they’d have to interact again, right?

  Over the next few days, Natalee had seen Gage come and go, but only occasionally and never with his mom. Natalee hadn’t heard from Svetlana since she had left, until that day. She sent Natalee a message asking if she was still eating the branches, or if she had tried the roots yet.

  She hadn’t, but she was eating the branches. Something deep down just told her Svetlana was on to something, and there may be some miracle in that plant. She hadn’t experienced even a muscle ache since she had started eating them. She didn’t notice most days, which was nicer than the days she had to convince herself she could still feel at all. It wasn’t that she was losing her sense of touch, she just hadn’t felt pain in nearly a month.

  The next morning when Natalee went to have her share of the foliage, she noticed the small pile of leaves drying out in front of the plant. She picked one up, and it crumbled between her fingers, making the quietest of crunching sounds. She held it up to her nose and inhaled the sweet aroma. Briefly, she thought back to her conversation with Svetlana about the leaves, and there was very little information provided. Svet never fully answered her and didn’t sit on the subject long. Natalee sniffed the crushed leaf again and confirmed the leaf smelled sweeter than the branch, implying it may actually taste better. If the branch was taking her pain away, what could the leaf do?

  She put it on her tongue, letting it sit on her taste buds for a moment while she rubbed it against the roof of her mouth. It was rough, and even a little gritty, but it was not gross. It had a similar taste to cinnamon and honey, but there was the tiniest hint of peppermint in the after taste. Natalee washed it down with a fruit flavored water after she enjoyed the residue for a moment.

  Natalee sat down at the counter and pulled a pop magazine out of her stack of mail. She skimmed through the table of contents and flipped to an article that might have intrigued her once upon a time, but now it was just to pass the time. She started skimming through at first, but then she noticed herself catching every word of every sentence. She read quicker and quicker until the article was not only completed but completely absorbed. She stared back at the title, remembering everything she had just read.

  She flipped to the next page and skimmed that article until she was absorbing every single word there, too. She took out her phone and flipped to a new article. She started a timer and pressed “Go” as soon as she started reading as fast as she could without missing a single word. Nine seconds for a five-hundred-word article. She sat back in the chair, looking around the kitchen strangely. How in the actual hell?

  Natalee decided she had just had the perfect amount of coffee that morning. She decided the magazine wasn’t something of interest to her any longer, so she slumped onto the couch and flipped through the channels on the television. She stopped on a trivia game show. She had only caught the last few words of the question but blurted out the answer without thinking about it.

  The next question was simpler, and she answered that, too. If she had ever heard the answer before, it was locked away in her brain somewhere and at this moment she could pick anything out of any memory, and she would just remember it without a second thought.

  Natalee shook it off, even as the questions got harder and the answers, easier. By the time the show was over, Natalee had convinced herself it was just the nice sleep she had been getting that had kept her so sharp.

  She left the house exactly thirty-eight minutes before Judah needed to be picked up. As she was driving, she made turns she had never made before, taking a route that was not only more efficient but had a much more pleasant view. Instead of all the new developments popping up everywhere, there were prairies and farms, large plots of land she never knew existed. Once she made it to the main road to the airport, she maneuvered her way through traffic seamlessly and arrived just as Judah was walking out of the door to call her. She watched as he shuddered against the bone-chilling wind.

  “Hey beautiful,” he smiled as he dropped himself into the passenger seat.

  “Hello, handsome. Boy, did I miss you today.” She leaned over and kissed him, then cranked the heat up until they were cozy.

  “You seem to be in a good mood today.”

  Natalee shrugged and smiled, “I feel pretty good today.”

  “Good, that’s wha
t I like to hear.”

  “How was your day, babe?” As they talked, Natalee weaved through the heavy traffic, back toward the empty country roads.

  “It was pretty good, pretty quiet. Hey, where are you going?” Judah looked around, not seeing any of their normal landmarks.

  “It’s just a different way. I took it to get there and it was just beautiful.”

  Judah shrugged, “Alrighty then. What did you do today?”

  “Eh, not much. Watched some tv, read some articles.”

  “Excellent, what a great day.”

  Natalee nodded, “Great day, indeed.”

  She changed the route slightly to make it to the school in time to snatch Jonah. He wasn’t half in the car before he was yammering on about something.

  “Whoa, slow down,” Judah joked.

  “So, can Gage stay the night tonight or what?”

  Judah looked to Natalee who looked back. They examined each other’s faces to discuss it telepathically and Natalee shrugged, “I mean, I don’t see why not. I do have to talk to his mom first, though.”

  “Yes!” Jonah cheered. “Well, hurry up and get home so I can call him.”

  “Aye aye, captain.” Natalee winked and headed toward their home.

  Judah started flipping through the screens on his phone. “What do you want to get for dinner then?”

  “I can cook.”

  “Are you sure? It’d be easier to order something.”

  Natalee waved him off, “Nah, I’m sure I can whip something up.”

  Judah shrugged, giving in. “Okay, suit yourself.”

  Jonah leaned forward, whispering to his dad, “Can you just order something anyway?”

  Natalee cackled, throwing her head back as they pulled into the driveway. Judah chuckled, “Jone, that was mean.”

  “What? I was just being honest.”

  Natalee nodded, “I see you there, son. I see you.”

  Jonah smirked and bolted into the house before anyone could stop him.

  “Well, he’s certainly excited.” Judah acknowledged.

  “Yeah, it’s good to see him like this. That whole thing with Tyler... And then Shane.” Natalee shook her head.

  Judah squeezed her hand, “He’s a good kid. He didn’t deserve that shit, but we can be proud that he has made a new friend.”

  “Absolutely. I am very proud of him.”

  Once inside, Natalee started poking through the cupboards to find something for dinner. Judah leaned against the breakfast bar, watching her. “A wild Natty has appeared in rare form - a chef!”

  Natalee snorted, “Shut up, I cook all the time!”

  Judah shook his head, “No, you heat up food all the time. Frozen meals do not count.”

  She shrugged, “They counted when I was growing up.”

  Judah nodded, “That’s because they were actually real food when you were growing up.”

  “I’m going to cook a badass dinner, husband. Just you wait.”

  He held his hands up in surrender, “Okay wife, I will leave you to your task.” He leaned over to kiss her, and she kissed him back happily. Once he was safely out of the kitchen, she began digging through the cupboards more feverishly.

  After pulling out every main dish and side dish she could imagine being served together, she decided on chicken and dumplings. She started by boiling chicken legs in a large stockpot. After that, she had no idea what to do next, so she pulled up a recipe on her phone. She filled another pot with chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, some seasonings and vegetables. Once the chicken was fully cooked, she pulled it from the stockpot and let it cool in a strainer. While that was sitting, she cleaned out the stockpot and filled it back up with water. She created a flour mixture in a large bowl. She grabbed a small spoon and plopped spoonsful of the flour mixture into the boiling stockpot, creating dumplings. She sifted those out and added them to the pot with the vegetables and creamy broth. By that time, the chicken was cooled so with two forks she began shredding it off the bone. She was careful to remove any pieces of fat, cartilage, or bone. She was grateful for the meaty legs because it wielded a lot of delicious, juicy chicken. She mixed that into the pot with everything else, brought it to a simmer for a few minutes and then placed it in the oven on ‘keep warm’, so the flavors would continue to mesh until they were ready to eat.

  Soon after, Jonah bounced into the kitchen with Gage in tow and a few moments later his mother followed behind them.

  “Hey girl, hey! Whoaaaa, does it smell good in here or what?” Liz inhaled sharply.

  Natalee smirked, “Thanks, it’s chicken and dumplings. I got the recipe online.”

  Liz sniffed again, “Wheeeeew, I’m eating here tonight, this smells excellent!”

  “It really does smell good, Mom,” Jonah offered. “Much better than when you set off the smoke alarm.”

  Gage laughed and Jonah laughed with him.

  “Alright, alright you two. Get out of here.” Natalee swatted Jonah with a kitchen towel and the two of them ran off to Jonah’s bedroom.

  “I am so glad Gage found a friend.” Liz made herself comfortable at the breakfast bar and sipped from her thermos.

  “More wine?” Natalee nodded to her cup.

  Liz glanced at it for a moment, “Always.” She winked at Natalee and the two laughed.

  “We definitely need to get together sometime when it’s not just for the boys.”

  “Oh my God, I’ve been thinking that!” Liz nearly screamed.

  Natalee laughed, pulling a bottle of wine from the cupboard. She pulled two wine glasses from next to the wine rack and filled both glasses. “Here, this is how wine should be indulged.” She swirled the cup around and took a sip.

  “Ooh, you fancy, huh?” Liz cackled and took a sip. “Whoa, talk about expensive!”

  “That was a gift from my husband’s boss for Christmas last year.”

  “He obviously has excellent taste.”

  The two joked back and forth until Judah reappeared, his dark hair still wet from his shower. He wore it messy as if after the towel hit it, it never needed to be touched again. It just laid perfectly against his head, and Natalee could smell the freshness from the soap where she stood across the room. She loved the way he smelled after a shower. To be honest, she loved the way he smelled all the time, but his aroma was so strong after a shower, Natalee could never resist it. She stepped over to him, kissing him on the jawline before kissing his mouth, and he held his hand against her lower back to return her passion.

  Liz threw her hands in the air. “Well, that’s my cue. Y’all have a good night now. Tell Gage he’s not allowed to come home unless he’s puking or bleeding. None of that middle of the night shit where he makes me come get him.”

  Natalee snorted, and waved, “We’re going to have a blast, don’t worry about him.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Liz nodded to Judah who smiled back.

  “Absolutely, glad our kids are getting along so well. And thanks for fixing the window.”

  Liz nodded, “I had no choice, but you’re welcome.” She grinned to show she was joking, and she let herself out.

  “Wow, does it smell excellent in here.”

  Natalee nodded, “It sure does.”

  He planted a kiss on her forehead. “I haven’t tasted it yet, but you’ve already done a great job.”

  She squeezed him tight, “Thanks, baby.”

  Dinner was a great success. All four of them ate seconds, and Gage said it was the best homemade meal he had ever had, not at home. Natalee enjoyed his compliment and took it to heart coming from a kid she barely knew.

  The rest of their sleepover was just as successful. Both boys were passed out by ten o’clock, even though they insisted they were staying up “until the sun made their eyes hurt.”

  Natalee and Judah made bets on who would go out first. Natalee was right, and it was Jonah.

  Sixteen

  The next morning, Gage requested waffles for breakfast and Nata
lee complied. She took a page from Yana’s book and topped every plate with fresh sliced fruit. The boys ate four waffles apiece before they disappeared into the backyard to play until Liz showed up to pick up her son.

  Natalee did her normal morning routine with the branch, but when she cracked open her fruit flavored water, she crushed up a leaf from the small pile beneath her plant and added it to the drink. She didn’t seem any thirstier than she normally felt, but she did drink the bottle much quicker than most days. Natalee then decided to organize all the old mail piling up in the corner curio cabinet in the dining room. It wasn’t enough to be considered clutter by outsiders but knowing that it was always there was something that frequently bothered Natalee, yet she could never find the time to clean it out.

  Judah had left in the middle of the night to make it to his next shift. Natalee knew it was a short flight, so he would most likely be home for dinner. She decided to open her crockpot for the first time. She pulled it from the box, still shiny and brand new. She flipped through the cookbook that had been included with the appliance and she decided on the roast beef with au jus sauce. She recalled seeing most of the ingredients during her hunt through the kitchen the day before but made a mental note she would need to pick up a fresh onion before noon to have dinner ready at a reasonable hour.

  Liz showed up just before eleven and chatted with Natalee for a few minutes before her phone rang and she had to get back to her house to help one of the kids who was apparently having a complete meltdown at that point. Natalee convinced Jonah to go to the store with her for the onion and promised to buy him almost anything he wanted. He picked out a box of graham crackers and marshmallow fluff. He snacked on a few pieces while she diced the onion and added it to the crockpot.

  “What the heck is that thing?”

  “It’s a slow cooker. Apparently, they’re really easy to use, but I’ve never used one before.”