by Lee Wardlow
“Oh,” I replied. Well that explained it. “Has she always done that?”
“Yep, as long as I can remember.”
“Is that the only nights she goes out?”
“Yeah pretty much,” he replied.
I had the feeling that although Dominick loved his mother he was getting tired of being the adult. Maddie, I wasn’t sure about. Nickolas had little respect or caring for Delilah at all. I moved closer to him holding Maddie steady against my chest. I wrapped one arm around his shoulders sensing he needed it. Nickolas turned his head into me and I knew that he was crying. I consoled him as best I could while holding his sixty-pound sister in my other arm.
“Hey man, it’s okay,” I tried to soothe him.
“It’s not,” he replied softly keeping his head down while he wiped his face. “What if something happens to her. Then what Ronan? Dominick won’t be eighteen for almost two more years. My grandparents could give two shits about us. The money is a way for her to not feel guilty after she spent years blasting my father for abandoning us. She tore my mother to the ground for the choices she made. Not that they were the greatest choices but hell what do you expect with Grandma’s mouth constantly running on and on about all of Mom’s failures.”
I squeezed his shoulders.
“Dear old dad didn’t want us the first time he left us. If she kicks out on us, he won’t want us this time either. So where does that leave us?”
“What is wrong Nickolas?” Maddie asked. She raised her head to look at him then she yawned.
“Nothing Maddie,” he grumbled. I patted her back and shushed her gently until she laid her head back on my shoulder.
We turned seeing Dom coming out with a group of guys. They wanted him to go with them to a party. He was telling them he couldn’t. Nickolas looked up at me. “He should go. We could just stay with you,” he said hopefully.
I sighed. I wanted Dominick to have a normal life too but I couldn’t make that decision for him or their mother either. When Dominick approached Nickolas told him exactly the same thing he told me. “Man, I can’t do that. Mom might actually come home. Then what? She would be panicked.”
“She doesn’t always come home?” Skylar asked.
“No. Not always,” Dom replied.
“Rarely,” Nickolas amended. “Do you want to go to the party? We could just stay at the Moore’s tonight. You go out and pretend you’re a normal teen for one night.”
Dominick gave me a hopeful look. “I don’t know Dom. I can’t make that decision for you.”
He wanted to go out with his friends. I could see it on his face. I looked at Skylar to see what she thought. “I don’t see how it would hurt one night if Dominick went out. He can leave Delilah a note at home telling her where they are.”
I nodded. “Up to you Dominick.”
“I really want to go to this party.”
“Then go. What time will you be home?” I asked.
“No later than one a.m.” He was hopeful. Hell, what did I know? Was one a.m. too late for a nearly seventeen-year-old? I glanced at Skylar trying to get her opinion and she shrugged at me. A lot of help she was.
“No later than one,” I told him. “We’ll stop by your house and Nickolas can leave a note for your mom.”
“Thanks,” he said. “I’ll see you guys at one.”
God, I hoped we were doing the right thing. We were new at this parenting thing.
**
Skylar stayed in the car with Maddie while I ran inside with Nickolas. They lived not far from the high school in older homes that were converted to duplexes years ago. We ran up the porch steps and he unlocked the door. He heard the voices and so did I. His mother was home.
“Oh shit,” Nickolas said.
“Go on,” I urged him. He opened the door. We walked in and I immediately shoved Nickolas behind me shaking my head at the scene that was in front of me. Delilah was higher than a kite. Riding some dude on the living room sofa. These kids would have walked in on this had we not told Dominick to go out tonight. As it was Nickolas caught a glimpse of her save for my quick reflexes. I shoved him through the door and closed it.
“Ronan,” she squealed leaning backwards like she was almost attempting a back bend. The guy held onto her thank god or she might have done a back flip off his cock.
“Delilah,” I said her name unable to keep the disgust out of my voice. “The kids are staying at my house tonight. All right with you?”
“Oh, that would be great,” she said. The high making her words flow slowly out of her mouth.
“Will you remember this in the morning?” I asked.
“I will dude,” the guy whose cock she was riding responded.
“Thanks,” I said. I turned and walked out onto the porch and closed the door behind me. “Ever happened before?” I asked Nickolas.
“A few times. Dominick has tried to convince her to keep it in the bedroom. He usually keeps us on the porch or takes us for pizza if he has the money, shouting at her to move it to her bedroom as we leave.”
I guided him back to my truck. I waited for him to climb inside. “Everything okay?” Skylar asked.
“Mom was getting fucked in the living room by one of her random dudes.”
“Nickolas, it isn’t right for you to talk about her that way,” I said. “Or for you to use that language.”
“Yeah but it’s okay for to fuck random dudes in the living room where we can just walk right in on this shit,” he snapped.
“No, it isn’t.” I could hear the hurt in his voice. This was affecting him more than the other two. I could hear it in his words. I could see the weight of the chip on his shoulder. The long term affects were starting to show in him.
Skylar kept looking at me then out the passenger window. When we arrived home she took off Maddie’s shoes and socks and removed her sweater and leggings but left on her underthings for her to sleep in. She tucked Maddie beneath the blankets. I did the heavy lifting for her. She was too pregnant to do anything else.
Nickolas was staring through the big picture window. He was too skinny for my sweats but he could roll my basketball shorts down a time or two at the waist and they fit him okay. “If she hadn’t been fucking around I could have gotten clothes for all of us,” he grumbled.
Skylar sat down beside him and placed her hand on his bent knee. I sat down beside her and peeked over her shoulder at Nickolas. “Want to talk?” She asked.
He nodded. “I want my brother to be able to get an education now. I want to follow him after my graduation. I don’t want him to have to wait for me to have a shot at college. I don’t want him to leave us with her to go to college himself. We’ve talked about it and that is why he won’t go. I want Maddie to have a good life. I don’t want her to see this shit.”
“I’m sorry,” Skylar said. “Maybe it’s time that Ronan and I sit down with Delilah and talk to her.”
He looked so troubled that my wife reached out and caressed his cheek. “What would you say to her?” He asked. Nick sounded so uncertain.
“I don’t know,” she said. “But something needs to be done. You guys can’t keep going on like this. It isn’t healthy.”
I had to agree but I didn’t know what we could even do.
**
I was sitting in the corner of the sofa with Skylar tucked into my body. She covered us with a quilt as soon as we got comfortable. I wore shorts and a long sleeved thermal. Since the kids were here, she wore flannel pajamas that were more modest than what she normally wore. I thought she looked just as adorable in the blue and green flannel as she did in her shorty pajamas and a tank top. She thought she looked like a granny in her jammies.
Skylar and I were still talking although Nickolas went to bed earlier. Dominick came in at one like he was supposed to. I wondered if he ever did anything that was the least bit rebellious. Was there a time that he was not responsible? He thought we were waiting up for him. We weren’t. We were talking about the three chil
dren concerned for them and their welfare.
I started off the conversation by explaining what happened tonight. Dominick groaned as he plopped down into a chair. “I’m sorry Ronan. You shouldn’t have had to see that. I shouldn’t have gone out tonight.”
“Now wait a minute,” Skylar told him. “You being home wouldn’t have solved anything. Your mom was more than willing for Ronan to take your siblings home with us.”
He nodded. “She brings guys home on the weekends sometimes. I have to hide it from them as best I can.”
“Dominick, you shouldn’t have to be the adult in the family. What if we can help you?”
His head shot up and he looked between us. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know exactly.” We really didn’t. Right now, we were grasping at straws for a way to help these kids.
“But we want to help you,” Skylar told him. “We want to start by talking to your mother. She has to be made aware of what she’s doing to you three.
In the next few seconds, Sky and I both saw hope appear in Dominick’s eyes and disappear just as quickly. We couldn’t promise him anything. We might not be able to reach her but it was worth a try at this point. Then, if we couldn’t sway her into getting help, something needed to be done to help the LaBenito children. They couldn’t keep taking care of themselves but we had to be sure that they could stay together one way or another.
Chapter 17
The next morning, Skylar and I showered and dressed so we could take the kids to breakfast at the diner. The kids didn’t because they didn’t have clean clothes to wear. Dominick hoped his mother made it to work. She didn’t often miss he told us but he was never sure how she made it at times. Maddie rode with us while Nickolas rode with Dominick in his car. She never stopped talking during the fifteen-minute ride to the diner in the heart of Pointe Royal. Quietly, we looked at each other and laughed at her conversation with us.
After finding a parking spot across the street from the diner because their lot was full, I helped Maddie down from the backseat of the truck. The boys had to park even further away. I saw them jogging towards us so we waited for them and walked inside together. Maddie was holding my hand as we crossed the street. There was only a ten-minute wait for a table for a group, our size.
Dominick talked about the game while Maddie talked to Skylar about our baby. I was half listening to both children. Amazing how this felt, almost like a family. I turned and glanced at Nickolas who was watching his mother wait tables. I touched Dominick’s arm and he looked where I was looking. “Nick, you okay?” He asked also noticing the hostile look on his brother’s face.
Nickolas glanced at us both then he nodded but as we waited I could see the steam building inside Nickolas. The kid was about to blow. I moved him outside quickly last night but he wasn’t stupid. He knew what was going on in his living room. He had been very vocal about it.
The hostess came to the station and picked up menu’s. Then she called our name. Dominick walked in front of me with Skylar and Maddie in front of him. Maddie was holding Skylar’s hand now. They stopped quickly to say hello to Delilah.
The diner was packed full of patrons. Then they moved on through the crowded tables to the back where Diane, the hostess and the wife of the owner was leading us to our table. I glanced back to see where Nickolas was. He too stopped to talk to Delilah. Everything seemed okay. Skylar and Maddie already sat at our table. Dominick was about to sit down when he heard his brother shout at their mother.
“Skanky whore,” were the first words out of his mouth. Dominick rose and was right behind me. He shoved her away from him before I reached him. I grabbed him around the shoulders and pulled him back against me. He was calling her more obscenities while she stood there and took it. Tears were glazing her eyes.
“Stop Nickolas,” I said to him.
Dominick stopped to my left with his hands on his head in confusion. I glanced over my shoulder to see Maddie with her hands over her ears. Skylar’s arms around her, comforting her.
“Come on Nickolas, let’s step outside.” I guided him out the door. Dominick stayed with their mother. I passed my own parents on the way out the door looking perplexed at the situation that was taking place in the restaurant. I knew everyone was watching us. On the sidewalk in front of the restaurant I gathered the kid in my arms and held him close. “You need to talk to someone kid before you explode,” I whispered to him.
“I think I just did.” He sobbed against my chest.
I hadn’t realized that my mother followed us outside. “Ronan, what is going on?”
I turned slightly not letting Nickolas go. “This is Delilah’s middle child, Nickolas. Nick, this is my mother, Stevie Moore.”
He pulled away from me a little and wiped his face on his sleeve. His hazel eyes still looked sad and wet with unshed tears. He stuck his hand out to my mother. “Nice to meet you,” he said but his eyes were trained at the concrete sidewalk.
“Everything okay?” Mom asked shaking his hand.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Sky and I kept the kids last night so Delilah could go out. Dominick usually does but he wanted to attend a party after the game. It worked out great. We got practice at being a parent and he got to be a teenager.”
She smiled at me. “Mom, what is a good curfew for a nearly seventeen-year-old?” I asked.
She frowned at me. “Why?”
“Because we let Dominick come home at one and I wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do. Skylar didn’t know either.”
“Because you guys were always either at our house, or one of our friends’ houses so you never really had a curfew.”
“Right,” I replied.
“I’m sure one was fine,” she told me. “Is everything okay?” Mom asked.
“Everything is fine,” I replied. “We’ll be at Sunday dinner tomorrow. The kids and Delilah are coming too, I think,” I added.
“That’s nice.” I could tell she hadn’t told Dad yet. “I’m going to head inside now. We’ll see you tomorrow.” She pointed behind her as she spoke.
“Yep, you will and you need to tell him we’re coming,” I told her.
“I will.” I didn’t believe her. She turned and walked towards the door. Dominick passed her on the way out and held it open for her. She thanked him and then he let it close. He came to where I stood on the sidewalk with my arm still around Nickolas.
“Seriously, you chose to berate her like that at her place of work?” He said to Nickolas.
“I won’t apologize,” Nick replied.
Dominick ran his hand through his hair. “Man, I know you’re pissed but blasting Mom at work is not the way to deal with it.”
“Is her boss pissed?” I asked.
“No, you got Nick outside quick enough. Believe it or not, Chuck and his wife Diane like my mom.”
I sighed. “It’s not hard to believe,” I replied. I liked Delilah myself. She just needed help.
“Why? What is there to like? They should know how she takes care of us,” Nick shouted.
“Stop,” I said squeezing his shoulder. “Not here.”
“I appreciate what you and Skylar are doing for us but I don’t want to eat here now.” I glanced up at Dominick. He appeared disappointed.
“Dom, why don’t you take Nick somewhere else?” I suggested. “Just the two of you.”
“I don’t have money to do that,” he replied softly.
I yanked out my wallet from my back pocket and took out forty bucks. I handed it over to him. “Do you guys have money for groceries?” I asked him.
He nodded. “Take Nickolas out somewhere.”
“Pizza?” Dominick asked his brother looking less disappointed.
“Sounds good.” Nickolas seemed pleased to be spending time with just his brother.
“We’ll bring Maddie home in about an hour and half. Okay? We have our second birthing class so we’ll have to get her to you by then.”
“Okay,” Dominick ag
reed.
I watched the two young men go back to Dominick’s beater car. I realized how lucky my brothers and I were. I went back inside the restaurant. My parents were already seated. I could pretend they weren’t there and go straight to Skylar and Maddie or I could go to their table and say hello to my dad. I chose the difficult route and stopped at their table. My Dad sat his coffee cup down and looked at my mother.
“Dad, you can’t ignore me forever. I’m your son. I made a mistake but I love you and I know that you love me. Soon Luke will be here and I can’t see you not being a part of his life.” I touched my mom’s shoulder and gave her a smile. Then I walked away when I saw that he wasn’t going to respond.
On our way out of the restaurant, Delilah stopped me and thanked me. “I did it for Nickolas as much as you. Delilah, something needs to change about your situation,” I told her. She just nodded at me.
“Bring the kids tomorrow to Sunday dinner at the farm,” Skylar told her.
“I will,” she replied.
**
Our second class was taking care of your newborn. They handed me a baby doll that was pretty life like but I still held it awkwardly by one leg when the instructor glared at me.
“Mr. Moore are you going to hold your newborn by its leg?” She snapped at me.
I stuttered no while Skylar tried not to laugh. I cradled it in my arms like I once held Gracie Lou, James, Annie, Asia and Charlotte. “I do know how to hold a baby,” I grumbled.
“Then act like it and take this seriously.” What a way to start out the class. Especially after the morning we experienced.
I did learn things that didn’t know but I liked the other instructor who taught us about what to expect at the birth better. Skylar was holding my hand as we walked out to the parking lot. Two more classes. I didn’t know what they were. She told me where to be and I was there. We were at thirty-three weeks; seven more weeks seemed like such a long time but probably not to Skylar.
I tucked Skylar into the car and jogged around the front of the vehicle. When I was behind the wheel she asked about Dad. Had he said anything to me? She couldn’t tell from her vantage point. I chuckled, not happily. “Hell no.” I wasn’t sure this was a good idea to start going to Sunday dinner again when he wasn’t happy to see me.
