“Okay,” I whispered, rubbing at my cheeks. “I got this.”
Happiness bubbled up inside of me. An involuntary grin grew, and I laughed, everything about me feeling suddenly light.
For the first time, I believed it as I said, “Today will be a fun day.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Careful with how much cheese you add,” I said to Lawson, who was determined to drown his pizza with it. “And the pepperoni,” I said to Lee as he tried to overload his with it.
“Okay,” Lawson said and stopped. Lee did too after he added one more.
I made my pizza with pepperoni and ricotta cheese. Music played in the background, and when the chorus came on, we always paused what we were doing to scream out the lyrics while doing silly dancing.
“Okay, pizzas are in. Go watch cartoons while it cooks. I’ll call once it’s done.”
They ran into the living room, and a moment later, I could hear the dull roar of cartoons. I leaned over the counter and flipped through my schedule for tomorrow.
Drop the kids off, go to my therapy session, lunch with Kenni, then to meet with two clients who wanted to meet face-to-face after hearing about the breach in security. They’d need personal reassurance and a game plan in rebuilding their trust, along with my own changes to protect their information.
The idea of losing more clients made my stomach drop. I wasn’t hurting. I was good with money, but losing more clients would still make a dent in my salary.
My phone rang, and I stared at the screen, needing a moment for the name across the screen to make sense.
Koen.
“Is it my turn to ask what’s wrong this time?” I answered.
He chuckled, and it sounded almost as good through the phone as it did in person. “Hey, Maddie, how are you?”
“Good, about to eat dinner with the boys.”
“I hope it isn’t pizza.”
I frowned and glanced around the room. “Are you spying on me?”
He chuckled. “No.”
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Is it… is there news about the custody brawl?”
“Brawl, huh?” He paused for a moment. “I guess that could be true.”
“So?”
“Yes, I have news. We have a court date to see a judge the Monday after Thanksgiving.”
“Oh? Really?” I blew out a breath. “Okay. Okay, I can do that. That’s what? A little over three weeks away? Three weeks to spend time with the twins. To build a case strong enough to beat them into dust and scatter their remains into the wind. Three weeks until I’ll know if my life is over as I know it in a very bad way, or for the better.”
“Maddie, take a deep breath for me,” Koen said. For some reason his voice felt so far away. “Come on, sweetheart, take a deep breath for me and release it slowly. Slow down your breathing before you go into a panic attack.”
I did as he said.
“Good. Do it again for me.”
I did it again.
“Now, Maddie, I promise, you aren’t losing the twins. There is nothing, nothing at all, in their current living conditions that even hints at neglect or abuse or anything. Those boys have everything they need. The courts will verify that, and I bet they’ll even laugh the case out of the room. If there is anything any judge hates, it’s a case that wastes their time. This case does that. You aren’t going to lose Lawson and Lee.”
“Okay.”
“Now, go have dinner and be sure to eat something other than the pizza you’re feeding them.”
I groaned. “Are you sure you’re not stalking me?” I glanced around again.
He chuckled. “It’s kind of hard to stalk you when I’m in a different town and about to eat dinner with Bryce and Dayton. I’m even waving at them right now.”
“Hi, Maddie.” Dayton’s voice came through from the distance, followed by the same greeting from Bryce.
I smiled. “Or all three of you could be stalking me right now, and you’re just trying to cover your bums.”
“Have a good evening.” Koen hung up.
After releasing another breath, I took the pizzas out and began making plates, including a pile of carrots for them to munch on.
“Dinner is done,” I called out, bringing their food to the table. They came in a moment later, going right for their pizza. “Don’t forget to eat your carrots.”
Lawson picked one of the baby carrots up and shoved it into his mouth before going back to his pizza.
I settled across from them and nibbled on my pizza, my stomach feeling hard. I didn’t do our traditional highs and lows about school until they were nearly done and growing distracted.
Once they were finished, I leaned back and gave them a somber look. “My high is that I got to have pizza night with you guys.”
“And your low?” Lee asked. He also leaned back, and I could see him bracing himself for bad news. I didn’t mean to give it away, but he had managed to pick up on my emotions. If he stayed this intuitive, I was going to have to take acting classes so I could lie to him better.
“What did you think of your grandmother?” I asked.
“She was okay,” Lawson said.
“She’s traveled a lot. She said she could take us traveling too,” Lee said. He looked down at his dish and frowned. “But I don’t want to travel with her. I want to travel with you.”
Fear eased from my stomach, and I smiled. “Yeah?”
The two of them nodded.
“You’re fun,” Lawson said, as if that was the answer to everything.
Laughing, I reached across the table and grabbed their hands. Their response cemented my determination. It gave me more hope than I could have ever wished for. Koen had been right. Olivia had promised them the world to see, and they still chose me.
That made this easier.
“Koen called. You know he’s a lawyer, right?”
They nodded.
“He puts bad guys away. I think that’s cool,” Lawson said.
I smiled. “He’s an everyday superhero, the kind who are overlooked for all the good they do. He’s been helping me with something.” I hesitated, not sure how to tell them. I didn’t want to keep it from them. They didn’t need any surprises if everything went badly. “Your grandmother has expressed interest in your wellbeing.”
Lee’s eyebrows furrowed. “What does that mean?”
“She wishes for you guys to go live with her.” I put it out there before I could turn into a chicken and run away.
“But we live with you.”
“Yes, you do. And I plan to keep it that way.”
“She’s going to take us?” Lawson asked.
“That’s what I’m working with Koen to make sure doesn’t happen. She wishes to take you, yes. But I also wish to keep you, and she won’t be able to take you from me so easily.”
“You’re fighting?” Lee asked. “Over us?”
“Yes. We aren’t able to come to an agreement that either of us are happy with and so we will be going in front of a judge, and he will decide for us.”
Neither of them looked happy. Lee jumped out of his seat and ran over to me, practically tackling me as he wrapped his arms around my waist.
“No. No, I don’t want to go to her. I don’t know her.”
I rubbed his back as Lawson slowly joined us, coming to my other side. The two of them worked together to squish me as I fought tears.
“You won’t go to her. That’s why I’m working with Koen. He will make sure that they can’t make you.”
Their hold on me tightened. I sat there for as long as they needed me to while they cried. I rubbed their backs, making sure to give them all the encouragement I could. Anger bubbled up inside of me at Olivia for putting them in this position, and at myself, wondering if telling them was a smart idea. Maybe I should have waited to talk with Dr. Adam first.
But they should know. They deserved to know because if for whatever reason she won, I doubted she’d give me time to break that to the boys and g
ive them time to adjust. She’d sweep them off to New York, and make sure I never saw them again. Knowing her, she’d probably lock them up in a boarding school too.
“I’m here,” I whispered, trying to hold back my own tears. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re mine, and you’re stuck with me.”
I kept repeating myself while they calmed down. I laid out all the fun I planned to have with them. About when we were going to do them. How the guys wanted more game nights with them. How the kids at the school were excited to play with them. That they weren’t alone.
Never stopping, I kept going on and on about our future together. Because we would have one. No matter what Olivia was going to try to throw my way. I squeezed Lawson and Lee tight to me, the tears falling unbidden.
These kids were mine. My responsibility.
It took a while to get them settled into bed. Once they did, I sent a text off to Kenni to let her know what was going on.
Me: It’s on. We’re going to battle.
Kenni: Tell me when and where. I’m there.
I grinned at her response. It was so Kenni.
Before I could send off a response, my phone rang, making me jump. Koen’s name flashed across the screen.
“Yeah?” I answered.
“I wanted to check up on you. I know I dropped that bomb on you.”
His concern had me grinning. “Don’t worry. We were waiting for the date.”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t make having it scheduled any easier.”
“True.” I paused before saying, “I broke the news to Lawson and Lee.”
“How did they take it?”
“Hard. Really hard. I finally got them to bed a little bit ago. They didn’t want to let me go.”
“And you?” he asked in a cautious voice.
“What about me?”
“How are you taking it?”
I bit my lip, not answering right away. I wasn’t sure how to answer.
“There isn’t a right or wrong answer here,” Koen said.
“Yeah… I didn’t want to let them go either.”
“Understandable.”
“I want to crawl into bed with them and hold them close. I don’t want to ever let them go.”
“You won’t have to. I’ll make sure of it.”
I sighed and crawled into bed, leaning against the wall.
“Koen, my bed feels too big. I don’t want to be alone.”
“Maddie…” Koen sighed. “I wish I could be there with you right now. I wish I could hold you tightl.”
“Damn.” I chuckled, but it was a broken sound, full of tears and fears. “You aren’t playing fair.”
“I’ve never been good at doing that. How about this? Cuddle your pillow close tonight as you go to sleep. Wrap yourself around your pillow and think of it as me. Think of your blanket as my arms, holding you close. Think about all the fun you had during Halloween, all the candy you ate, all the games we played, all the food and drinks.”
“You know you just gave me permission to have a really good dream about you, right?” I said. “Doesn’t that creep you out?”
He snorted. “Not at all, because then I know you’re comforted. I can’t do it personally, but you deserve to have someone there. If I have to sacrifice myself, then I’m more than happy to do so. Stop thinking like you’re on your own, Maddie. That is far from true. I’m here. So are Dayton and Bryce. You also mentioned your friend, Kenni, right?”
“Yeah.”
“She’s there too. You are not alone, Maddie. And when you wake up in the morning, we will still be there for you.”
I closed my eyes, letting his words wrap around my soul. It was hard to believe him, but he made it hard not to. “Okay.”
“Trust us, okay.”
“I will.”
“Goodnight, Maddie.”
“Night.”
I hung up and curled into my bed, doing exactly what he’d said. I grabbed my body pillow, wrapped my legs and arms around it, tucking my head into its softness. The blanket sat heavy against my body. Closing my eyes, I imagined it to be Koen, holding me, supporting me, being there.
It worked.
It truly worked.
I wasn’t alone.
Author’s Note
I have to admit, I put a piece of my soul into this story, so I hope you are enjoying Maddie, the twins, and her three guys as much as I am. This story is a reflection of quite a few of my fears (can you guess which ones?) along with what makes me happy, what I hope life can be like, and what I think it should be. There’s nothing wrong with chasing after unicorns and enjoying the small pleasures of life. I wish only for happiness and laughter for everyone. If this story made you laugh, then I succeeded. Life is hard. It likes to throw things at us when we’re down, but it’s the people around us who keep us moving forward. Okay, before I get too mushy, I’m going to go back to writing the next installment!
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Next in the Series
To be released in February 2020
Sizzling Hot Apple Cider
I can adult like a boss when I need to. But should I have to?
I have a dilemma. A huge one. Can I remain as Maddie or do I need to finally grow up and be Madison Daniels, the responsible young adult? My evil stepmonster is out to spirit away my adorable twins, and someone is out to get me, spreading ridiculous lies to my clients. If those are the only issues I’m facing, I think I’d be okay. Maybe. Possibly.
But things with Koen, Dayton, and Bryce are changing. They’re always there, supporting me, and being all nice. It’s confusing. I want things I never imagined I’d want before, and they aren’t thoughts meant to be shared outside of my crazy imagination. They’re pulling me three different ways and I have no clue what to do with that.
Who will I be once this mess is all over? I’m afraid to find out.
From the Author
Adulting Not Allowed
Scalding Hot Chocolate
Sizzling Hot Apple Cider (Coming 2020)
Monster Academy
Lesson One: Finding Allies
Lesson Two: Staying True
Lesson Three: Fighting Bravely (Coming 2020)
Gifted Anomalies
Fate Foretold
Surviving Souls (Coming 2020)
Biomystic Security Completed Series
Magical Intentions
Magical Temptations
Magical Attraction
Magical Seclusion
Magical Redemption
Magical Collision
From the Embers Completed Series
Emergence
Transformation
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