AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Natasha finally returns to find her boy curled up against me. I instantly see in her expression how I’m doing something right. She gets teary-eyed and smiles.
“He wore himself out,” I explain, just to break the silence.
“They’re starting to struggle,” Natasha says in a soft voice as she takes the closest chair to us. “The kids rarely get upset about things. When Andrew lost his temper, I’d send them to their room to play. I shielded them for a long time, but there’s no hiding how everything keeps changing.”
As Natasha watches me, I sense she’s about to ask for something I won’t like.
“Can we put off our honeymoon for a while?”
Assuming the worst, I nearly ask why. Fortunately, my brain catches on before I open my mouth and say something stupid.
“I’m in no hurry,” I reply, winning another smile from Natasha.
We notice Jacinda leaving her friends and shuffling over like her brother did earlier. She seems out of sorts, too.
“Are you tired, baby?” Natasha asks, and the girl nods. “Do you like your playset?”
“I play so much. I want to play more.”
“This is your new yard. Once we move in here, you can play every day. Deirdre and Kiera live close. They’ll be over a lot. Laszlo will visit, too.”
When Jacinda wears a confused frown, Natasha picks up the girl and cradles her in the chair.
“We are moving after the wedding. You remember that, don’t you?”
Jacinda rests her head on her mom’s chest and fights tears. “I ride horse.”
“Grandma Katja will teach you, just like she taught me. You’ll go to the mansion a lot.”
“I sleep at mansion?”
“Once we move here, you’ll sleep in your new room. It’s so pretty and blue. That’s your favorite color.”
Unhappy about her room, Jacinda lowers her chin and shakes her head.
“What’s wrong with the room?” I ask, getting my back up.
When Natasha glances at me, I instantly know I’m saying the wrong thing. She doesn’t frown at me or seem irritated, but I feel her wishing I’d shut up.
“You like having your bed next to Mommy’s, don’t you?” Natasha asks, and Jacinda perks up.
“I climb in Mommy bed when I wake. I can cuddle.”
Natasha wraps her daughter closer, nuzzling her hair. “We couldn’t do that at the old house. Dad didn’t like you in the bed. But Bear will let you cuddle.”
I try to imagine these little kids climbing over me before I get my coffee in the morning. As much of a horror show as that seems, I always like the photos of Natasha cuddled with her kids. They seem so happy and comfortable. I wouldn’t mind watching them do that next to me.
Jacinda looks at her brother asleep on my lap. She yawns twice before her gaze meets mine.
“My cats cuddle with me in bed,” I say, winning a smile from Jacinda and Natasha. “I wouldn’t mind you and Hector cuddling with me, too.”
“Bear,” she says as if struggling to imagine the future.
The kids are too little for so much heavy thinking. I felt the same damn way when I was dumped at another random family member’s house. I never knew where I’d wake up. My toys got left behind at various places. I couldn’t settle into my own skin. That was probably when I learned to assume the worst about the world.
However, as Jacinda dozes off on her mom while watching me, I find myself feeling optimistic. I’m going to raise them to know their place in the world.
As a kid at the farm, I had to share a room with sometimes three other boys. Space was tight. I didn’t have any privacy. Noise was always an issue.
