Page 5 of The Road Back to Us

I walked up behind her and gently pried the towel from her hands. Her body felt soft and warm as I pressed against her back to toss the towel aside before turning her to face me. She shook her head, fighting me every step of the way until I finally had her where I wanted her.

I waited a few seconds, giving her time as she looked at the floor. Then, I lifted her chin with my fingers, bringing her eyes up to mine as I stared at her before speaking.

“It’s okay,” I said softly, making sure to keep my voice low so the kids didn’t hear me. “I know how fucking hard this is for you, and I’m sorry. But you’re doing great, Lyric. It’s going to be okay, I promise.”

She wiped her eyes and then met mine again.

“I think you should be the one to do this,” she admitted quietly. “They don’t even know me, and I can tell that they don’t want to get to know me, either. You’re like family to them. It just makes more sense if you—”

“That’s not what Clay wanted.” I shook my head, fighting the emotion that threatened to spill over. “He was very clear in what he wanted when he signed the paperwork after Melanie died. If anything happened to him, he wanted you to raise the kids. He set everything up to make it as easy as possible, but he knew it would be hard. That’s why I’m here, Lyric. This isn’t just on you. This is on all of us to work together as a team.”

“I can’t do it,” she said, letting out a sob as tears ran down her cheeks. “I’m going to fail and ruin their lives.”

“No, you’re not. I won’t let you. Trust me when I say that I’ve got you.”

She nodded, wiping her tears quickly as Kara looked over the couch to see what was happening. I pulled Lyric into my arms and held her tightly, making sure she felt just how much I still loved her.

I gave Lyric a few minutes to go freshen up so the kids wouldn’t see she had been crying. I sat on the couch, flipping through the channels until I found the show they all liked to watch. It was hard with them being so far apart in age from Chloe, but she was a little surprise baby, and everyone catered to whatever she wanted to watch.

“Uncle Cole, do we have to stay here much longer?” Chloe asked, looking up at me as she cuddled into my side.

“Yeah, baby girl. This is going to be our new home.”

I nearly choked out the last few words because it wasn’t going to be our new home; it would be their new home. While I would stay for a few weeks while everyone got settled, I knew that it would be temporary. I hadn’t told the kids that yet because I wasn’t ready to break their hearts. My goal was to ensure everyone was as comfortable as possible before we made any more changes.

Lyric came out a few minutes later, forcing another smile that went unnoticed as the kids stared at the TV and avoided looking at her. A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I stared at Kara and Ben, disappointed that they were acting this way, even after I had another quick talk with them.

“I have everything ready in your rooms,” Lyric said, her body language and tone confirming she noticed the energy in the room. “But there’s no pressure to stay tonight if you guys don’t want to.”

“Sweet,” Ben said as he started to get up.

I pinned him with a look that made him groan as he plopped back down on the couch and avoided my gaze. Kara rolled her eyes, though I wasn’t sure if it was because of what was happening in general, or if she was just as tired of her older brother’s attitude as I was.

“Actually, it’s not an option,” I said, watching both of them. “We’ll all be staying here tonight. I’m going to go get Chloe down while the three of you visit.”

I didn’t have to hear the groans to know they were there. I ignored it as I picked Chloe up and hoisted her over my shoulder, singing the song she loved me to sing before bed as I headed down the hallway to her new bedroom.

I had no idea how things would go with the rest of them, but that was the hard part about change—it was unpredictable. Nothing was going to happen unless I started making it happen, which meant I couldn’t sit back and coddle anyone anymore.

Seven

Lyric

I sat on the couch across from Ben and Kara and held my hands in my lap as they both stared at me. Cole had turned off the TV before he left, leaving us in awkward silence as we tried to figure out how to talk to each other.

“So, Ben, I heard you were into soccer,” I said, trying to recall any information I had on them, even though I knew it would be old and likely not relevant anymore.

“I played when I was a kid,” he replied with a snort. “I don’t play anymore.”

I pressed my lips into a thin line to prevent saying anything that might make this worse than it already was.

“I guess a lot can change in six years,” I admitted. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t around. I know that I missed out on so much of your lives, and I can’t ever get that time back. I blinked, and you guys went from being nine and eleven to teenagers in the blink of an eye. I still can’t believe that you’re getting ready to graduate high school, Ben. Or that you’re going to be eighteen in a few months. I swear, I can still remember the day you were born...”

He nodded in response but didn’t say anything. I turned my focus to Kara, hoping maybe I would have better luck with her.

“And you, Kara,” I said with a smile. “You’ve grown into the most beautiful girl. You’ve always looked just like your mama. She met your dad when she was about your age, maybe a little older.”

“I think she was seventeen when they met,” Kara answered. “So, pretty close. I’ll be sixteen soon.”