Page 56 of Out Of A Fix

I nearly growled. “You know what I mean. Answer the question.”

Quick exhale from him. “I’m unsure of them. Those are not the kids I left.”

“In what way?”

“I left a sullen, surly sixteen-year-old boy who hated me, a withdrawn, silent thirteen-year-old who shared nothing with me, ever, at all, and a ten-year-old girl who stared at me, all the time, like I was stupid. But…I could order them around, and they would do what I said. It was quiet in the house except for the TV and their phones and tablets and game systems.”

I nodded.

“But I walked through the door a few hours ago, and everything’s different, from the house itself to the people in it. Suddenly I’m being talked to, and it’s taking me a second to catch up to where you all are already.”

“I get that. But they’re starved for hugs and affection, and they need it from you.”

“I know what my kids need,” he croaked defensively.

I maintained eye contact, and after a moment, he looked away.

“I would never tell you how to parent. What I’m relating to you is what I’ve observed in the time I’ve been here.”

He dragged his gaze from the floor back to mine. “I know. I’m sorry. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you’ve⁠—”

“No. Taking care of your kids was my privilege, make no mistake. And if you’d rather wait for them to come to you, that’s your choice.”

“And what did you do?”

“Two of them came to me. Your oldest, I said to him, I wanna hug ya, he said okay, and that was that.”

He took a shaky breath.

“All right, then,” I said. “I should get in there and go talk to⁠—”

“Tatum said you might be leaving after Thanksgiving.”

“No. I told her I would be here through Thanksgiving. After that, I’ll be going for sure.”

“Oh. Is that…” His voice went out on him, and he swallowed. “Is that how long you think you’ll be needed?”

I shook my head. “There will be someone here through the course of the trial—at least that’s what we planned for at Torus—but I think it would be best for the kids if I was swapped out for another fixer.”

He cleared his throat. “Why is that?”

I shrugged. “Due to your absence and things being a bit—” I thought a moment. “—in flux, I think they sort of glommed on to me because I was here and⁠—”

“You’re a rock. They’ve all been singing your praises.”

“Yes, but now you’re back, and you’ve already made changes to the time you’ll be spending at work versus the time you’ll be at home. With that, as well as them all seeing their psychiatrist twice a week, since a fixer is only here temporarily anyway, it would be better in the if someone else they had no ties to were⁠—”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea at all,” he said, his brows furrowing. “Their mother left, I was…emotionally cut off from my own kids, and the one who has righted the entire ship in a matter of days is leaving as well? I don’t… How can that be the right choice?”

I exhaled sharply. “Because I’m not gonna be here, yeah? I don’t want them to learn to lean on me, and then I’m gone. It’s better to stop now. Believe me, I’ve been a fixer a long time. I know what I’m talking about.”

“I think⁠—”

“I really should check on Tatum,” I said, tipping my head at him.

He moved so I could get by, but just barely, and when I bumped him gently on my way by, he caught my bicep. I turned to meet his gaze. He was a bit shorter than me, but not by much.

“I know you’re a fixer, Nash, but maybe, in this instance, since I know my kids better, you should defer to me.”