Page 19 of Taken Home By the Grizzly

Oof…annd my hand is in my pajama pants. I tear it out, cheeks burning.

Look what he’s doing to me. I’ve never even touched myself before.

The yelling continues. I leap out of bed and fling open the door to the kids’ bedroom.

They are all on Mari’s bed, wrestling.

For a moment, I stand frozen, impressed and horrified at the same time. They’re going hard. Like three tiny MMA fighters. I didn’t know kids that young could be so coordinated. Sobrutal.

Then I come to my senses and clap my hands together. Three heads snap in my direction.

“What on earth are you doing to each other?” I wail.

Todd releases Jace’s neck from a chokehold. “Just waking up.” He shrugs.

I scan each of them anxiously. They still have the right number of limbs. No one is bleeding. “Anybody hurt?” I say uncertainly.

They disentangle themselves and sit down, side-by-side, staring at me.

“You all okay?”

“We’re fine, Zoe,” says Mari. “We just like to have a little rough and tumble sometimes. It’s nothing to worry about.”

I blink at the adult tone in her voice. That’s new. “Well, I’m sure your parents wouldn’t see it that way.”

“They don’t care,” Jace says.

Oh, shit. These poor things. So young, but they already understand that their parents are not the people they should be. My heart aches for them.

“Well, I care,” I say, injecting brightness into my voice. “And I’d really like it if you didn’t all end up black and blue while I’m taking care of you. Okay?”

“We’ll be sure not to permanently injure each other,” Mari says, flashing me a patient smile.

Well. I feel more unsettled than ever. There’s something very unusual about these kids.

“Okay, are you old enough to get dressed by yourselves?”

“I am,” Mari says. “But I usually help the other two.”

And looks like she’s been forced to be a carer for Todd and Jace.

“That’s gonna be my job from now on,” I tell her.

“Thank you,” she says, and for the first time, she gives me a real smile.

It’s not easy getting the twins dressed, not least because I’ve had very little experience of dressing other people. But a lot of wriggling and complaining later, and they’re dressed in identical PAW Patrol sweatsuits.

“All right!” I yell, clapping my hands together. I’m figuring out that an energetic attitude is the best way to keep them engaged. “Who’s gonna help me make breakfast?”

To my surprise, all three of them shout, “me!” and they charge toward the stairs.

“What do you kids normally have in the mornings?” I open the cupboard doors. Thank goodness the kitchen is well stocked, at least. I pull out a bunch of cereal boxes. “These?”

“I guess,” Jace says, looking unimpressed.

“Don’t you normally have cereal?”

“Yeah.” Todd shrugs.

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