Page 26 of Trick or Treat

“I’m going to step outside and make a call,” he told them. Keegan wasn’t an idiot, he knew his dad was going to call his mom and jump her shit.

Trick hit speed dial, waiting for Michelle to answer the phone. She didn’t answer the first time, so he immediately dialed again. Finally, after the fourth time of doing this she answered the phone, sounding like she’d just woken up.

“Michelle, what the fuck?” he growled. “You forgot to pick up the kids again.”

“What? What time is it?” Her voice sounded hoarse from sleeping.

“It’s now almost four o’clock. I got a call from the school saying Keegan needed picked up. Got there and he and his teacher were the only ones there. Thank God she stayed with him or he would have been sitting there all by himself. What the fuck’s wrong with you?”

“I’m sorry, Trick. I must have fallen asleep and didn’t realize what time it was. So sue me,” Michelle snapped at him.

“You’ve got two hours to get yourself together. I’m going to feed the kids dinner before I bring them home to you. And Michelle,” his voice dropped dangerously low, “if I get there and you’ve been drinking, I’m not leaving them with you. Get me?”

“Yes, I fucking get you. I haven’t been drinking. I just can’t sleep at night.”

“Well if you didn’t stay out all night, it wouldn’t be a problem.” Trick hung up and was tempted to chuck his phone against a tree. He took a few deep, calming breaths before he went back inside. He closed the door as he stepped back into the kitchen to get his kids their dinner. “Fish sticks and mac-n-cheese or hot dogs?” he called out.

Fish sticks and mac-n-cheese was what was decided on. He put the fish sticks in the oven and set the timer, then waited for the water to boil and dumped the noodles. He went to check on the kids and found Keegan was engrossed in the movie and Reagan had fallen asleep, her hands tucked under her cheek where she lay propped against the arm of the couch. Sometimes she needed a nap in the afternoon or otherwise she could get crabby. The trick was to never let her sleep more than thirty minutes or the girl wanted to stay up all night.

“Dad?” Keegan drew his attention.

“Yeah?”

“I wish I could live with you all the time. I love Mom, but I like it here better.” Keegan appeared older than his nine years at that moment. He hated that his kids didn’t like spending time with their mother. At their ages, they should be able to depend on their mom and know she was always there to care for and protect them.

Trick had to swallow past the lump in his throat before he could answer. “I wish you could, too, but I have to go by what the court tells me or I might not get to see you at all.” He didn’t want to tell Keegan that he was and had been trying to get sole custody of them because he didn’t want to get his hopes up if it turned out to be another big fail.

After dinner, he took them back to their mom and walked them to the door specifically to see if she’d been drinking. She stood in the doorway in faded jeans, a tee and a baggy sweater. She leaned against the open door, arms crossed, waiting for the kids to enter.

He waited until they’d gone inside. “You good?”

“Yes, Trick, I’m good.” She rolled her eyes. When he didn’t appear to believe her, she added, “I told you I haven’t been sleeping very good lately.”

“You know when you don’t show up, it freaks Keegan out. He worries that you’ve been in an accident or something. No eight-year-old should be worrying that much about his mom.”

“Look, I said I was sorry, so back off.” Michelle stomped into the house and slammed the door behind her.

Fucking great. There was no doubt his kids heard that. He rubbed his hand over his mouth and headed for his truck. He could probably go back to the clubhouse and have another go at Nicole, but honestly he was too damn mentally exhausted. He decided to go home, have a beer and watch the game on TV.

Trick heldReagan’s hand to keep her from skipping off ahead of him to the next house. She was pulling at his hand, trying to hurry him up. Keegan and Ryker were walking a few feet ahead of him and Jackson. His son was holding Ryker’s hand so he stayed with the group.

Keegan was dressed as Thor from theAvengers, Ryker was Iron Man and Reagan was Cinderella. She was too damn cute for her own good. Tonight she’d wanted to wear a blonde wig so she “looked like the real one.” She looked adorable, but he much preferred her shiny black hair.

They stopped at the end of the walkway leading up to the next house all decked out with spiders and ghosts and skeletons. Keegan waved for Reagan and Ryker to go ahead of him, reminding his sister she was supposed to say, “trick or treat.”

When he’d gotten the call from Lindsey earlier this week saying Keegan needed a ride, he’d been happy to hear her voice even though she was ruining his happy ending. On the ride to school, the more he thought about Michelle forgetting Keegan again, the angrier he got. He would have liked to stay and talked to her for a bit, maybe remind her of how good they were together and see if he could get her to blush. The thought of giving Keegan the wrong idea about his dad and his teacher getting together had stopped him.

“How did you get the kids on a Thursday night?” Jackson adjusted Ryker’s mask so he could see again.

“Michelle had somewhere to be tonight.” Trick caught his eye and raised his brow, knowing his friend would know exactly what he was talking about without having to say it out loud in front of the kids. Keegan was at an age where he picked up on everything. Although Trick couldn’t stand the sight of Michelle on most days, he didn’t want to bad mouth her in front of his kids. Despite everything, she was still their mother and they still loved her.

“Think you’ll see that hot teacher again?” Jackson stood next to Trick watching their kids hit up strangers for candy.

Looking around, he thought it was funny that so many of the other parents gave them a wide berth once their eyes landed on their cuts and realized they were for real and not just part of a costume. Although, some of the women who were not being accompanied by their significant others were giving him and Jackson the look that they’d be willing to take a ride on the wild side. Too bad Jackson was taken and Trick wasn’t interested.

“Probably not.” He stood with his hands shoved in his front pockets.

“That’s what you thought before, then you ran into Lindsey at school and fucked her in her classroom.”

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