Page 5 of Sweet Poison

When it’s just us, I don’t fear ridicule for using my words. The anxiety doesn’t threaten to cripple me like it does around strangers. With them, I feel comfortable and at home. Always.

Dad squeezes us tighter against his chest, making us both laugh. “Fuck, how did I get so lucky?” He then presses a kiss on both Mom’s and my heads.

“I’m the lucky one, my sweet giant,” Mom breathes us as she squeezes us tighter. “I love our perfectly imperfect family. It’s us and Cianne, Callam, Papa Cathan, and Maeve against the world.”

I smile at that.

Perfectly imperfect family.

Mom really does know what to always say to ease my heart and my anxiety.

“Okay, let’s finish packing so our little girl can go on her grand adventure and make beautiful and magical memories,” Mom says, clapping happily with a face full of joy and hope. That’s all she’s ever wanted for me— love, happiness and a magical life, just like the one she created after Dad saved her from the unhappy ending she was destined to face before he found her in an alley.

“So it’s decided—Cianne will go with you,” Dad says, pulling back and going to pick up my suitcase.

I nod. “Yeah, Dad…” I smile and then pick up my favorite mushroom plushie that Dad won for me at an arcade when I was six years old. We named it Auguie, and I haven’t spent a single night away from it since. I place Auguie inside my carry-on and close it.

“Here, sweetheart,” Mom says, her voice barely above a whisper. I watch as she carefully unfastens the clasp of her favorite gold necklace. The locket is small and delicate, engraved with our initials—hers, Dad’s, and mine. The sunlight catches on the gold, turning it into a little piece of magic that glows softly. She guides the necklace around my neck, the cool metal warming quickly against my skin. As she adjusts it, her fingers linger for a moment, brushing against my collarbone. I glance up, and she gives me a small, knowing smile, her eyes crinkling at the corners. Then, with a deep, gentle sigh, she looks at me in a way that says more than any words could and makes the sign for “I love you.”

With emotion swirling deep in my chest, I do the same.

How did I get so lucky?

I watch my parents as they finish helping me with my bags, and when we’re done I feel the air change in the room. That’s when I notice my mother’s eyes glistening, and the way dad is griping on the suitcase handle— a little tighter than normal.

Even though they’re clearly excited for me, mostly Mom, I can tell they’re as sad as I am. I try to hold back my tears, but they well up, blurring the sight of my parents’ bittersweet expressions.

Just as the silence thickens making this moment sadder than before, the door to my room bursts open with an exaggerated creak. The three of us turn to look and there stands my Uncle Cianne, dressed in bright yellow, tropical print shorts, a loosewhite shirt covered in palm trees, and oversized shades perched on his nose. He’s holding a pineapple cup, sipping from a straw with a grin so wide it almost splits his face in half.

He looks ready for a beach day.

His Irish accent rings out clear and cheerful, “Let’s go, buttercup. Brazil is waiting.”

His sudden appearance, so out of place and brimming with his easy going attitude, snaps me out of my melancholy. I can’t help but chuckle, my sadness and nerves are momentarily forgotten as I look at him. My crazy uncle even has an inflatable flamingo on his waist.

“Uncle Cianne,” I whisper, trying to hide my smile, “no one makes an entrance quite like you.”

He winks at me and gives a little twirl, the pineapple cup bobbing with each movement. He puts the pineapple cup down and signs. “You know it, my sweets.”

My parents share a glance, a mixture of relief and amusement in their eyes. My mom gives a little laugh and wipes away a tear, while my dad shakes his head, smiling despite himself. “You need to get your head checked, Kelly,” he says, stepping forward to grab the bags. “Let’s get you to Brazil. And remember,” he turns and bops my nose. “One fucking call, yeah?”

“One fucking call, Dad.” I smile wide.

Dad grins before kissing the top of my head. “Atta, girl.”

Then I take one last look at my childhood room and with a deep breath, I follow my parents out the door, ready to embrace the adventures ahead and what life has in store for me this holiday season.

I didn’t know it then but my life was never going to be the same the moment I stepped foot in Brazil because there my happily ever after was waiting.

Him.

Chapter

Two

A DECEMBER TO REMEMBER

Madden

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