Page 12 of Steadfast

The kids were finally out of school for summer break, the fridge and cupboards were filled with groceries that I knew would be decimated long before I was ready to go shopping again, and Richie had come over to hang with us for the day when we finally got a knock on the front door.

“Shit,” I muttered, freezing as I glanced toward the door.

“Might not be her,” Richie murmured, wrapping his long fingers around the back of my neck consolingly.

“It better fucking be,” I replied, pulling away as I headed for the door. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep Mandy home. “Mom!” I yelled. “There’s someone at the door!”

My heart thudded in my chest as my mom came out of her room, thankfully fully dressed with brushed hair and lipstick. Running my eyes over her, I held back a grimace. She didn’t look good, she hadn’t in a long time, but at least she was sober.

“Well, open it,” she said, her tone completely neutral.

“Hi,” Judy said, smiling that fake smile at me again. “I came by last week—”

“Yeah, I remember,” I replied. “You want to talk to my mom?”

“Is she available?” Judy asked, a thread of…something behind her words.

“Mom, it’s for you,” I said, swinging the door open wide.

As Mom greeted the social worker, I went straight to the kitchen. I’d planned ahead, knowing Judy would be back. I didn’t want the kids anywhere near that woman. Reaching into the back of the spice cupboard, I pulled out the bag that I’d hidden there.

“Water balloons!” Ronan yelled, completely oblivious to what was happening in the living room. “Where did those come from?”

“Take them out back?” I asked Richie, handing him the bag of water balloons.

“No problem,” he said, kissing my head. “Let’s go, jokers!” he called out.

The younger two ran out the back slider, but Saoirse and Cian stubbornly kept their places at the table.

“Please,” I said quietly, looking between them. “I don’t want her to even look at you.”

Saoirse immediately got to her feet, glumly following Richie out back, but Cian remained seated.

“Cian.”

“The fuck is she gonna do?” he asked, scowling toward the living room.

“Hopefully nothing,” I replied, stepping closer. “Don’t give her a reason, yeah?”

He swore under his breath and got up. “Keep an eye on her?”

“I will.”

With a nod, he went outside, closing the slider behind him.

My hands were shaking, but I’d already left Mandy alone too long with the woman who could completely upend our lives, so I strode back into the living room like I didn’t have a care in the world.

“—you understand why there’d be some concern,” Judy was saying to Mom, perched at the edge of the couch. “Of course I’m sure your oldest is very responsible, but leaving an eighteen-year-old to take care of four children for long periods of time is a recipe for disaster—as we have seen from the reports of your youngest on the roof.”

I didn’t correct her that Ronanwasn’tthe youngest. The less she knew about us, the better.

“Aoife isn’t the parent here,” Mom said so firmly that I almost believed her. “I am, and I’m perfectly capable of parenting my own children.”

“Yes, well—”

“I’ve spoken with Ronan about climbing out his window, and it won’t happen again,” Mom continued. She shrugged nonchalantly, and my mouth almost dropped open in surprise. She was playing the part so well. “He has a bit of an obsession with astronomy, so we’ve agreed that a telescope in the backyard is a far safer way to look at the stars.”

The bullshit was so thick I could taste it. Ronan didn’t give a shit about the stars. The kid was an adrenaline junkie. He climbed onto the roof because it was high and dangerous. I watched on in amazement as my mom played her part perfectly. Part of me didn’t want it to end because it was as if I was watching the mother I’d had before Dad died. The one who was present and supportive and fucking normal.

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