Page 33 of Steadfast

“Perfect.”

We took the kids to the park that day and almost every day after it that summer. Sometimes when I had to work on the weekends, Richie would even stop by the store to switch cars with me so he could bring the kids on his own. It was practically idyllic. It had been years in the making, but that first summer after high school really solidified our little unit.

Richie’s new job started at seven in the morning, he didn’t get home until four-thirty, and two nights a week he had to go to night school, but we got creative planning how to see each other when our schedules worked out. He came over most nights after the kids were in bed, and as we fell asleep, he’d tell me all about the guys he worked with and the different things they were teaching him. He loved his new job so much and listening to him was usually the highlight of my day.

Cian’s birthday barreled toward me like a freight train as I scrounged money together so I could get him some gifts. He reallyneededsome new clothes for school, but I wanted him to have something he reallywanted, too, so I’d been eyeballing a skateboard in one of the little shops near my work. I was pretty sure I’d be able to swing it as long as I scrimped on groceries for a week or two.

Mom kept her shit mostly together, and she didn’t leave again for more than a night. There were no more outbursts or comments about me and Richie having sex. For the most part, she kept to herself, and we were grateful for it.

I started feeling happy. Hopeful even. Things were going well. Steady. Consistent.

I knew it couldn’t last, but I don’t think any of us could’ve imagined how quickly things would go sideways. It was almost embarrassing to admit how blindsided we were.

CHAPTER 6

Aoife

“We’ll be backsoon,” I murmured into the phone as Richie and I walked through the grocery store.

“Saoirse says to tell you that Aisling’s ear hurts, and we’re out of kid’s ibuprofen.”

“Shit. I hope it goes away on its own.”

“Same.”

“Do we need anything else while I’m here?”

“Pack of smokes?”

“Dream on, loser.”

“Mom left her purse here,” Cian muttered to himself.

“She did?”

“Yeah, she was talking to Aunt Ashley on the phone and must’ve forgotten it. You know how they are. Why the fuck she calls her, I will never understand. She took off an hour after you left.”

“Well, brace yourself because I’m sure she’ll eventually realize she forgot it.”

“Yeah, if she can’t find some loser to buy her drinks,” he scoffed and hung up.

I stuffed my phone back in my pocket.

“Everything good?” Richie asked, looking up from where he was leaning on the cart. I loved when he met me after work, but it always took twice as long to get any shopping done.

“Aisling’s ear is bothering her,” I replied with a grimace. “I need to get some pain reliever.”

“That sucks.” He followed along behind me as I hurried up the aisle. “Hopefully she’s feeling better before we head to the river.”

“No kidding.”

“So, we’ve got the cake shit and the picnic shit,” he mused, hurrying to catch me. “Anything else?”

I pulled the medicine off the shelf.

“Just drinks.”

The kids were going to go nuts when they saw what I brought home. I rarely kept snacks in the house because they were usually gone so fast that it felt like a waste of money. While I’d love for the kids to be able to just grab something and go…we really didn’t have the money for them to eat stuff just because they were bored. It was depressing, but food that had to be assembled into something edible was far better than no food at all—which is what would happen if we went over budget and ran out before my next paycheck.

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