Page 118 of Love Complicated

He’d planned this for a while. Maybe even since they had gotten together. And what, he just thought, I’ll tell the boys, and everything will be fine? They’ll be happy to pick up their lives every other weekend and move to a different town with people they don’t know and a house they’ve never seen?

For a brief instant, I contemplate how to reply because my heart hurts. Not because I still love him. Not because I care that they’re having a baby. My heart hurts for the changes he’s making to the boys’ life without even considering them.

I inhale a deep breath, letting the air fill my lungs. And that’s when I hear, “You’re moving?”

Austin and I turn to see the boys standing in the hallway, both with entirely different expressions. It’s Grady’s expression that catches me off guard. My usually quiet son is scowling at his father, his arms crossed over his chest.

I need air, something other than these four walls and the nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. My feet are soundless as I stand, taking a step toward Grady.

Grady’s standing there, tiny fists balled up. His jaw is tense, and his lips press into a thin line. My heart pounds, breaths tight and constricted. He looks at me, then Austin, a jerky movement. “What did you say?”

Austin’s chest expands with his breath, and his words are gentler than he uses with me. “I’m moving to San Francisco.”

I look to Cash. He always reacts first. What feels like a thousand scenarios rush through my head, my legs feel shaky.

Cash rolls his eyes. He’s holding his anger back and sighs, walking down the hall to his bedroom with no reaction at all.

Grady, he has an entirely different reaction. “We matter!” he screams in Austin’s face, his face red, pushing him away from him. “I hate you! You’re so mean!”

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