Page 3 of Our Lips Are Sealed
The other children scattered, spreading far and wide in every direction. Their screeches carried on the wind, making Rebecca flinch. She hustled down the lane, shuffling as fast as the pain would allow and was almost out of sight when Livy came skipping over.
“Hey, Mama.”
Her oldest was still the prettiest little thing. Beautiful in every way. “Go on. You don’t want to get caught.”
Livy jogged along beside her. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” Louder screams of terror sounded when the play shifted, and Samuel was chosen to be ‘it’ in their game of tag. “You better run.”
“Okay.” Livy gave her a peck on the cheek and jogged off to rejoin the others, her blond curls bouncing as she went. “Happy Fourth of July, Mama!”
Rebecca remained where she was, taking a second to admire her daughter. She missed the girl sometimes. Missed being her Mama.
“Ladies do not raise their own children,” Charlie had told her whenever she wanted to have Livy come stay in the cottage with them. “Ms. Maudie brought up my brothers and me, and now it’s Simone’s turn to raise mine. This is how things are done.”
Watching Livy go, a wave of nausea hit, and Rebecca continued walking, wanting to sleep until this part had passed. Hopefully, Charlie would leave her alone and let her rest.
More children rushed in front of her, forcing her to stop again when they crossed the path.
“Hurry, Toby!” Evie dragged Rebecca’s second child behind her with Samuel hot on their heels. “Run faster.”
Tobias panted and puffed, not making much of an effort to keep up. While Livy remained as perfect as the day she was born, Rebecca’s other two were rotten, with her son being the worst. He was nothing but a sniveling brat that needed a good ass beating more often than not.
Rebecca might miss playing mama to Livy, but the very idea of being around Tobias and Cecilia kept her in the cottages, far away from her offspring.
Samuel caught sight of Tobias struggling and zeroed in on the easy victory. But in a move too fast for Rebecca’s mind to register, Evie spun off to the side, tripping the older boy and giving Tobias a chance to get away.
Samuel fell face first to the ground with a great thud, but didn’t stay down for long. His black head lifted, and he glared at Evie with murder in his eyes. “You’re going to pay for that, cheater.”
Pumping her knees high, Evie ran backwards. “You’ll have to catch me first,” she teased, forming an L on her forehead with her fingers. “Loser.”
The girl jetted off, with Samuel right behind her, leaving Tobias with Rebecca.
“She saved me.”
“Learn how to save yourself.” Beyond disgusted with her son, Rebecca clucked her tongue. “Thank goodness your father didn’t see what just happened.”
“I’m sorry, Mama.”
Hanging his head, Tobias clenched his meaty fists. He was already twice the size of other children his age from eating all the damn time.
“Don’t be sorry, be better.”
A scream of defeat pierced the air, followed by male cheering.
“Tag, you’re it, Evie,” Samuel howled in triumph and ran as the girl chased him with a vengeance.
From under one of the weeping willows, Jamison sat on a blanket in the shade, clapping at her sibling’s shenanigans. Rebecca still couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that Laura Jean had allowed herself to fall so low. Wanting Ben for sex was one thing, but becoming just another mother in his endless chain of women was entirely different.
Everyone liked to look down their noses at Charlie, but at least all his children had the same mother.
“Go play, Tobias,” Rebecca sighed, skirting past her son. “I don’t have time for your bullshit today.”
Thankfully, she arrived at the cottage without any further interactions and went inside to hear Charlie hollering her name.
“Where the hell did you run off to?” he yelled, coming out of the bedroom in his underwear. “I’ve been calling your name for like ten minutes.”
She shut the door and set her purse down. “The hospital.”
