Page 113 of Choosing a Forever
KC rears back like I’ve slapped him. “What, why? What did I do?”
“It’s not about you. My parents—” My voice catches, and I feel the onslaught of tears waiting to burst out of me. I won’t cry in front of him or his friends. I shake my head, and KC mumbles something I can’t hear.
I move around the apartment, gathering my things and tossing them into the large rolling suitcases that have held basically my entire life these past five years.
I dial Lizzie as I move, regurgitating everything the officer told me. She doesn’t tell me everything will be okay,because she knows it would be a lie. But she tells me she’s here for me in whatever way I need her.
I don’t look back when I pull away from the complex. It shouldn’t have been that easy to pack up my entire life, but I guess it’s a blessing in disguise.
If God exists, he can go fuck himself if it’s the only blessing he has for me right now.
I told Talmage to schedule lunch with his parents sooner rather than later, so we could get it over with.
I’m still a little wary of Laurie, but she wasn’t outright mean to me on Sunday, and I know having a relationship with his parents is important to Tal, so I’m going to try.
We scheduled lunch for Saturday, and the morning of—my period starts. I’m used to the debilitating cramps and nausea, and usually I can go on with my day but not before I’ve had pain meds.
I’m curled up in the fetal position, my insides feeling like they’re trying to burst out of me when Tal comes in from taking Siren out for her morning walk.
“Good morning, I—hey, what’s wrong?” He rushes over to the bed, sitting down in front of me and putting the back of his hand to my forehead.
“Nothing,” I croak, but my voice comes out strained. “I just… I started my period, and I’m in a bit of pain. I just need some medicine, and I’ll be fine.”
Tal frowns. “I’ll cancel lunch. I don’t want you to go if you’re sick.”
I shake my head. “I’m not sick, just in pain. Nothing I haven’t dealt with before. Besides, your mom already hates me. I don’t want to cancel at the last minute and have her hate me even more.”
“My mom will have to deal with it. I don’t… tell me how to take care of you.”
I sit up, wincing when my back twinges. “I’ll be okay, I promise. We have to leave at eleven thirty, right?”
Tal’s lips thin, and I can tell he doesn’t believe me.Idon’t believe me, but I refuse to let this be a mark against me with his mom. I’ve suffered through work meetings and parent conferences with severe cramps, I can handle lunch with his mother.
“Let me get you some pain meds and your coffee. You’ll need to take it with food, so what do you want for breakfast?”
“I can—”
“I know you can take care of yourself, but you’ve been taking care of everyone else for so long, you deserve to be taken care of. Let me take care of you.”
I sigh. “You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you?”
“Nope.”
“Okay. Do we have any more of those cookies and cream overnight oats?”
“You’re in luck, we have one left unless the twins got to it first.”
When I’m on my period, I have a hard time figuring out what I want to eat because food rarely sounds appetizing. I have a rotation of five foods I can stomach,and those oats are the only thing that sounds remotely palatable for breakfast. I’ll probably cry if one of the twins ate them.
Tal helps me up the stairs, rubbing soothing circles into my back as we go. I should ask him if he’d be willing to give me a massage later.
Kinsley and Harper are at the counter with their own breakfasts—cereal, thank God—and Tal instructs me to sit on a stool while he reheats my oats for me. While the bowl is in the microwave, he mixes up the instant espresso I use for my coffee and makes me an iced vanilla latte.
“When did you learn to make that?” Kinsley asks around a spoonful of cereal.
Talmage shrugs. “I pay attention. I wanted to know how my wife likes her coffee, so I learned.”
“Ugh. You guys are so sweet you’re going to make Harp’s blood sugar spike.” Kinsley rolls her eyes, but her smile betrays her disgust. For all her sass, I think she’s happy for me—forus.Having Talmage as part of our family makes it feel less lonely than it was before. He doesn’t replace our parents, but he adds something to our little family we were missing.
