Page 65 of The Wedding Planner's Manny
But Caleb would.
Our boy was sweet and pure and he would forgive his mommy in an instant.
My hands balled into fists.
That moment, I hated Laura so much I was almost a little scared of myself.
I stomped over to the family room, all set to unload my rage on my ex—until the scene I saw in front of the smashed piñata made me freeze. There she was, Laura, sitting on the floor and cradling Caleb in his arms. He'd slung his small arms around her neck, holding on for dear life, and when I entered the room, his eyes snapped to me and he grinned. “Look, Daddy! Mommy's back!” he exclaimed.
I could feel my anger threatening to tear me apart from the inside when I swallowed it down, but I couldn't unleash it. Not now. Not in front of Caleb. I took a deep breath. And then another one.
Unlike a certain someone, I could keep my shit together for my kids.
Caleb didn't need to see his daddy fly at his mommy in a fit of rage. Neither did Nathan, for that matter. I found him standing by the wall, his face betraying absolutely no emotion. He didn't know how to feel, did he? I couldn't blame him. This was a tough situation. I only wished I could have protected him from it. I'd sworn to myself my children would never have to go through the same shit I had, growing up in the warzone between my parents.
And yet, here we were—and my kids were looking to me for cues.
“Laura,” I started, trying my hardest to keep my voice even,calm. I wasn't sure how well I succeeded. “What a surprise to see you back in town.”
She turned to me with a smile that looked just as forced as mine. “In the end, I just missed my boys too much to stay away,” she claimed. “Caleb's grown so much! Look at him!” She kissed his hair and he laughed. “I'm never leaving again!”
Was that right?
Nathan seemed to believe his mother about as much as I did. Wordlessly, he left the room. I wanted to go after him, but then I saw that Rhys did. He was a godsend. I wasn't sure what I would have done without him the past couple of months, and especially today. Knowing that he was around to take care of Nathan took a load off my mind.
“Laura, why don't we go and talk somewhere quiet?” I suggested. “You must have so many stories to tell after all that time you spent away from Oceanport.”Chasing your dreams while I cleaned upyour messes.
Laura stood, but Caleb clung on to her leg when she tried to walk. Of course. “Mommy needs to go talk to Daddy now,” Laura tried, but to no avail. She had no idea the damage she'd caused. I was tempted to just let her deal with it for once, but in the end, I cared about my son more than I cared about petty revenge.
Carefully, I approached Laura and tried to unpeel Caleb's fingers from her leg.
“Nooo!” he screeched the way only four-year-olds about to have temper tantrums could screech. My ears hurt. Still, I weathered on.
“Mommy will be right back okay?”
“No!” He dug his fingers even deeper into Laura's leg. It had to be painful by now. Good. She deserved that.
“How old did you turn this week?” I asked.
“Four!” Caleb responded with a scowl.
“Yes, and at four, you're a big boy now, aren't you?”
“No!” Caleb said again. Yup, we were definitely reverting back to a time when 'no' was his favorite word in the whole wide world.
“You have to let go now, Caleb,” I said firmly.
“No!” Caleb insisted, burying his face in his mother's leg so he didn't have to look at me.
“Is he always like this?” Laura asked, glancing down at him.
I swear I was this close to slapping her. I might have, if I hadn't been so busy keeping my heart from breaking for my son. “C'mon now, buddy,” I said, applying a little more force in my next attempt to unwrap him from his mommy. “You can have a whole ice cream cake to yourself later if you're good now.”
“I don't want ice cream! I want Mommy!”
“You can have Mommy. Mommy's not going anywhere. Isn't that right?” I shot Laura a sharp look.Seewhat you've done?
She reached down to pat Caleb's hair. “Mommy only needs a few minutes, darling. Is that okay?”
