Page 10 of Break the Rule
“You’d be surprised where I can fit, Ella Bella.”
Ella giggles, scooting backwards and spreading her small legs wide as she lowers her stuffed pig onto the peeling floor in front of her, watching as Eden slowly extracts himself from the pantry. The only reason he was able to fit inside is because he’s running low on the cases of cup-o-soup he usually stores there.
“You found him,” Addy announces, walking into the kitchen with a warm smile. “That means it’s time to get ready for bed, Ella.”
“I don’t wanna go to bed,” Ella whines, crawling into Eden’s lap. “I want my Eden.”
“Your Eden has to go to work,” Addy reminds her.
Eden wraps his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. “How about I read you your bedtime story before I leave?”
“Don’t you need to do your makeup?” Addy asks. “I can do her bedtime story.”
“I don’t want you, Momma. I want my Eden.”
“I see who the favorite is,” Addy laughs.
Something tightens in Eden’s chest, making him want to hide back in that pantry. He’s lived with Addy since Ella was born, yet not a day goes by where he doesn’t remember what it was like before.
Before he knew some people didn’t leave. Before he was ever anyone’s favorite. Before he had anyone to love. Before anyone lovedhim.
“Come on, Ella. Let’s brush your teeth and put on your bonnet, and then Eden can read you a book. If he has time.”
“I have time,” Eden lies, knowing he needs at least thirty minutes to do his makeup the way he likes but also willing to forgo it for a few extra minutes with Ella. She might not be his by blood, but she’s his family—her and Addy both—and he would sacrifice anything for them. Including his much needed pre-work makeup routine.
“Promise to read to me?” Ella asks, tipping her head back on Eden’s chest.
Her big brown eyes are so wide, so trusting, that Eden would promise her the entire goddamn world if he had it. As it is, the most he can do is take on extra shifts to help Addy cover the bills, including Ella’s private preschool, and story time.
“I promise.”
She nods, her tiny face screwed up in an expression far too serious for a four-year-old. “I get to pick the book.”
“Sure thing, jelly bean.”
“I’m not a jelly bean,” she huffs, her indignance turning to laughter when Addy scoops her up off the floor.
“Let’s give Eden some time to get ready for work tonight while we do your bedtime routine, then you can have your Eden.”
“But it’s too early,” Ella whines.
“You go to bed at seven, love,” Addy says. Despite knowing what a good mom she is, sometimes it catches Eden off guard when Ella is whining or being, well, a normal little kid, and doesn’t get in trouble for it the way he would have. Sure, Eden had been a difficult kid, but it wasn’t until he watched Addy be a mom that he learned it was still the responsibility of the adults in his life to love him regardless. “We don’t want you to miss out on Eden reading to you, do we?”
“No, Momma. I’ll go,” she says, chattering excitedly about story time while she’s carried to the bathroom. She does more to energize Eden than the energy drink he chugs or last of his cup-o-soup he all but inhales, choking on the generous amount of hot sauce he added.
“That is not a meal,” Addy says, eying the trash from Eden’s dinner on the kitchen island where he stood and ate. There is a perfectly good table in the dining nook, but Eden can only manage that when Ella is around, his desire to create stable memories around food the only thing that can trump his own messy history with meal times and family meals. Or lack thereof.
“Seriously, this is your third energy drink today,” Addy says, smashing the can then tossing it in the plastic shopping bag under the sink where they collect their recycling. Once a month they walk it over the recycling center and use the money to get Ella an ice cream cone. “Those are going to kill you one day.”
“Not soon enough,” he replies with a grin.
“Some of us would like you around for a very long time, including the little girl waiting in her bed for ‘her Eden’to read to her. I swear to shit, you might as well have hung the moon.”
“I am pretty awesome,” Eden smirks.
“If only you believed all the things you say,” Addy says, smoothing Eden’s hair back. “This is the longest I’ve ever seen it on you. It looks good.”
I thought you said we were getting a boy. Look at his hair, he looks like a girl. Make sure to cut it shorter, he looks too feminine.
