Eternally Unorthodox: The Arcane Gods Book 3 by Charlie Nottingham

Author:Charlie Nottingham [Nottingham, Charlie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-09-16T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jeremy

Brody, Hannah, Kai, and Jenna all met up with us for dinner. I wished Laila would’ve come, but I figured it was nice for her to get a break. It was nice to be with the kids too. I didn’t get to talk with Mom all that much between cleaning up the food Milly kept tossing to the floor and Micah’s obnoxious chatter. One way or the other though, it was nice.

As I watched Mom play peek-a-boo with Mills, I thought about how just over a year from this moment, she’d be getting submerged six feet in the ground. This would be so hard on them. They’d grow so attached to her. Then Laila and I would have to sit them down and explain that she died. Micah and Milly would both ask why we didn’t save her, and what would we say?

Would we tell them the truth? That she wouldn’t let us? That she was content to die? That she was okay with leaving us behind? With not only abandoning all of us, but abandoning our kids too?

The more I thought about it, the further my joyous smile became forced. It left me thinking just as I had the night before.

What was the point? Why were we doing this to ourselves? We were breaking our own hearts, and our children’s in the process.

By the time the checks came, I was good and damn ready to leave. And for Mom to drive home with Hannah and Kai.

***

I peeked into the bedroom when we got home. Laila was passed out with a bag of saltines on her chest, a half-drunk bottle of ginger ale against her hip, and One Tree Hill playing on the box TV in the corner. I couldn’t help but chuckle. She was adorable.

Nevertheless, it was just after eight. Time to get the kids bathed and into bed. That took me to nine. And thankfully, Mom was nowhere in sight.

Once I’d gotten both Micah and Milly to sleep, I started downstairs to pack the kids’ lunches. But I stopped at the top of the staircase. I’d have to walk through the living room where Mom was sleeping to get to the kitchen. So I turned back around and headed to the bedroom.

As the door creaked open, Tinkerbell hopped from the bed, ran past me, and trotted into Micah’s room. The shift of weight on the bed made Laila stir, but she stayed asleep. I kinda wanted to wake her to talk about the day, but she looked so burned out this afternoon.

Instead, I walked to the dresser, pulled out a pair of sweats, stepped out of my jeans, and tossed them to the hamper in the corner. I changed into the comfy pants and pulled off my shirt. I started to walk to the bed.

“Uh-uh,” Frank said in the bathroom doorway.

I jumped back. My hand flew to my chest.

He laughed. “We had a deal, pal. You gotta catch me up on everything.”

My head rolled back. “Can we talk in the morning, man? I’m tir—”

“No.

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