Hunker Down with the McKallisters: A Cake Series Novella by J. Bengtsson

Author:J. Bengtsson [Bengtsson, J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781949975178
Publisher: JBengtssonBooks
Published: 2020-10-13T23:00:00+00:00

I found my mother sitting atop an upside-down utility bucket, sobbing.

“Shelby? What’s wrong?”

“Stop calling me Shelby!” She halted her bawling long enough to snap at me. “I’m your mother.”

I took a step back. Technically, yes, she was, but my whole life she’d insisted I call her Shelby. What had changed since we’d parted ways last night, after watching that episode of Naked and Afraid?

“I gave birth to you!” she screamed.

In a toilet, I wanted to remind her, but wisely kept that to myself.

“I nurtured you!”

Aside from the few times she’d rolled over on me in her sleep, she’d never really been much of a cuddler.

“And… and…,” she sniffled. “I kept you safe from harm.”

Well, now—that was just a stretch. She did pull me out of that manhole once, but I’d argue she was the reason I’d fallen into it in the first place. I mean, who rides a bike with an unrestrained baby on her lap?

“I tried, Indy. I really did. I tried to be a mother, but I wasn’t cut out for it.” The sobbing intensified. What was happening? Had Shelby been possessed by a poltergeist? I glanced at my wide-eyed cousin Bucky, non-verbally insisting he call the exorcist I was sure he, or someone in the family, had on speed dial, but he just shrugged and grabbed another bottle of beer from his utility belt.

Shaking my head, I focused my attention back on Shelby.

“Okay, Mom,” I said. If placating her meant using her biological title, that was what I’d do. “What’s wrong?”

“I want to take it back,” she cried, smearing tears with the back of her hand. “I want to take all of it back.”

“I’m so lost. Can we back up? What started this?”

“You, Indiana Jones… and Rocky. I should have been a better mother to you. And your sisters.” She laughed miserably. “Do you know I haven’t seen them in over ten years? I’m not even sure how old they are.”

My god. The woman was serious. Shelby was… no, my mother was showing her first signs of remorse in her forty plus years of life. Who said miracles couldn’t happen? I’d been waiting to hear these words my whole life, if only to throw them back in her face. But looking at her tear-streaked cheeks and seeing her so broken changed my mind. Shelby might have been a colossal fuck-up as a parent, but she was my fuck up… and I chose to forgive.

“If you want, I can try and broker a meeting between you and the girls.”

Shelby jerked her head up. “You know them?”

“I do. They reached out to me a few years ago. Buttercup goes by the name Jana now. She’s twenty-three. And Leia just turned twenty-one.”

Shelby nodded, years of selfish denial catching up with her. “Do you think they would see me?”

“I’m not gonna lie. They have some abandonment issues. But they’re curious. I think once Rocky gets better, maybe we should all plan a meeting.”

Shelby dropped her head into her hands. “Oh god, Rocky.

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