She jutted her chin up again. “I’m fine. DJ’s right; it’s been a long time coming. I love Daddy, but I don’t like him very much at the moment. He’s toxic, so we’ll stay away until he sorts himself out.”
“I never wanted this,” I murmured, my gaze swinging from my daughter to my son, and then back again. “For years, I’ve tried to keep the peace and have a relationship with him for your sakes. I’m so sorry I failed.”
“You never failed,” Gabby corrected. “Dad did.”
“You’re more cut up about this than we are,” DJ responded. “I knew two years ago it would come to this eventually. You’verolled over for him too many times. Gabby and I have talked about this, Mom. We’re good.”
“Promise me the trauma of this won’t turn you into little assholes with mommy and daddy issues,” I begged. “I’m not sure I could cope.”
Gabby laughed. “How about I promise you I won’t go off the rails if you agree that we can go shopping for back-to-school stuff this week? Uncle Atlas gave us gift cards yesterday for White Mountain Mall in Rock Springs.”
“He did?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she replied excitedly. “I wanna go to T.J. Maxx and Ulta.”
I grinned. “How about I add to your gift cards and give you both two hundred dollars? You’ve been good kids all summer and helped me out around the house a lot. You deserve a little treat.”
Gabby threw her arms in the air and declared, “Sweet.”
“We should ask Donovan and Imogen to come, too,” DJ suggested. “We could eat out for lunch and get our back-to-school clothes and stuff. Donovan could help me pick out some new tees so I can impress my honeys. He dresses cool and the chicks think he’s hot, so it’ll be good for my rep.”
“Donnyishot,” Gabby agreed. “But so’s Mom. The laws of nature definitely put them together because their hotness quota is fifty-fifty. Oh my God,” she suddenly exclaimed. “Can we go to Rebel and Roots? Their stuff is rad, oh, and that vintage place on North Front Street?”
“We’ll hit the boutiques in town, then head over to the Japanese Steak House at the mall. After that, we can do T.J. Maxx,” I promised.
DJ grabbed his cell. “I’ll call Donovan now.”
The kids started chatting excitedly, all thoughts of their dad and his bullshit suddenly forgotten.
It was a relief that they seemed well-adjusted to what was happening. They’d both taken everything in their stride—which was great—but a tiny part of me knew it would backfire on me.
Evan expected the kids to mind him even though he was in the wrong. He was old school when it came to his children and was of the opinion that kids should always obey their parents, particularly their fathers.
My parenting style was different. I loved having a friendship with my kids, and I cultivated an environment where they knew they could come to me about anything. I told them frequently that there was nothing they could do that would ever stop me from loving them, and they knew I’d always have their backs.
However, I was still the parent, and apart from DJ’s cussing, they respected me and listened when I told them to do something. They were good kids, and I loved them more than life, and if Evan had played ball, I would have happily sacrificed my own pride for them to have a relationship with him.
But what I wouldn’t sacrifice was Gabby and DJ's pride or the way they thought about themselves. The second Rachel hurt Gabby, my gloves came off, and the fight turned dirty. I just hoped that Kennedy’s PI and Colt could find enough to help me, because giving up my kids was not an option.
My ex-husband was crazy if he thought I wouldn’t go down kicking and scratching, because when it came to protecting my kids, I’d fight to the death, even if that fight was against their own father.
—————
“You’re so pretty,”I crooned. “Who’s the prettiest little baby in the whole wide world?”
Imogen beamed up at me from my kitchen counter and yelled, “Gaga!”
Gabby giggled from beside me and corrected, “No. You are. Imogen’s the prettiest baby girl.”
Immie slapped her chest and squealed.
“Who’s the most handsome boy, Immie?” I babbled in a baby voice. “Say Dada. Dada.”
She gave me a beautiful toothy grin and shouted, “Wawa!”
Gabby burst out laughing. “We’d better not tell Donovan that Imogen thinks Wilder’s more handsome than him.”
I gave her big eyes and nodded. “It would break Donovan’s heart so bad he wouldn’t be able to eat his Chinese takeout.”
