Her clothes are overtaking our walk-in and her closet in her old room. We already use the spare bedroom upstairs as a second closet for Gracie, but I think we’ll have to make some changes soon and turn her old room into a closet also.Freakingwomen and their clothes.At this rate, we’ll have to buy a bigger house if they keep buying stuff.
“You’ll see,” I tell her with a smirk as I stop in front of the closed door.
I step to the side, letting her open it. She grabs the handle, glancing my way before twisting the knob and pushing it open. She gasps loudly, a hand flying over her gaping mouth. She quickly walks into the room, her eyes flicking all over the place as she takes it all in.
“Oh my God! Greyson!” Her hands shoot in every direction, pointing to things with a gasp every time. “This is… I don’t even have words for it. I can’t believe you did this for me!” She finally spots the sign up on the wall. “Ahh! That’s our logo! How did you get it done? Oh! It’s so beautiful!”
She stands in the middle of the room, arms stretched wide as she spins in a circle, squealing and laughing. Too many emotions blow from her body to be contained. After a few more turns, she stops and does a little happy dance. “CECILIA!!! Come see! Come see!”
She laughs with the brightest smile I’ve ever seen, then notices the pictures on the wall. She rushes up to them and her laughter stops. A soft smile touches her lips as she passes her fingers over the pictures of us and the gang. Then she looks to the other side, as if she knows where the centerpiece is and wants to keep it for the end. She giggles at the ridiculous photo of all the girls together but stops when her fingertips trace over the one with her grandfather. I hear her sniffle, her eyes getting that shiny, glassy look.
“Where did you get this one?” she asks quietly.
“Your dad gave it to me.”
She nods and smiles sadly. “I remember this day. It was one of the rare times my dad joined us on one of our adventures. My mom had promised me a big birthday party with all my friends.Every year I had one, but my friends were never allowed, only adults, because she claimed kids would ruin the house.” She shakes her head.
“That was the first time she told me I could invite them. I was so excited. I crafted homemade cards and delivered them to all my friends at school. The day of my birthday, I was expecting to wake up with the house fully decorated. I had gotten all dressed and pretty for the occasion.” She smiles again, like she’s remembering it all.
“But when I got downstairs, I found my mother on the phone with not a single decoration in sight. She was calling all my friends’ parents and telling them the party was canceled because she claimed to have a headache.” She laughs sarcastically.
“A headache that magically went away the minute she was off the phone. She got mad at me for inviting so many people because it meant she had to talk to a whole bunch of people that weren’t worthy of her time. Then she got up, took her purse, and left for the day.”
A tear rolls down her cheek and I quickly catch it, then bring my hand to her nape and gently stroke her skin. “My dad had already left for the day, so it was just me and the staff. They felt so bad for me that they kept making me special treats. Cookies, cupcakes, they even made me a cake. Because no, my mother hadn’t even gotten me one.” Emma lets out a breath.
“They tried hard to make me feel better, but nothing was working. I had just turned eight. Eight years old, and both my parents didn’t care enough about me to get me a cake.” Her voice cracks at the end as more tears spill. “A fucking cake.”
She looks at me with a small smile, but it’s not genuine. I can see it in her eyes how much that day affected her, still affects her. “Anyway, I ended up crying in my room the rest of the day. My dad came home earlier than usual, wanting to surprise me and show up for the party before everyone left.” A bit of light comesback to her eyes, and I know we’re heading to how this picture came to be.
“He was confused when he found me in my room. He didn’t even know my mom had canceled and left me alone. I could tell he was furious, but he tried to keep a happy face for me. He promised he would turn the day around and told me to get up and get dressed. Next thing I knew, we were picking up my grandfather and heading to a fair a few towns over.” Now her smile turns real.
“We did all the rides and ate all the junk food my mother would never let me have.” She laughs. “I even threw up after eating too much sugar, but it was all worth it. The day had started off as the worst, but my dad turned it into the best. I know he wasn’t always present and was far from the greatest dad a child could have growing up, but I also know how hard he tried. And every time I doubted his love for me, I remembered this day. It’s one of my happiest memories.”
Once she finishes her heartbreaking story, she moves on to the next and final frame. “Aww… Wolf.” She turns to face me, new tears in her eyes, but these are happy ones. “I didn’t even know you kept it.”
“There was no way I could get rid of it.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I love it. I love all of it. Thank you.” She lifts onto her toes and kisses me, hands cupping my cheeks.
When we pull apart, we notice everyone standing by the door, waiting for our moment to end before interrupting. And by the looks on their faces, they’ve been standing there for a while and heard what Emma’s childhood was like.
“Honey, add Elaine to my hit list. Right. Now,” Cecilia says through her teeth with raging anger.
“Minnie, your hit list is at home. I can’t exactly add to it right this moment,” Silas tells her, which earns him a glare from his wife.
“Then put a reminder in your phone!” she barks back at him, then turns to us with a smile like she didn’t just talk about planning on murdering people.I’m starting to think all women are a little crazy in some way.
“Can we move her to the top of that hit list? Because I’m feeling some pent-up energy after hearing that story, and I could really unleash it on someone just about now,” Ronnie adds, looking pissed off.
“We could help you with that pent-up energy if you’d like, Vixen,” Gabe says, throwing his arm over her shoulder with a wink.
“Pretty Boy, now is not the time,” is all she tells him but doesn’t shrug him off.Hmm, interesting. Maybe they’re finally wearing her down.
“She’s right, though. I kind of want to go punch that woman in the face and then spit in her tea.”
We all stare in shock at Mira’s comment. Cecilia giggles behind her hand while Silas looks like he’s about to have a heart attack.
“Mom!”
