"So, whatarewe going to do with Henry?" Liam asked after Donna left.
"I'll try and find a daycare." I sighed. "I guess we'll just leave him with Remy for now."
"That may not be the best idea," Hunter said.
"Why?" I asked. "He obviously can't stay here."
Hunter and Greg exchanged a look.
"What is it? You're keeping something from me. I know it." I looked between my older brothers.
"We didn't want to tell you," Greg began, "because we knew you'd overreact."
"Stop keeping things from me," I hissed.
Hunter looked pained. "Payslee is trying to take Henry back."
I hugged Henry to my chest. "She can't do that!"
"She's his mother," Hunter said, "so legally she could."
"She abandoned him and all of her other children!" I protested. "You need to do something!"
Hunter held up a hand. "I'm working on it," my older brother assured me.
"Work harder." I felt a swell of panic that I usually kept stuffed down. My family was more important than anything. Henry couldn't go back to the compound. I would not allow it. "Henry has to stay with one of us at all times," I insisted.
"That's probably overkill," Greg said.
I shook my head. "He could be snatched. She could take him to South America. We'd never see him again."
"Well, I can't be expected to take care of Henry," Greg said. "He's practically feral."
17
Josie
Two workmen came and swept away the glass and placed some caution tape in the empty frame. I tried not to think about how annoyed Mace was going to be. But his brother, who was the CFO, had told me to work on his presentation. And if I was being honest, making a pretty slide deck was way more fun than organizing a closet.
I was eating cereal out of a bag. It was an off-brand mix called marshmallow wheat loops. Pro tip, you can buy just the marshmallow bits on Amazon and mix them to make marshmallow-heavy cereal. It was a little stale, but beggars can't be choosers. It wasn't like Mace kept the breakrooms stocked with anything tasty.
Garrett walked in.
"I'm not done yet," I told him. "Still working. You can't rush perfection."
Garrett gave me a small smile. "Oh, I'm not here to bug you about that. I know you'll have it done. No, I'm here to watch the fireworks, as they say."
"Cereal?" I offered. We heard Mace coming down the hall. He was talking to someone loudly over the screech of some sort of wild animal. Garrett selected a single shooting-star marshmallow and snapped it between his teeth as Mace grabbed the door handle to his office.
"What the—" he said. Garrett and I watched as Mace paused for a moment and looked between the door, the broken glass pane, and the piles of stuff all over his office.
"It's like Disneyland!" the small child in his arms exclaimed. He wiggled down and took a running leap at a pile of envelopes I had put on the sofa.
"Henry, no!"
"Too late," Garrett remarked as envelopes and labels went flying.
Henry shrieked and made snow angels in the carnage.
