To Be Careless Is to Be Reckless

Lexi

I was sitting at the bar in my kitchen, staring into my cup of coffee as if it could tell me the future. Hailey was next to me, rubbing my back, waiting for me to talk again.

"My kids hate me," I said.

"No, they don't."

"Yeah, Hails, they do. They hate me for loving their father and bringing him back into their lives. Nicky doesn't even want to live with me anymore. Destiny won't talk to me. And, I haven't heard from Frank in almost three weeks. I mean, my life is like a damn soap opera. Sometimes I wish we could all go back and do it all over again, but without making all the mistakes."

"If we didn't make mistakes, we'd never learn," Hailey pointed out.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't have to suffer like this, either."

I took a long drink from my mug.

"Honey, have you heard from Nicky?"

Tears pricked at my eyes. I hadn't. Not for almost three weeks as well. I missed my son terribly.

"No," I said, my voice cracking.

Then I fell apart. I started crying, holding on to my best friend for dearl ife.

"I don't know what to do, Hailey! What do I do?!"

She took my face in her hands and looked me in the eyes.

"This is what you do. You march over to your mother's house. You drag him back here, and you sit your kids down. You tell them that YOU are their mother, and that you know what's best for them, and that if you really thought Frank would hurt them again, he wouldn't be anywhere near you guys. AND, if they don't like it, well... they can go suck an egg. Got it?"

I laughed and nodded. Once again, Hailey was right.