‹ Prequel: Uncle Good Riddance
Daddy Cool
2.
I managed to drag my tired ass out of bed at 7am Monday morning. I didnt specifically need to get up, or neither did I really want to get out of my king-size memory foam that I absolutely ADORE. I just know, from experience, is that I sleep in, the whole house does which means nothing gets done and the kids don't get to school or their summer jobs. I knocked tentatively on Willow's purple patterned door to her room, walking in on tip toes.
“Time to get up sweetie. Don't want to be late for work, eh?” I opened her curtains, letting the sweet California sun shine in. She groaned under her covers. “I'll have some breakfast ready for you, go shower.” I left her to do her thing and went in the kitchen to fix her favourite, pancakes and blueberries.
45 minutes later, Willow's breakfast was cold, and she still hadn't arrived in the kitchen. I raced up the stairs, she had to be at work for 8:30, and it was a 10minute car ride. If she wasn't up now, she was going to be late. I knocked at the shut door and went in.
Just as I had expected, Willow was still in bed.
“Willow, its quarter to 8, you have work at half8. Get up now, please.” I asked sternly as I could. She turned over, facing away from me. “Willow. I won't tell you again.”
“Mom...” She groaned. “I'm not going in, I'm quitting.” I sat down on her bed as she turned back to face me.
“Why are you quitting? You can't quit!” I brushed her hair off her face. Even after all these years, she was still my beautiful baby girl. She was really the most vulnerable of all my children and tore at my heart strings to see any of them upset. She looked up at me.
“You quit everything, you told us so yourself!”
“Willow, that's different. I had no motivation, I had no desire to do anything with my life.”
“And you landed on your feet when Grandma sent you away to Uncle Billie's and you met Dad, had us and made an excellent life living on dad's coat tails.” She yawned. I was shocked. Willow was never strongly opininated. Freya, on the other hand, would spit out this sort of stuff on a daily rant about how unfair her life is. Willow looked straight at me. I couldn't speak for a moment before I regained my train of thoughts.
“Willow, I know your tired but you wanted this job, you asked me and your father to allow you to work so you can be independent.” I brushed some more of her blonde hair out of her face.
“Will you stop doing that?!” She pushed my hand away. I stood u0p.
“Okay, Willow, you win. I'll phone in sick for you today, but tomorrow your going whether you like it or not. If you want to quit after two weeks, I'll allow it.” I walked out of her room, shutting the door behind her. Grabbing the phone from the table on the landing, I dialled Willow's work, a small family-run grocery store and made excuses before I took myself back to bed for a well earned nap.
“Wakey-wakey!” I heard Tre's singsong voice woke me up, bringing me to reality. I felt his strong arms hold me close to his chest.
“What time is it?” I asked, sleepily.
“It's nearly quarter to 11, sleeping beauty.” Tre kissed my forehead tenderly. I woke up slowly, Tre holding me to his chest and kissing me softly every so often.
“Bo, I really want to talk to you about something, and well, perfect timing this actually.” He sounded nervous.
“Where are the kids?” I asked, trying to wake up properly.
“As far as I know, Freya's gone out, Willow is sleeping away happily and Raiden is in the garage practising.” Tre answered easily. Something told me, he had almost picked this moment.
“Did you know Willow wants to quit her job?” I rolled over, stretching out in the bed and propping up the pillows so we could talk in bed, sat next to each other, cuddled up.
“Really? Why?” Tre's arm found me easily as he mirrored me, sat up against pillows.
“I don't know, she was really mean to me.” I tried to explain what had happened between us to him.
“That's not like Willow, perhaps she'll talk to her daddy.” I knew he was trying to be nice.
“Are you saying she doesn't like her own mother?!” I shot at him, sitting upright away from him in outrage.
“Bodaceia, listen to yourself. Who went through years of hating their mother for no reason?” He looked at me sternly. It made me feel like a child. I shrugged. “Great answer.” Tre pulled my body back into his chest.
“You had something to talk about anyway?” I asked him.
“Uhm,.. yeah... it can wait.” He sounded scared and nervous.
“Tre, tell me.” I leant up on his chest, staring into those gorgeous eyes of his.
“Okay, well, the thing is... Ah god it's really difficult to bring up.” He sighed heavily.
“Please, come on, it's me.”
“Bo, I want another child, listen to me before you jump to an decision. Think about how much fun we had raising our babies! I mean, we had the best time when they were younger and watching them grow up is priceless.” I stared at him, opened mouth in shock.
“Tre, you can not be serious.”
“Bodaceia, listen. Our children are everything to us right? And the fact is, I do want another son. Don't you think another little boy will make our family complete?” I stared at him, before getting up out of bed. “Bo, where are you going?”
“To think. Alone.” I pulled on my kimono and locked myself in our en-suite bathroom, running a bath rather noisily.
Another child? Was he out of his mind? Of course, I completely adored my children and couldn't imagine life without them. But to pop another out? Freya, Willow and Raiden were conceived pretty close to each other, there aren't too many years between them all to make them able to relate to each other and get along reasonably well. 12 years between our youngest now and the next baby And that's only if I got pregnant right now. No, I couldn't imagine it. I would have been mortified if my mother had gotten pregnant when I was 13, I won't put my children through that. Especially with them all deciding to hate me anyway.
I settled into my hot bath and tried to relax my thoughts away.
“Time to get up sweetie. Don't want to be late for work, eh?” I opened her curtains, letting the sweet California sun shine in. She groaned under her covers. “I'll have some breakfast ready for you, go shower.” I left her to do her thing and went in the kitchen to fix her favourite, pancakes and blueberries.
45 minutes later, Willow's breakfast was cold, and she still hadn't arrived in the kitchen. I raced up the stairs, she had to be at work for 8:30, and it was a 10minute car ride. If she wasn't up now, she was going to be late. I knocked at the shut door and went in.
Just as I had expected, Willow was still in bed.
“Willow, its quarter to 8, you have work at half8. Get up now, please.” I asked sternly as I could. She turned over, facing away from me. “Willow. I won't tell you again.”
“Mom...” She groaned. “I'm not going in, I'm quitting.” I sat down on her bed as she turned back to face me.
“Why are you quitting? You can't quit!” I brushed her hair off her face. Even after all these years, she was still my beautiful baby girl. She was really the most vulnerable of all my children and tore at my heart strings to see any of them upset. She looked up at me.
“You quit everything, you told us so yourself!”
“Willow, that's different. I had no motivation, I had no desire to do anything with my life.”
“And you landed on your feet when Grandma sent you away to Uncle Billie's and you met Dad, had us and made an excellent life living on dad's coat tails.” She yawned. I was shocked. Willow was never strongly opininated. Freya, on the other hand, would spit out this sort of stuff on a daily rant about how unfair her life is. Willow looked straight at me. I couldn't speak for a moment before I regained my train of thoughts.
“Willow, I know your tired but you wanted this job, you asked me and your father to allow you to work so you can be independent.” I brushed some more of her blonde hair out of her face.
“Will you stop doing that?!” She pushed my hand away. I stood u0p.
“Okay, Willow, you win. I'll phone in sick for you today, but tomorrow your going whether you like it or not. If you want to quit after two weeks, I'll allow it.” I walked out of her room, shutting the door behind her. Grabbing the phone from the table on the landing, I dialled Willow's work, a small family-run grocery store and made excuses before I took myself back to bed for a well earned nap.
“Wakey-wakey!” I heard Tre's singsong voice woke me up, bringing me to reality. I felt his strong arms hold me close to his chest.
“What time is it?” I asked, sleepily.
“It's nearly quarter to 11, sleeping beauty.” Tre kissed my forehead tenderly. I woke up slowly, Tre holding me to his chest and kissing me softly every so often.
“Bo, I really want to talk to you about something, and well, perfect timing this actually.” He sounded nervous.
“Where are the kids?” I asked, trying to wake up properly.
“As far as I know, Freya's gone out, Willow is sleeping away happily and Raiden is in the garage practising.” Tre answered easily. Something told me, he had almost picked this moment.
“Did you know Willow wants to quit her job?” I rolled over, stretching out in the bed and propping up the pillows so we could talk in bed, sat next to each other, cuddled up.
“Really? Why?” Tre's arm found me easily as he mirrored me, sat up against pillows.
“I don't know, she was really mean to me.” I tried to explain what had happened between us to him.
“That's not like Willow, perhaps she'll talk to her daddy.” I knew he was trying to be nice.
“Are you saying she doesn't like her own mother?!” I shot at him, sitting upright away from him in outrage.
“Bodaceia, listen to yourself. Who went through years of hating their mother for no reason?” He looked at me sternly. It made me feel like a child. I shrugged. “Great answer.” Tre pulled my body back into his chest.
“You had something to talk about anyway?” I asked him.
“Uhm,.. yeah... it can wait.” He sounded scared and nervous.
“Tre, tell me.” I leant up on his chest, staring into those gorgeous eyes of his.
“Okay, well, the thing is... Ah god it's really difficult to bring up.” He sighed heavily.
“Please, come on, it's me.”
“Bo, I want another child, listen to me before you jump to an decision. Think about how much fun we had raising our babies! I mean, we had the best time when they were younger and watching them grow up is priceless.” I stared at him, opened mouth in shock.
“Tre, you can not be serious.”
“Bodaceia, listen. Our children are everything to us right? And the fact is, I do want another son. Don't you think another little boy will make our family complete?” I stared at him, before getting up out of bed. “Bo, where are you going?”
“To think. Alone.” I pulled on my kimono and locked myself in our en-suite bathroom, running a bath rather noisily.
Another child? Was he out of his mind? Of course, I completely adored my children and couldn't imagine life without them. But to pop another out? Freya, Willow and Raiden were conceived pretty close to each other, there aren't too many years between them all to make them able to relate to each other and get along reasonably well. 12 years between our youngest now and the next baby And that's only if I got pregnant right now. No, I couldn't imagine it. I would have been mortified if my mother had gotten pregnant when I was 13, I won't put my children through that. Especially with them all deciding to hate me anyway.
I settled into my hot bath and tried to relax my thoughts away.