Page 100 of Single Mom's Firemen

“I kind of miss the honeymoon,” I say after a while. “Hawaii was so nice.”

We got married a couple of months after Johnny was born. It was a small and private ceremony, with only our closest friends and family. I tried reaching out to my mother for the occasion, but I couldn’t find her anywhere, and she didn’t return any of my calls. I wasn’t sad about it though I wanted her there, if only for her to see that everything had turned out alright. That I didn’t need the Nash money to be safe and provided for.

“We could go again for Christmas,” Eric suggests.

“Nah, let’s do Colorado. Snow, skiing, and stuff,” Chase says, his eyes closed as he soaks in all the sunlight with a lazy smile stretching across his lips.

“And stuff?” I ask.

“Mulled wine. He really wants the mulled wine in the cold heart of winter experience,” Wyatt explains. “I’m down with Colorado too.”

“Make that three,” I say. “I’d like to see some snow at Christmas for once.”

Eric sighs deeply. “Colorado it is, then. The kids will love it.”

“Harriet reached out,” Wyatt says after a while.

The statement has the twins and me slowly turning our heads to look at him. “Oh?” I ask. “What did she want?”

“She was hoping we might bring the kids over to visit,” Wyatt replies. “She didn’t want to talk to you about it because she knew you’d say no.”

“And she figured you would say yes after she ordered a hit on you and your brothers?” I reply with a dry tone.

He shrugs. “I don’t know but I told her to fuck off.”

“She’ll rot in prison,” I say. “She’ll never see any of us, ever again. Thank you for handling it, Wyatt. I really appreciate it.” I sit up, gathering the nerve to talk to them about our family. “Guys, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“What’s up?” Eric asks.

“You mentioned putting a Danson football team together, at one point,” I respond.

Just then, the doorbell rings. Eric is the first to get up. “Hold that thought.”

Dammit.

Wyatt looks suspicious. “We’re not expecting any company.”

“He’ll turn them away,” Chase says, then gently squeezes my knee. “Are you okay, baby? You look worried.”

“I’m fine. Just a tad anxious,” I nervously chuckle.

Every tinge of humor fades as Eric comes back into the garden, accompanied by my mother. I can feel my eyes growing wide with shock as she cautiously approaches us.

“Shauna,” I whisper, calling her by her name.

She looks a lot better than the last time I saw her. Plump, even, with a healthy glow in her cheeks. She dyed her hair into a platinum shade of blonde, and her outfit looks new—jeans and a baseball-style t-shirt, white with short, red sleeves. “Hey, Halle,” she says, her voice trembling slightly.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, slowly getting up.

“It’s time,” she replies simply, briefly glancing at the guys.

“For what?”

“For me to apologize for everything,” she says. “Including the fact that I missed your wedding and the baby’s birth. I wasn’t there for a lot of things, Halle, and I’d like to explain if you’ll let me.”

Instinctively, I cross my arms. A defensive gesture that always comes up when I’m around her. “I’m listening.”

“I was in rehab,” Shauna says. “After I heard about what happened to you, with Colby and the kids and everything, I almost drank myself to death. The bookies were hounding me. It was my lowest point ever.”

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