Page 25 of Going Home

"And now everyone thinks I'm fucking crazy," she says with a laugh as more tears fill her eyes.

Traffic is next to nothing, and Lex makes it home without incident, even though the tears blur her vision the entire ride home.

The sun has just started setting, and she sees the kids playing in the backyard through the sliding door. Calla squeals with delight as Noah and Lucas play with her, Hailey keeping an eye on everything from the steps of the deck, and Lex feels a fresh wave of tears washing over. Noah's the big brother Lex always wanted Zane to be. He always makes sure Calla's never left out, and he's always considering her when he does anything. Even as he nears ten, he wants to spend time with his little sister, and it breaks something inside of Lex.

Walking into the kitchen, she crouches onto the floor and lets the sobs take over.

At least my daughter can have the family I always wanted.

"Lex?" Hailey's voice interrupts her thoughts as she stands in the kitchen before Lex. "Are you... Are you okay?"

Laughing, Lex just looks up with wet cheeks. "No. No, I'm anything but okay right now."

"Do you... Would it be better if Lucas and I went to stay somewhere else?"

"No. Honestly, the two of you being here makes my stressful life a little easier," she says. "Plus, the kids have fun with you and Lucas. Hopefully you don't mind watching them because I'm going to need you guys to do it quite a bit for the next month or so."

"Can I sit with you?"

Nodding, Lex smiles. "It's surprisingly comfortable down here."

"I don't usually do the mushy crap, so don't get used to it, but you look like you could use it. Um... I'm not really good at this, but I guess I should just say that letting us stay here is more than we've gotten from anyone else since Dad died. Watching the kids feels like we're earning our keep or something."

This girl really does seem to struggle with expressing her feelings, and Lex can't help but put her own issues aside to wonder what the poor girl has gone through. "Colt told me what he brought you home to, and I don't want to see the pictures he took. I might murder someone if I do. I'm actually kind of impressed Colt didn't do that when he was there."

"Probably because Lucas was with us."

She laughs. "True. And I know it has to be bad if a biker says it's unlivable. You'd be surprised at the conditions those men can live in and feel comfortable."

Hailey folds her hands in her lap as Lex wipes her face with her fingers. "They're not even my parents."

"What?"

"Lucas and I have the same dad, but we have different moms. Dad left Mom for Lucas's mom. They were engaged, and he called it off to be with Iris. Cheated with her, actually, and then he married her. Which is how Lucas came to be. Things weren't going well between Iris and Dad, and Iris was paranoid he'd leave her for Mom. She'd call and taunt my mom because Dad once told Iris that leaving Mom for her was a mistake."

"Tauntyour mom?"

Sniffling, she avoids looking at Lex, her eyes glued to her hands instead. "They'd somehow already gotten primary custody of me, even though I would have rather been with Mom. I loved Dad, but I hate Iris. I'll never tell Lucas that, though. But she'd call and tell Mom she was a terrible mother and that's the reason she lost custody of me. Then she’d tell her everyone would be better off without her. That I didn't love her. Mom killed herself over it."

Lex's jaw drops. No mother should ever say that to another mother. Even though Lex may think it about Lucas's mom, she'd never say it to her. Not unless absolutely necessary, which would be extreme circumstances.

"Then, when Dad died, I was stuck with the step-monster. She married Harold, and he's a fucking creep."

"What the hell did Iris think she was going to accomplish? That your mom would tell your dad to fuck off because I don't think he'd be too happy knowing what his wife was saying to the mother of his first-born child."

"He was pissed. He found the letter Mom left, and she'd told him that it was Iris who convinced her this would be for the best. Dad and Iris got into a fight, and they didn't stop fighting for weeks. One night, he stormed out, angry, and that's when he crashed his car."

This poor girl lost both of her parents within weeks of each other, and it sounds like Iris was a cause for both deaths. Lex takes back her thoughts about not saying anything that terrible to another mother. Iris clearly isn't a competent parent.

"One day," Hailey continues, "I’m going to have the courage to go back into that house and get my mom's ring from that bitch. And the necklace she left me. It's a simple gold cross necklace, but once Iris learned it was my mom's, she took it and said she threw it away. I know it's still there, though."

"What's the ring look like?"

Sniffling, she wipes her eyes, and Lex realizes she'd teared up, too. "It's a gold band with a solitaire oval diamond. They never got married, but it's proof he loved her enough to want to one day. Before Iris. It pisses Iris off more than anything to know he loved anyone besides her. Probably because she knows he still loved Mom while married to her."

Lex reaches over and smooths the back of Hailey's dark hair. "We'll get them back."

"Okay, so that's more than I planned to share with you about me. Wanna talk about you now?"

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