Page 8 of Somewhere We Belong

“Thank you for helping Mama and I,” she said, as Nova stared at the seatbelt.

“We can go back for it,” I said, knowing she was realizing she left her car booster seat.

Nova looked up at me and nodded.

“Mama, I’m a big girl, I don’t need a booster seat,” Sol said, helping to put on the seat belt.

“Car accidents don’t care if you are a big girl or not,” Nova said, kissing her forehead.

Nova got into the car, and I took off back to the salon to grab her car seat. The drive wasn’t far or full of traffic, but it was better to be cautious.

“Mommy, guess what?” Sol squealed.

I tried not to flinch from the abrupt loud noise, but it was really hard not to.

“Sweetie, we are in a car close to each other, we don’t need to get too loud,” Nova said, as I felt her glance at me.

“Oops, sorry Mama and Teddy Bear,” Sol apologized.

“It’s ok,” I said, wondering if I should say more.

Sol talked animatedly to Nova about her day and when we picked up her booster seat, she spoke to me about the arts and crafts she had made. I nodded as she kept talking, not having to ask any questions because she talked a lot.

When we reached their house, I got out of the car with them to help take down the booster seat and their bags. Sol ran into the house with a quick goodbye, running into her room as I set her booster seat by the front door.

“I could pick you up tomorrow,” I said, putting my hands in my pockets before I started to fidget.

Talking to her was getting easier.

“I think I can get one of the girls from the salon to pick us up,” she said quickly, not looking at me. “You’ve already had to give us a ride. I also know ranch life keeps you busy.”

“It does, but thirty minutes outta my morning ain’t going to do nothing,” I said. “What time should I be here?”

“Is eight, ok?” She finally looked up at me.

She looked stressed and in need of a good night’s sleep.

I nodded. “Goodnight, Nova.”

“Thank you. Good night,” she said softly.

I closed the door, waiting till I heard her lock it. Once they were locked up, I hopped in my truck, and set a reminder. Mornings were always a little chaotic and I didn’t want to forget. I drove home and did some chores since Colt was bringing dinner home. It allowed me to decompress and think about Atlas coming home. It had been too long since we had all lived together, and tonight felt like my life was on the verge of changing. It made me a little itchy. Change was hard for me, but I knew it would be for the better or so I hoped.

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nova

My alarm rangfor the fourth time as I debated if I wanted to snooze it again. I really needed to wash my hair, but I think I could get away with not washing it today. It was always a chore to wash it because I had so much of it, thanks to my Mexican heritage.

After ten minutes of attempting to get more sleep, Sol barged into my room. She was in Princess Elsa pj’s and her hair was a mess.

“Mommy, there’s no batteries in the remote again,” she said, walking to my bed. “I’m also hungry.”

My cheeks grew red, I took the batteries for a late-night self-care session and I meant to put them back, but post orgasm haze had me falling right to sleep.

“Yeah, we need to get more batteries,” I said, cringing.

“Do your toys need batteries too, Mommy?” she asked, climbing into my bed.

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