Page 4 of Tangled Hearts
She’s off her bed and rushing to my side in an instant. “Are you gonna make my eyelashes long and black like yours?”
Ah, the curse of being a blonde. She has magnificent eyelashes. It’s just that you can’t see them with how pale they are. “Absolutely.”
I get another smile and she slips her hand into mine, leading me toward the laundry room. My heart squeezes as I follow behind her. I remember what it felt like to have no one to reach for. No one there to hold your hand. I wake up every day feeling incredibly privileged to live the life I do. To have the family I do. This? Her little hand tucked in mine? This is why I do what I do. Why I wanted to follow in Roman’s footsteps. So I could be to others what he and my other dad, Beck, were to me.
True to my word, it doesn’t take us long to get the load of sheets folded. Lexi doesn’t even help, the little bugger. No, she just sits on the top of the washer, kicking her feet and giggling at how hard I’m having to work to get them folded.
To be fair, Uncle Julian is like… a damn giant, so it makes sense that his little ‘trick’ is easier for him than it is for me. It’s still far easier than what I used to do. Actually, that’s a lie. What Iusedto do was roll it up in a ball and toss it in the linen closet, which waswayeasier.
When I finish up the last sheet, I glance at Lexi. “I thought you were going to help me?”
Lexi shrugs. “I kept you company. And I made you smile. That’s helping.”
“Fair enough,” I say, sweeping her off the washer and spinning her around.
“Having fun?” My dad, Roman, steps into the laundry room with us, his smile bright and his eyes soft and kind.
“We are!” Lexi shouts, patting me on the shoulder until I set her on her feet. She sprints to Dad, but I don’t even bother telling her notto run. Dad drops to his knees just as she makes it to him and wraps her arms around his neck. Dad hugs her back, grinning at me as she excitedly tells him she helped me with the laundry, so now I’m going to do her makeup.
My heart swells to an almost breaking point. I love Roman so much. I’m not usually overly sappy, but watching my dad pour love into others will always get me. Because it reminds me of how much love he’s poured into me.
“Let’s go get your makeup done, Lexi-girl,” I say when she pulls herself from Dad’s embrace. After we’re done, I want to introduce myself to the new kiddo.
Lexi takes my hand again, but I pause long enough to give Dad a hug and ask, “Can I stay over tonight?”
His eyes light up. I think it was harder on them when I moved out than it was on me. “Anytime, Eli.”
Dad knows what it’s like to have awful parents like I did. No doubt like our new intake does too. It’s a curse. Generations of unhealed adults hurting their children. It’s a damn shame. Dad started The Hart Foundation almost ten years ago. It’s where I showed up at fourteen, beaten and terrified and aching to be loved and taken care of. He and Beck took me into their home and adopted me less than a year later. They’ve shown me nothing but love since then. They changed the entire trajectory of my life, and now my only goal is to do the same for others. It’s why I spend so much of my time at The Hart Foundation and here at Safe Haven. Iwantto help. I enjoy it. I relate to these kids, and theyfeelthat.
Lexi drags me toward the hall before I have more time to talk to Dad, but that’s alright. I follow her into her room, and when she pulls out her small collection of makeup, I sit down in front of her.
In no time at all, she’s dolled up with pink eyeshadow, curled and painted lashes, clear lip gloss, and a bit of highlighter on the tip of her little button nose. I hand her the mirror, smiling to myself when she gasps and starts making kissy faces at her reflection.
After telling her goodnight and that I’ll see her tomorrow, she gives me a giant bear hug and I go searching for Sasha. She’ll be with whoever Dad brought in tonight, and I want to make sure they have a warm welcome. It makes all the difference in the world to have someone show up for them right away. I enjoy being the difference.
I know I have my own house, but there is not a single thing in the world that feels more like home than walking in the front door of my dads’ house. I let Kassie off her leash, and she takes off running to find Beck. When I moved out, they let me take her with me, even though I know it made them sad, so I try to bring her back to visit as much as I can.
“Hey, kid,” Beck says, patting Kassie on the head as she runs circles around his legs.
Making his way to me, he wraps me in his arms, squeezing me half to death before releasing me and giving Roman the same treatment. I watch them out of the corner of my eye as they melt into each other. It’s quiet. The love between them. Safe and comfortable. I’ve never seen them fight. They’ve never yelled at each other. Never hit each other. The two of them are always soft touches and cuddles and heart eyes. At first, I thought it was too good to be true, and since they were basically newlyweds when I met them, I figured they’d eventually stop. But they haven’t. Not even a little bit.
Look, I know kids are supposed to find their parents gross, but I don’t. Maybe it’s because I came to them when I was older, or maybe it’s because, until them, I didn’t know love like that existed.
Uncle Holden and Uncle Julian are much the same way—always touching, always cuddling. Well, Uncle Hold is always climbing in Uncle Julian’s lap and perching there like a damn house cat.
I want that. Love like what they have. They taught me that family doesn’t always mean blood, and that our found families—the families we choose—are often better than anything else.
I walk to the couch and plop down, content to give the lovebirds some privacy. I’ve never been in love. Never had sex. Ihavebeen kissed. By my friend Liam. He was curious about his possible attraction to boys, and I’d never been kissed, so I figured, why not? It wasn’t anything special. We were sixteen, and his lips were slobbery and kinda chapped all at the same time. It wasn’t earth-shattering. After that, I decided I’d save the next kiss for someone special.
I just didn’t know it would take so damn long.
The couch dips beside me and Beck sits down, pulling Roman into his lap. Once again, they melt into each other, and I roll my eyes playfully. “Can we watch a movie?”
Beck hands me the remote and settles his hand on Roman’s back, soothing him and holding him close. When I first showed up at Roman’s non-profit, I didn’t realize how hard it was on him to help kids like me. But it takes a toll on him, and it makes me happy that the two of them have each other to get through hard times. To be each other’s safety.
If it’s not like that for me, I damn well don’t want it, thank you very much. Which is why I’m so content to wait.
I turn on a movie and the three of us settle in together to watch it. Peace washes over my soul and I lean to my left, resting my head against Beck’s shoulder.
