Page 13 of Her Dragon Daddy Disaster
“Oh,god,” I sobbed behind the wheel, breaking down in the parking lot. “Why me?”
Chapter Five
Sarah
Three days. Three.Days.
That was all I’d been given to find a way to say goodbye to my son.
“How am I supposed to evenbegin?” I’d asked my mom after telling her the devastating news. “He’s not even five. He’s not going to understand. Not really.”
My mother had gathered me into her arms and held me while I’d sobbed. She’d cried too, and my father had swept us both into his arms.
“I don’t know,” she’d told me eventually. “But just spend time with him. All the time you can. Make an impression. We’ll ensure he grows up knowing his mom was a hero. That she saved the lives of millions because of what she did.”
There was no question they would raise Jake. Not to them. I’d never even brought it up, and they’d assured me they would.
I just hated that they had to. My anger over the entire situation had grown by the hour. Now that the appointed time had nearly arrived, I was a seething ball of rage.
“Mommy? Are you okay?”
Nodding, I rerooted myself firmly in the moment. “Yes, of course, baby. Mommy is fine.”
It was a lie. A horrible lie, but one I felt had to be told in the moment. Yet another thing I’d vowed never to do with Jakub, or any future children, and there I was, breaking it. Trying to preserve the image of me in his mind as someone strong, someone he could look up to, if I were lucky.
My shoulders shook as I fought back another sob. He’d probably grow up resenting me for leaving. For not being present.
As I would resent myself.
“What do we do today, Mommy?”
I gathered him into my arms, hoisting his growing frame up to my hip. “You’re going to spend the day with Grandma and Grampa, okay, little buddy?”
Innocent brown eyes looked up at me, entirely uncomprehending why we’d spent so much time together over the past three days. Not realizing it was thelasttime we’d get.
I’d tried to make the most of it. We’d gone to the zoo to see all the animals, which was one of his favorite things to do. I’d brought him to the White House, somewhere he’d always wanted to go once he found out what I did, but which I’d tried to keep him away. We’d seen a movie in the theaters and eaten so much popcorn our stomachs hurt.
Then we went shopping for pillows and blankets and built the absolute biggest pillow fort anyone could conceive of. From its openings, we’d battled hordes of zombies and evil alien space monsters with our ray guns—painted cardboard tubes—and celebrated our victory by eating the delicious alien insides—which looked and tasted suspiciously like ice cream cake.
With my mother’s blessing, we’d even gone and adopted a puppy. Something Jake had been asking for, but I’d had to say no to because of my job. Now, the little head-tilting mini-velociraptor was currently inside being chased by my dad. But it was cute. I doubted the name SuperPawMegaDog would stick.
Not that I would ever find out.
“Yes, little buddy. Today is a day with your grandparents.”
“Are you going back to work?”
I bit my lip, nodding slowly. “Something like that, baby, something like that.”
Jake took that in, thinking slowly. “Mommy?”
“Yes, baby?”
“I don’t want you to go back to work. Can you stay with me?”
My arms trembled to the point I had to set him down. I crouched to his level, so I could keep him wrapped up. “No, I can’t baby. Not today. Today, Mommy has to g—”
Words failed me. Tears gathered in the corners of my eyes as my stomach churned like the seas in the middle of a hurricane.
