Page 47 of Until Nalia
“I’m good with this.”
“Suit yourself.” She pours herself a glass, then sits back down and rests her feet on the coffee table, and I notice that her toes are painted the same lavender color as her nails. It’s cute, she’s cute. “So, what happened today?” she asks with her glass to her lips.
Without hesitating, I dive into what the principal explained to me, then what Coop told me about the situation, and as I talk, her eyes narrow, and her lips press into a hard line.
“At the end of the day, Coop knows not to put his hands on someone else unless he’s defending himself, so he fucked up.” I end before taking a sip of my drink.
“Yeah, but it sounds like Matthew kind of deserved the black eye he got,” she mumbles.
“Probably.” I smile. “But it didn’t change anything, and now Coop has in-school suspension for the next two days, and that shit is going to be in his school records, so it could come back to bite him in the ass if something else happens.”
“Yeah, that sucks.” Her face softens. “I wish that the teacher would have heard what was being said so that there would have been some type of repercussion for Matthew’s role in that whole situation.”
“I agree with you, baby.” I lean back in my seat and rest my boots on the coffee table, crossing my ankles. “Which is why I’m not more pissed at my kid for what he did.”
“Being a parent is hard.” She sighs and murmurs, “I can totally understand why some people decide to homeschool their kids. It’s hard at this age to send them off every day with just the hope that people will treat them with kindness.”
“I imagine that will never change, babe, even when Billie graduates in a few years and heads off to college, it’s going to be difficult to trust her care to this world.”
“Yeah,” she agrees in a whisper, then tips her head to the side. “How was Kristy when she found out about what happened?”
“Worried about Coop and disappointed that he got into a fight. She came over and spent a couple of hours with him before he went to bed.”
“That’s good.” Her voice gentles as she asks, “Have things improved between her boyfriend and the kids?”
“She’s been keeping them separate, so she and the kids are good, but things with them and Aaron haven’t improved.”
“That must be hard on everyone involved.”
“I think she’s making it harder than it needs to be, and that if you don’t make things a big deal, they won’t be.”
“But she’s mom,” she whispers, and something about that causes me to pay closer attention to what she is about to say. “You’re dad and I’m sure you’re amazing, but moms are different and it’s harder for kids to realize that their mom’s life doesn’t just revolve around them, especially if it’s always been that way.”
Shit, I didn’t even think about it like that. “I’m sure that it’s not easy for Kristy to be in the middle where on one side she has someone she’s fallen in love with and on the other she feels like she might have to sacrifice that relationship in order to save her relationship with the kids.”
“You’re right,” I agree, and her eyes widen with surprise. “I might not have agreed with you a couple of hours ago, but when I told Billie I was coming over here to see you, she didn’t even bat an eye.”
“You told her that you were coming here?”
“I’m not lying to her about where I’m spending my time, especially when I want her to get comfortable with the idea that it might happen a lot more often.”
“Logan.”
“You need to let me know how much I owe you for lunch.” I change the subject when I see her start to put her guard up.
“I’ll tell you after you let me know how much I owe you for my car.”
“I’ll tell you Saturday night after you come hang out with me and a couple of my friends who are going downtown to watch Hector perform at one of the bars.”
“I—” She starts to speak but cuts herself off, her attention goes to the back door when it’s opened. I turn my head as Zuri pokes her head outside. “Hey,” Nalia says as I feel her sit forward so she can place her glass down on the coffee table. “Did we wake you?”
“No, I just wanted some water and thought I heard you out here.” Her eyes come to me, and she offers a small, sleepy smile and a soft “Hi.”
“Hey, sweetheart.”
“I’ll come tuck you back in?” Nalia tells her starting to stand and Zuri shakes her head while taking a step back.
“I’m okay.”
