Page 79 of Surviving Lies

“Oh, they made some new friends at school,” my mom said. “They have playdates at their house every so often.”

Literally as she finished her last word, the two monsters came blasting through the front door.

“Becca!”

“Bec!”

They both came tearing around the corner of the hall from the foyer, their sneakers skidding on the wood floor as they crashed into my legs.

“I told you that was her car,” Jonah said, trying to push Sam off of me. The two little monsters looked like they had grown even more in the few weeks since I’d seen them last.

“Alright you two, upstairs and in the tub,” my mom ordered. And to my surprise, they listened. “I’ll be up in a minute.”

And that surprised me even more. I would have expected her to ask me to bathe them. And I think she saw my face, my astonishment hard to hide. But she chose to not make a big deal over it.

“Are you staying for dinner, honey?” she asked. “We’re eating early tonight.”

I really hadn’t thought this visit through. My original plan was to just stop in, throw Ty off my tail, then head back to school. But being back here made me want to stay a bit, which I wasn’t expecting.

Without warning, tears sprung to my eyes.

The thickness in my voice was hard to hide when I answered her. “Yeah, Mom, I think I will.”

She came to me, hugging me. “I miss you, too, honey.” Kissing the top of my head, she went up the stairs to take care of the twins. And I turned toward the voices in the family room, finding my dad and the other boys watching a game.

Waiting for me.

I decided to spend the night with my family. It surprised me as much as them. A movie with popcorn and all of us crammed in the family room normally would have had me scampering to my room with an excuse of some sort. But this time I relished in the pandemonium and actually enjoyed it. And a night in my own room, in my bed with the use of my bathroom, was much more inviting than being alone back at school.

My parents seemed to have turned a corner with the handling of their family unit. Maybe it took me leaving for them to realize they needed to step up and do more. I didn’t care what it was; I liked it. And the boys liked it, too. Don’t get me wrong, there was still chaos in the house. There was no way there couldn’t be with four boys running around. But the chaos was a bit more under control.

Around midday my social battery expired though, and my need to head out grew strong.

“Mom,” I said as I walked into her office. “I’m gonna get going.”

She turned in her chair to face me with a huge smile on her face.

“Loved this impromptu visit, sweetie. Will they keep happening?” she asked as she stood and came to hug me.

I nodded against her. “Yeah, I’ll make sure to be home more.”

But as I walked to my car, the reality of the other shit going on in my life hit me hard. Other shit in my life I wanted to forget.

But there was someone I hoped could help me do that.

Turning my phone on, I was inundated with missed calls and messages I’d received in the past twenty-four hours fromhim. It didn’t surprise me; but it still pissed me off. It made me want to call Gage even more.

I dialed his number once I got in my car.

“Becca.”

His sultry voice still did things to me.

“Hi, Gage. Are you home? Or will you be home in a couple hours?” I asked quickly.

“Yeah, listen. I’m sorry I haven’t reached out this week, it’s ...”

“Gage, I don’t want to talk about anything that’s happened in our lives this week, I really don’t. I’d just like to see you. And I’d like to forget everything else.”

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