Page 73 of Sustain

"Back so soon, Ian?" she asks sharply, assuming an air of superiority she doesn’t own. And it’s bullshit anyway. She knew the girls were coming home this evening.

I open my mouth to respond but Hayley pops up sleepy-eyed first. "Mummy, Kenzie reads the best stories." June also wakes and smiles shyly at Mackenzie.

At that, Brianna's shrewd gaze cuts to Mackenzie hanging back politely. I tense, cursing myself for not prepping her for this particular brand of toxic femininity.

"And you must be Kenzie?" Her tone drips icicles, her frozen smile never wavering.

I clear my throat, bristling, but Mackenzie beats me to cordial introductions unfazed.

“I am. Nice to meet you,” she says, putting on her manager voice, and shaking Brianna’s reluctant hand. “Your daughters are the best. I really enjoyed spending time with them.”

Still, my girls are oblivious to the animosity simmering beneath their mother's façade, but I see it plain as day.

Brianna's frozen hospitality melts instantly to a frown before she recovers her plasticized features. “Thank you,” she says, her voice now stilted.

She’s met her match, I’d say.

Regardless of how Brianna reacts or doesn’t to Mackenzie, the girls' joy over her now in our lives tells me everything I need to know about our newly blended souls: This foundation won't crack from a passing storm.

Not if I have anything to say about it.

The plane leveledout above the clouds a while ago, and beside me Mackenzie's breath deepens into sleep, her head resting heavy on my shoulder. A few messy purple strands tickle where they escape her braids until I gently brush them back. Even exhausted she still takes my freaking breath away. Her beauty is somehow both fiercer and softer now that I know the full force of her passionate heart.

I watch the dark clouds scroll by through the tiny window, my leg jiggling restlessly with excess energy. So much has snapped into dizzying focus these past few weeks. Everything building up, shattering apart, and then somehow realigning into perfection.

It felt like a fucking bullet ricocheting from my mum's to Brianna's households today. Their opposite reactions to the woman sleeping here, blissfully unaware of my racing brain.

But maybe it's good the seismic shifts keep coming. They forced me to own my dishonesty, then fight like hell through the shitty aftermath. And somehow, I lucked into gaining so much in return. This feisty new partner challenging and supporting me, understanding and accepting all of my flaws. And my girls…God, they already adore her.

How could they not?

I know I do.

We are heading towards a hectic life. Surviving in the music industry isn’t easy on the best days, and to do it with someone like Mackenzie as a partner makes it all feel doable somehow. Even the relationship we’re building. That’s something I never expected. Something I never saw coming.

I find for once I'm not overthinking the future. In fact, I’m anxious to get there. Because here, tucked against my side, rests the only sure path ahead worth taking. Bumpy patches be damned, for once my guiding light now shines clear as day.

And I will never do anything to jeopardize that again.

Ever.

Turbulence shakes the plane, and Mackenzie stirs, eyes bleary as she looks around. “Are we there yet?”

I caress her cheek, “No, love. Just some turbulence. Go back to sleep.”

She stretches with a yawn and lays her head back onto my shoulder. “I’m not sleepy.”

“Oh, okay then,” I chuckle, knowing she’s dead tired.

“Tell me a story,” she says, nuzzling into my neck, her breath warm in the cool air of the plane.

“How about a question?”

She hugs my arm tighter. “What kind of question?”

“If…”

“Oh boy, here we go.”

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