Page 28 of Rome
As I finished in the bathroom, I could hear someone stirring in our bedroom down the hall. “Fucking fabulous,” I muttered under my breath as I went back into Ethan’s room to retrieve my robe and my cell phone. I glanced at the screen as I slipped it into my pocket, and realized it was a little after eight. I also noticed that Caleb had responded at some point to the text I’d sent before I went to bed last night.
CALEB: I wish you could leave E with them and meet me at the clubhouse. I miss you, baby girl.
I wished I could have gone to the clubhouse, too. It would sure as hell have been more fun than dealing with my overbearing bitch of an aunt.
I carefully made my way down the stairs, holding onto the railing since my balance was thrown off these days. I turned on the Keurig machine for Charlotte and Ron, then filled the tea kettle and set it on the stovetop to heat.
My houseguests came downstairs a few moments later, with my aunt bustling into the room like a woman on a mission. She commandeered my kitchen to make breakfast for her husband, which was just fine with me. I settled down at the table with my cup of tea, an English muffin topped with a smear of peanut butter, and a handful of grapes.
Ethan joined us, stumbling in while rubbing his bleary eyes just about the time that Charlotte put Ron’s plate of bacon, eggs, and toast down in front of him.
She offered some to Ethan, who asked for a bowl of Froot Loops instead. Charlotte frowned at me as I got up to get the box of cereal from the pantry.
“You know, Abby, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A growing boy really needs to eat – “
“Whatever he wants for breakfast,” I finished for her, much to her outrage. “Aunt Charlotte,” I began calmly, “I know you mean well, but Ethan’s eating habits aremybusiness. He eats healthy, nutritious, well-balanced meals the rest of the time, so if he wants sugary cereal for breakfast, I’m going to give himsugary fucking cerealfor breakfast.” OK, so maybe I wasn’t exactly as calm as I’d thought.
She arched a brow and pinned me with a look of contempt. “Well, it’s clear thathis fathercertainly hasn’t had a positive influence on you, dear,” she said with a sneer.
“That’s enough, Aunt Charlotte. We’re done here. I think you and Uncle Ron should finish your breakfast and get on the road. You don’t want to hit too much traffic on the way home.” Yeah, I gave exactly zero fucks about being polite anymore.
Aunt Charlotte’s mouth could not have drawn up any tighter as she glared at me. Uncle Ron didn’t react at all, he just kept shoveling food in his mouth as if we were discussing the weather. Luckily, Ethan seemed oblivious to the tension in the room.
They left an hour later, with Aunt Charlotte not uttering a single word to me the entire time. Uncle Ron thanked me for having them, smiling at Ethan and me as if the entire scene had never happened in the kitchen.
I sent Ethan upstairs to get dressed as soon as they left. I decided I should give her a heads up about what happened, so I called my mom. My dad answered her cell phone.
“Hi sweetheart, your mom’s in the shower,” he greeted me. “What’s up?”
“Well, I pissed off Aunt Charlotte, and I’m fairly certain she’ll never speak to me again.”
Dad laughed. “So, you called to brag, huh? Tell meexactlywhat you said to make her so angry. I’ve been trying to get her to stop speaking to me for years.”
I snickered into the phone, knowing that Charlotte didn’t like my dad much better than she liked Caleb. She’d gotten a parking ticket once and was livid with my dad when he told her that he couldn’t “fix her ticket” for her, explaining that he – a homicide detective inIndiana– had zero control over a parking enforcement division inKentucky. She’d been angry with him ever since.
He listened as I explained what had happened, laughing out loud over my “sugary fucking cereal” comment.
“Oh, damn, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation. I’ll bet her ass stays clenched the whole way home. It will have to, otherwise the stick that’s lodged up there will fall out.”
I sputtered a laugh, and after getting an update on the repairs to their house, I ended the call. I glanced at the time displayed on the phone screen, realizing that Caleb was probably heading into Church right about now. I sent him a quick text, so that he’d see it when he got done.
ME: Good morning. I hope you had fun last night. Love you.
I went upstairs to shower and get ready for my day, taking extra time to shave all the important bits. Well, all of them that I could reach anyway. Toward the end of my pregnancy with Ethan, Caleb had started helping with the spots I couldn’t quite reach. I’d been embarrassed at first, but he seemed to enjoy it. It looked like it was about time to hand over the razor again.
After getting out of the shower, I applied the lotion that I’d used for years, then pulled on some leggings and one of my maternity T-shirts, then slipped on an oversized cardigan to cover my arms. There was a little bit of a chill in the air today and I’d always gotten cold easily.
By the time I got downstairs a little after eleven, Ethan was holding the remote and flipping through the channels trying to find a football game.
“I don’t think the games are on for a few hours still, buddy. Let’s see if we can find a movie to watch until then.”
Chapter 9
Rome/Caleb
Fuck, there was a damned jackhammer going off inside my skull. I winced at the early morning light shining into the room. I’d been too drunk to even think of closing the blinds last night, I guess. I tried to focus my bleary gaze, trying to figure out why the hell the sun was shining in through the fucking bedroom window anyway. Our bedroom window faced west, so we got the evening sun.
I forgot my confusion about the sunlight when I felt Abby shift in the bed beside me and my stomach rolled as the bed dipped with her movements. She was going to be so fucking pissed at me when she woke up. I’d promised her that I would stop drinking so much, and I’d cut way back for the last year, and hadn’t had any alcohol at all for over two months. It had clearly hit me harder than usual as a result, if the way I felt this morning was any indication.
