Snared(96)

Natalie had offered to find her own place to live, but neither April nor I would hear anything of it. Our house was plenty big for all of us, and I’d never kick Natalie out of her house. I’d love to see her find someone worthy of her and settle down, but otherwise, she wasn’t leaving.

Natalie had been able to convince Allan that Jaded Regret needed to take a breather for a few months. Robbie was okay, and so was I, but we needed time at home to settle down before we had to travel again. The rumor mill had settled down about me after a few pictures had surfaced from the worst day of my life. For a few weeks, Jaded Regret had been trending on all social media while people claimed to have seen or talked to me. None of it had been true, of course. Allan had done damage control and said Jaded Regret was spending time in Orlando, relaxing together. Somehow it had flown, and it had never gotten out what we were doing there, thankfully. I was doing much better with everything, but I certainly didn’t want the whole world knowing I’d had a breakdown and tried to kill myself. Every time I thought about that getting out it made my heart pound and my head hurt.

The media hadn’t picked up yet on the fact that Robbie was with me wherever I went, or April either for that matter. I wasn’t worried about her; she could handle herself. I didn’t mind if they found out, but that meant April had to deal with the stuff we did on a daily basis. We’d have to talk about Robbie eventually because he was going with me wherever I went.

“What do you think, Dad?” Robbie’s voice shook me from my thoughts.

“I think I want this room. Thanks for doing that for me, Nat,” I joked.

Robbie laughed. “Nooooo. This is my room. You share the big room with Mom.”

We froze, all of us realizing at the same time what Robbie had said. He’d been calling me Dad easily, but he’d just been calling April by her name. It was huge for him, because the person he saw as his mom all his life had not only picked drugs over him, she’d left him in the worst possible way. He connected that name with instability and confusion, but it seemed he was ready for a new person to take that serious role.

When he saw the shock on all of our faces, tears filled his eyes and he broke away from me. “I didn’t mean . . .”

April dropped to the floor and pulled Robbie into her arms. She began crying, just like I knew she would. April was a fantastic mother. Despite the fact that being with me made her an insta-mom, she was born for the role. She was the most nurturing, loving person I’d ever known. “You called me Mom,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.

Robbie watched her, wondering if she was upset or happy. He didn’t understand the simplest kinds of body language. I wondered for the millionth time what his mother had taught him, but I’d been told not to push him. When and if he wanted to talk about Robyn, he’d tell me.

“You just made her so happy,” I explained. “Do you see her happy tears? You did that, Robbie.”

“I made her cry,” he said.

“No.” April wiped her eyes. “Not in a bad way. You made my heart so happy it’s leaking out of my eyes. I love you, Robbie. I want nothing more than to be your mom.”

“Really? So I have a mom and dad? Both?”

I dropped to the floor next to them and wrapped my arms around them. “You sure do, buddy.”

“And an aunt who loves you,” Natalie said. “I swear, every single time I’m around you guys I start bawling like a baby. I need help.”

We all laughed, and Robbie bounced up, his trepidation forgotten. “Will you show me your drums now?”





Beau

“ARE WE READY?” My fingers moved like lightning on my pants. I’d finally gotten my cast off after eight long weeks wearing the fucker. It wasn’t a good idea to punch concrete, for future reference. Especially when you were a drummer.

“We’re ready,” Bex said, grinning. “I can’t believe you’re doing this.”

“Who would’ve ever thought we’d see the day,” Tanner quipped. “After all those bras thrown at you and you just passed them on to me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Tanner, it’s you we don’t know if we’ll ever see the day with. It’s because I never did any of that I got a girl like her.”

Tanner shook his head. “Nah. One woman isn’t for me, bro. I can’t do that shit. Best of luck to all you guys.”

“Anyway.” Johnny interrupted him, giving Tanner the eye. He hated when Tanner acted like women were just a piece of meat because it reminded him of what he used to think about relationships. “It’s all set up. You tell us when to be there.”