Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Hey,” I called, jogging up the steps. I could hear Ansel’s cries from inside the house. “Everything alright?”
“We’re taking a little break,” Noel replied, rubbing Diana’s back. Her eyes were hollow when they met mine.
“Been a rough one, huh?” I asked, sitting down in the chair next to hers.
Noel nodded. “We have to move.”
I jerked back in surprise. “What?”
“Me and the girls. We need to move out. Soon. Before the baby gets here.”
“Where is this comin’ from?” I asked softly. I knew things had been really fucking stressful since Ansel came, but this seemed like it was coming completely out of the blue. “Did Otto or Esther tell you that?”
“No,” Noel rasped. She was still rocking. “They’d never tell us we had to go.”
“Then why do you think you gotta move?”
“It’s too much,” she said woodenly. “There’s too many people in the house. Too much noise. Too much stress. I’ve never seen my sister so overwhelmed.”
“But you’re helpin’ her,” I reminded her. I wanted to touch her, lace my fingers with hers, lay my hand on her knee, something, but she seemed so brittle. “They love havin’ you here.”
“Maybe if it was just me,” she said softly, kissing the top of Diana’s head. The little girls eyes were closed, her pacifier hanging loosely between her lips. “The kids are starting to lose it. Everyone is starting to lose it. We need to move.”
I sat there for a few moments, letting that sink in. I wanted to argue with her but I knew where she was coming from. Just the few hours at night that I spent at their house left me feeling wrung out by the time I got home. Three kids under six was exhausting enough, but when you added a crying newborn it created complete chaos. It wasn’t as if just because Ansel was having a hard time the others were suddenly acting like perfect angels, the opposite was probably true. They still had their tantrums and misbehavior just like any other kids their age.
“I’ve been waiting to hear from the state,” Noel said, her eyes on the yard. “A few of the programs I signed up for have gone through, but housing is kind of a nightmare. We’re on the list, but—” She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s a really long wait. Like, two years or something.”
“Damn.”
“I’m not sure what I’m going to do,” she murmured. She looked over me and smiled wanly. It was painful to see. “I’m just venting. I’ll figure it out.”
“Move in with me,” I replied, the words out of my mouth before I’d even thought them through.
Bas and Cian lived with me and Myla and her friends were there five nights out of seven. Nothing in my house was child-proofed. Honestly, it was so not child-proofed that if Ariel and Diana had shown up at my door I’d make them wait outside. It was insane that I’d asked her. My roommates were going to shit themselves.
“That’s really nice of you, Titus,” she said quietly, looking at me like I’d grown an extra head. “But you don’t have to do that.”
Ironically, it was her refusal that made me double-down even though I knew it was a crazy idea.
“My house is massive,” I replied. “I’ve got a couple of roommates. You’ve met one of them—Bas? And I can introduce you to the other one, Cian. You’ll like him.”
“Titus—”
I kept going. “It’s got five bedrooms. We’re usin’ three. That means you and the girls could have the other two and your own bathroom.” I was going to have to tell the guys one of them had to switch rooms. “We’re workin’ most of the day, so you’d only see us in the evenings. We’ve got a row of raspberry bushes that the girls can pick in the summer and a play structure that’s pretty fuckin’ cool.” I paused and took a breath.
“You’re not—you don’t—I can’t pay you,” she said uncomfortably. “I don’t have any income, Titus. That’s why I can’t get our own apartment.”
“Did I ask you to pay me rent?” I replied quietly.
“I can’t just live with you and not pay rent,” she replied stubbornly. “It’s different with Esther, she’s my sister. I’m not going to take advantage.”
“You can be the live-in housekeeper,” I countered, internally patting myself on the back. I had the money, between my salary and side jobs I was making plenty. “Room and board and a salary.”
“That’s ridiculous,” she said flatly.
“You clean the common areas and make dinner,” I continued, just as stubborn as she was. “And run errands.”
“I don’t have a car,” she replied tightly.
“We’ll get you one.”
Noel huffed and got to her feet.
“I work at a garage,” I said, following her. “I can get you somethin’ cheap and reliable.”
“I’m—” Her face turned red and she grimaced as she shifted Diana against her. “I’m not a charity case, Titus.”