Maple point mavericks, p.30
Maple Point Mavericks, page 30
Before she can answer Cash comes back into the room with not only her water but one of those cookies Melissa made her to help with her milk supply. “I come bearing milk making gifts,” he announces. “Your mom says she’s almost finished with dinner so hopefully you’ll be able to eat once we get these nugget heads back to sleep.”
“My sons do not have nugget heads, Cash,” I tell him. He just rolls his eyes.
“Ana knows what I mean,” he tells me. “Don’t you?”
“I guess,” she laughs. “Their heads are perfectly round though so I don’t know what kind of nuggets you eat.”
“You two are impossible,” he says, setting the water and the plate with her cookie down. “I’ll be in the living room with everyone so come out once you get your perfect little round head babies back to sleep.”
“We will,” I tell him. “Get out.”
We sit in silence, just listening as Ezra guzzles down milk and once he pops off and starts squirming around, we know he’s done. She looks down at the pump and smiles widely.
“This is the most milk I’ve gotten from one. I guess the cookies are working.”
“I wish the cookies helped your pussy heal faster,” I tell her. I glance at her and she has a dark look in her eyes like she wishes the same. Too bad we can’t do anything about it.
“It will come in time,” she finally says. “But if you’re nice at dinner I might surprise you with something after our late night feeding.”
My dick almost gets hard with what she’s saying, but the fact I have my son laying across my chest now does a pretty good job at keeping it away. “You better not be lying.”
“I want to taste you just as much as you want me, Enzo,” she says with a grin. “I just hide it better than you.”
“You can’t hide shit from me,” I tell her. “I already know how much you want this dick.”
She laughs before turning the pump off and handing it to me before bringing Ezra up to burp. She directs me to the cart on the other side of the bed for the bottle top. I lay Josiah down on the bed and go over to the cart and once I screw everything in place, I pick him up and go to the big, cushioned glider we have in our room now. He’s starting to fuss a little but as soon as I pop the bottle into his mouth he quiets down.
I can feel Ana’s eyes on me, but I don’t look up because I am soaking all of this up. I won’t be able to stay here forever and feed the boys. I have more business to take care of, but while I’m here I plan to get as much time with all three of them as possible.
“When do you leave?” she asks like she can read my mind.
I look up at her now. “Three days.”
Her eyes fall to Josiah, and I can see her doing everything she can to not cry. She hasn’t wanted me to leave at all this year, but the promise I made her still stands and I won’t be able to come back for good until I’m done wiping out the family who almost stole my future away from me.
“Can't you stay a little longer?” she asks, her voice quivering as she looks back up at me.
“I’ll only be gone four of five days, baby. I won’t miss much.”
“But then when will you have to leave again?”
She knows the process well by now and though I want to tell her everything right at this moment I think it best to push this conversation off for another time. I don’t answer her, just looking down and watching as Josiah finishes up his bottle quickly. I burp him and by the time I change his diaper and get him to sleep, Ana has Ezra changed and put back to sleep too. I stand and go over to her as she gets up from our bed and stop her from walking out the door with my hand on her shoulder.
“I know all of this is not what you want to hear. But once I get them all I will be around more.”
“Will you though? The Brotherhood has you doing something all the time. It’s like they don’t care you have two kids to raise,” she says, frowning and trying to move past me.
“They care,” I assure her. “But business must be handled. You know this. We’ve lived it our whole lives.”
“But we’re supposed to be headed off to college, not doing every job The Brotherhood needs us to do.”
“We are going to head off to college just as planned which means you’ll have me around more. They know school is important and while I’m studying, they will find others to do the things I’m doing. This summer matters, baby. It’s my last chance to take care of things before we leave. I know you understand this so stop being so stubborn.”
“Fine,” she says, finally moving past me to head back to the nursery. I follow.
She’s quiet as she lays Ezra down, and once she finishes and steps back, I lay Josiah right next to him. They always sleep better this way, something my dad taught me as soon as we brought them home. It hasn’t failed us yet. It makes me feel stupid for buying two cribs, considering one has been empty the whole time we’ve been here.
She turns the monitor on before we leave the room, and once we get out to the living room, we notice only Cash and Drake are left on the couch. They look up at us and stand at the same time.
“Everyone is in the kitchen making plates,” Drake says.
“Let’s go make our plates before they eat it all,” Ana says, faking a smile.
I know she’s anything but happy right now and while I can only make it up to her later, I know she wants me to just give up on making sure the Blanchard family is wiped out. I will never give up, but I think I have the solution to make her feel a little bit better for tonight at least.
We head to the kitchen and find our parents, Delilah, and Blake all making plates and once we make ours too, we follow them into the dining room. Ana didn’t get much food and I am starting to worry at this point because other than the cookies her mom keeps making, she’s not eating much else.
I don’t say anything to her, but I plan to later. Once she sits down not a word is spoken from her lips the whole time we eat. I know she’s sad and has a lot of hormonal shit going on, but this isn’t something I can back out of now. I just want to keep her safe and once I cut off the head of their family, I will be able to sleep better at night knowing my family is safe.
Her mom baits her into the conversation a little, but when Ana only responds with nods, she leaves her be. Everyone talks around us and when I finish, I get up and take Ana’s plate to the sink too. Benito follows me into the kitchen, and I already know what he’s going to say before he opens his mouth.
“You told her you’re leaving?”
I nod as I rinse the plates. “She’s not very happy with me.”
“I see,” he says as I step back to put our dishes in the dishwasher. “She understands but her understanding will never take the place of you being here. I went through this with her mother and while it was hard, we made it through. Soon she’ll be by your side and maybe she’ll be more okay with it then.”
“She thinks The Brotherhood is going to stop us from going to school,” I tell him. “She doesn’t understand how important school is for our family, but I hope the talk we have tonight will help her a bit more. Would you and Melissa be willing to stay for a little longer tonight so I can take her out for a bit? I think she needs some fresh air to get out of her head.”
“Of course, though I’m sure Cash will be the one doing most of the work,” he says with a laugh. “He loves those boys like they’re his own. They are lucky to have such a caring family around them.”
“They are, and I’m thankful to everyone who has helped us over the last two weeks. I’m not sure my sanity would’ve stayed intact if we had to do it alone. I can only imagine what my dad went through.”
“He had some help too,” he tells me, grinning. “Melissa loved on you more than anyone. It’s why to this day she hugs you both so tight.”
“Cash and I are lucky to have the both of you,” I tell him, acknowledging their presence in our lives. “I didn’t mean any disrespect.”
"I know, son,” he nods before rinsing his dish too.
We don’t talk much more and when I go into the dining room Ana and Delilah are missing from the table. I don’t say anything to anyone before walking out the other way toward the back porch and I find them both sitting on the couches out there. When I pull the door open Delilah stops talking.
“I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere with me,” I say, looking at Analise. “I asked your parents to stay a little longer tonight.”
“I can’t just leave what about feeding—”
“You have milk in the freezer, and they can figure it out. I want some me and you time. Come on,” I say, not giving her a choice.
“Okay, let me get my shoes,” she tells me. I’m surprised she doesn’t put up more of a fight.
Getting up, she smiles down at Delilah. “We can finish this conversation later.”
“Sounds good,” she responds before Ana leaves us alone on the patio. She stares at me for a while before speaking. “You know she needs you right now, right?”
“Don’t you start too,” I say. “I don’t need it coming from all directions.”
“I’m just saying. She is not doing very well with all of this. She’s putting on a good front, I’ll give her that,” she says, nodding. “But I know she just wants to have you close so she doesn’t feel so alone.”
“She has all of you,” I tell her. “I’m not the only one who loves her.”
“Yeah, but you’re the only one she wants.”
I don’t say anything to her and before I can even open my mouth Drake pops his head out and looks over to Delilah. “It’s time for us to go, Baby D. I have to be up early tomorrow.”
She gives me a tight smile after standing from where she was sitting on the couch. “Alright, here I come.”
Once they leave, I’m left standing on the porch with a knot in my stomach and the hope of one day being able to make all of this up to her.
Once we are in my car the silence swallows me whole. I have so many things to say to her but none of them seem like the right thing to say. I don’t want her to be upset, but I can’t do anything about her being this way. I must leave because I not only made promises to her but to The Brotherhood too. I can’t go back on either of them and while I know I can’t get her to see it now, I hope one day she will understand fully.
I pull into the shaded driveway heading toward the lighthouse and she doesn’t look half as scared as she did the first time I brought her back after she got home. She knows this place now and I know for a fact she can’t wait to bring the boys here. She told me as much last night, but it will be a long while before they’ll be able to.
When I park and cut the car off, she gets out without a word and even though I want to go to the lighthouse first, she veers off to go to the beach. It’s warm out tonight, and just like before she gave birth she goes straight for the water after kicking her sandals off in the sand. I watch her let the small wave wash over her feet and can’t help but to feel like shit for having to leave so soon.
The wind wraps itself around me and when she looks back at me, I can see the tears coming down her face. I go to her, kicking my slide off too, and when I get to her, she’s full-on crying.
“I don’t want you to go. I want to be with you and while I know I can’t do anything to stop you, I want to throw a fit and try and make you stay. It’s not fair,” she says, leaning her forehead into my chest.
“I know,” I tell her before wrapping my arms around her. “It’s not, but it won’t be long before I’m around all the time. You’ll be sick of me in no time.”
“I’ll never be sick you,” she tells me.
When she looks up to find my eyes I wipe her tears away and part of me hates myself for making her cry; I’d break someone’s neck if they ever did what I’m doing to her and here I am hurting her again and I’m not even able to stop.
“Come with me to the lighthouse,” I tell her, stepping back and picking her hand up. “I have a surprise.”
She comes without a fight and as we pick up our shoes, I think about how much she’s going to love what I’m about to show her. She’s never liked this place much, but after telling her I bought it last year, she’s come around a little. Her suspicions remain about how haunted it is, but after doing some digging, I figured out where all the sounds were coming from. We won’t have to deal with the weird sounds anymore and I am glad.
She walks next to me as we cross the bridge and the first thing she notices is the new door.
“You put a door up,” she says, her excitement evident. “Now there won’t be as many bugs. I mean other than the ones that come in through the windows.”
“I fixed those too,” I tell her when we get to the door.
I pull out a key and when she steps inside, she gasps in surprise. “Enzo, how did you do all of this?”
“Well, I can’t take credit for the renovation, but I can take credit for paying for all of it,” I tell her, laughing softly.
She takes in the first level as she walks around and when she gets past the stairs she finds the kitchen area and I hear her laugh too. “I can’t believe you did this.”
I follow her around the staircase, and she looks over at me as I get closer to her. “I did it for you. I know you’ve never preferred this place, but I hope with the new upgrades in appearance along with the newly installed electricity and running water you’ll find it more comforting than anything else. Even on my darkest days when you were gone this place was somewhere I could go to not feel so far away from you. I don’t know why this place did it for me but while I’m gone, maybe it can help you too.”
She nods and looks around more. The natural rock walls are still in place and a small couch and stone fireplace sit on the other side of the steps. She is smiling now and I’m happy something like this can have her feeling something other than sadness.
When she gets to the steps she looks over at me and smiles. “The stairs were always the creepiest part.”
“I wanted them to be safer, so I had them completely tear the old ones out and put these in. It looks mostly the same, but it’s made with better wood and once they stained the wood, I thought it was perfect,” I explain.
“I still don’t like how you can see through the steps like this, but they do seem sturdier,” she tells me as she starts up them.
I follow her up and when she gets to the second level she wanders around and admires the freshly laid wood and small play area I had made for the boys. They won’t be able to use it for a while, but it makes her smile nonetheless which makes me glad I decided to think ahead. There is a table up here and a small bar for keeping snacks, but the best part of the second level is the beautiful stained-glass windows I had installed.
I don’t know if she recognizes them, but they are the same windows from the old, hidden church in the woods between our parent’s houses. When she turns around my question is answered.
“Did you take these from the woods?” she asks. I nod. “What about the church?”
“It was falling apart, baby. I just salvaged what I could and left it. I think they fit much better here.”
“Yeah, I guess they do,” she says, grinning before heading back to the stairs to see what’s on the next level.
I know the third level will be her favorite. I had it designed with her in mind and when she gets to the top and pushes the door open, I know I did right by her standards. There is a queen bed in front of the biggest window and as she looks out over the bed, I see how much all of this means to her. She lets her eyes move around more and when she finds the area with the twin’s bed she sits down on the edge of the rocker across from it and with her hands covering her face, she cries.
I walk over and make her stand, pulling her hands away from her tear-stained face. “Please stop crying, baby. This was supposed to make you happy.”
“I am happy,” she tells me. “Everything is beautiful. I love it all, but most of all I love you. I don’t know how we’ve survived everything life has thrown at us so far, but I’ve dreamed of these days for so long. It was the only thing I had to live for while I was away. To see all of this and to feel so happy when you’re with me makes me feel like no matter my diagnosis, or how dark things are sometimes we will make it through anything. Together we can be in the shadows and be comfortable instead of feeling alone and really… it’s all I can ask for.”
“We can make it through anything because no matter what we face, our love will withstand it because it always has, and I promise you, baby bear, it always will.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Over the last sixteen months I have struggled to write this book and not only did my family push me through all the hard feelings surrounding this book and my author career, but they always did it with such grace. So, to my husband and children THANK YOU from the very bottom of my heart because I wouldn’t have finished without you. You are my support even when I’m in the dark and you all manage to pull me out every time. You fight for me even when I don’t fight for myself and I’ll never forget how much love y’all show me every day.
Jackie, you told me no a few times about the direction I was taking this story and I want to thank you because I don’t think I would’ve gotten it right without you telling me the other drafts didn’t make sense. I have so many drafts of this story where I got stuck at 30k because I knew you’d take a read and say absolutely not or immediately no. Thanks for never lying to me and telling me when I need to rearrange my ideas because I am going in the wrong direction.
Daniella, I don’t even know where to start. I know you’ve claimed Lorenzo, but you may not have to worry because I’m pretty sure most people will hate him forever. Thanks for seeing the good in his bad and hyping me up after pushing me to only give you the final draft. Our talks kept me constantly aware of my shitty side and helped me make Lorenzo truly mean as shit.
Shawna, holy shit I love to plot with you. Your tips and ideas after beta reading MPM made me strive to make this story the best it could be. Everyone has you to thank for me creating one of the strongest endings I’ve ever written, in my humble opinion. You told me what didn’t make sense and helped me tie up so many loose ends and without your feedback, I’m not sure this story would be what it is today. Thank you for being the devil on my shoulder with the fight scene too, it helped me end Ana and Olivia’s relationship perfectly *chef’s kiss*
