Ripped - Cassia Leo Page 0,25
year.
Maybe it is. Maybe I’m being selfish. Or maybe I’m saving him from the crushing regret of wishing he’d been there more for the kids. Or maybe I’m just trying to save myself from the regret of wishing I’d been able to convince him to be there for them.
After driving around for ten minutes without Mila’s tantrum abating in the least bit, I decide to turn around and head home. She just woke from a nap less than two hours ago, and she’s still throwing a hissy fit, which means she’s not really upset about having her favorite TV program taken away from her for a week. She just wants her dad. She always gets especially mouthy and defiant at the tail end of a long absence from her father.
I call Sarah to let her know we can’t make it, though I make up an excuse that Adam is coming home earlier than expected. Pretty pathetic when you start lying to make your life look better.
“That’s wonderful. I’ll bet he’s dying to see you and the girls,” Sarah replies, and I can hear the sound of pots clattering in the background.
“Yeah, these long competitions are difficult… on all of us, especially with two babies on the way. I’m… kind of worried,” I say, trying to sneak a bit of truth into my lie, but something tells me Sarah’s smart enough to sort out the tangled truth on her own. Though, I don’t mention that I’ve noticed some strangely flirty exchanges between Adam and Lena lately. She’ll just chalk this up to paranoia, which it probably is.
“Lindsay, I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but it’s okay to ask your husband to spend more time with his kids. That doesn’t make you a bitch or a nag. For fuck’s sake, you’re going to have four chitlins running around soon. You can’t raise those little fuckers on your own.”
I laugh out loud at this gloriously foul advice. Sarah always seems to know what to say and exactly how to say it. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind when these two little fuckers come out.”
“You said fucker!” Kaia yells at me as I pull into the driveway.
“Sarah, I have to go. I have a couple of children to drown in my bathtub.”
“Good luck!”
Eight
I sigh as I dial Lindsay’s cell phone. I’m not looking forward to making this phone call. The line rings once… twice… three times…
“What’s wrong? Where are you?”
“Baby, my flight was canceled. You can check the website to verify it. I’m stuck in DFW for the night.”
“What about Lena and Yuri?”
“They got bumped onto a different flight, but there were only two seats left. I didn’t want to split them up so I let them have the seats.”
“But…” She sighs heavily into the phone. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“That’s it?”
“Well, what do you want me to say? That the girls are going to be really disappointed? That they’ve been talking about nothing but Daddy all day long? I know you don’t want to hear that. So let’s just drop it and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Fuck,” I whisper as I step onto the Skylink rail line to Terminal D. “I really wanted to be there. I miss you and the girls so much.”
“I know,” she says, her voice trailing off. “Just get some rest, ’cause these girls are gonna attack you when you get here.”
“In that case, you’d better get some rest too, because I’m gonna attack you when I get home.”
She lets out a weak laugh. “Heh. We’ll see about that. I’ve gained six pounds since you left, and it hasn’t even been two weeks.”
“Holy shit. Is it all baby or are you packing some junk in your trunk?”
“I think it’s part baby and part boob.”
“Mmm… Even better.” The train slows down as we get closer to the stop for Terminal D. “I’ll call you when I get to the room. And I promise I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.”
Once I’m settled into a suite at the Grand Hyatt, I call my dad to ask how things are going with the addition project. Parker Construction has been the family business for more than a hundred years. My dad has been running the company since before I was born. Once upon a time, I was expected to take over so my dad could retire, but I had other plans. And my dad’s only fifty-nine years old. He’s got plenty of years in him yet. Not to mention that my cousin