the road and started trying to hit on her, Pixie would offer no smiles or words of praise.
Instead, she’d nail the old me in the balls and run for safety. Pixie acted clueless that day, but she moved fast with the Village fucker. My girl isn’t a peace-loving pacifist. She’s a tough bitch with a hippie’s heart.
Once we’re in bed, Pixie crashes almost immediately. I consider taking a shower since we were in the hot tub, but she looks too wiped out. As soon as her head hits the pillow, she closes her eyes and sleeps.
I take her reaction as a compliment. Pixie feels safe. Last night, I got her drunk so she could relax. Tonight, she knows her family is cuddled together downstairs, stomachs full, in a house with no rips in the roof or zealots waiting to storm inside.
Pixie’s own hunger is sated. Getting well-fucked probably helps relax her, too. She looks so small in my big T-shirt. Should I cover her with a blanket? I keep thinking she’s a child in need of protection. Yet, when we were fucking, I was the one hiding in my head while she forced me out.
I doze off to the feel of her hand in mine. Hours later, well past sunrise, I wake to the sound of Future crying. Next to me, Pixie’s spot is empty. I check my phone to find it’s almost nine.
Stumbling to the bathroom, I take a piss and notice my T-shirt on the counter. I wonder what Pixie is wearing now. The clothes Topanga brought look all wrong on my flower child.
Future still hollers when I exit the bedroom. Then I hear Conor’s voice, which somehow puts me more on edge than the kid’s bawling.
“You need to push the dials in and then turn,” he calmly explains to Pixie and Fairuza as they stand in front of the stove.
Dove paces around the living room with her red-faced brother. I study them and wonder if this is how family life will be. I can’t remember much chaos in my house growing up. I was usually locked in my room or even a closet depending on how much I annoyed my grandmother that day.
Sticking Future somewhere until he shuts up isn’t an option. I catch Pixie’s gaze, and she looks agitated. Conor is unflappable as always. Of course, his mom is a wild woman on a good day and batshit crazy on a bad one. Handling Pixie and Fairuza must be a walk in the park for him.
“What’s the problem?” I ask Conor while the three chicks eyeball me.
“They wanted to cook but couldn’t figure out the stove.”
“Why are you here?”
“Homework,” he says, smirking while gesturing toward the table. “But I think they should eat first.”
“We’ll order breakfast.”
“No, I’ll cook,” Fairuza says, fiddling with the plastic around the container of eggs.
“You’ll just burn it,” I mutter. “Why not let me order us food? Then today, you can practice on the stove.”
“What will I do with the food I don’t burn?” she growls at me.
“I’ll eat it. I need a lot of food to stay this big.”
“He has many muscles,” Pixie says, trying to calm her frustrated mother.
Future howls in misery, dialing up the noise level.
“What’s wrong with him?” I ask Pixie.
“All the fruit is making his stomach hurt. We couldn’t figure out the stove,” she says and then smiles at Conor.
“Don’t do that,” I say, but Pixie just ignores me.
I’m unsure if she understands my complaint, but Conor does. I catch him grinning while he takes a menu from the fridge and shows it to the women.
“They have egg scrambles with meat and potatoes. That seems similar to what you wanted to make. There are vegetables in it, too. We can get it delivered in fifteen or twenty minutes if we put in a rush order.”
“Always spending money,” Fairuza says and frowns at me.
“Anders is important to our club,” Conor says and opens the fridge. “He makes good money but lacked the family to spend it on. Why not let him take care of you? Then you can take care of him.”
“Take care of him, how?”
Conor pulls a container from the fridge and digs out two chicken legs. He walks over to a whining Future and hands the food to him.
“He has teeth for this, right?” Conor asks Dove, who only stares. “Here, you can eat this one.”
The girl takes hers while Future grabs for his and shoves it in his mouth. Pixie hurries over to keep the