Lucky Forever - Cee Bowerman Page 0,69

wrapped theirs around me. “I’m sorry you had to hear us arguing. We shouldn’t have done that or even let it get that out of hand. I know once your dad calms down, he’ll feel the same way.”

“You have been extra picky lately,” Lexi said softly. “It’s like none of us can do anything right. I don’t understand it. I’ve never seen you act that way.”

“I’ve been different?”

“Yeah,” Leia said. “A little.”

“I still have that bottle of Midol in our bathroom. It really helped when I was super cranky that time. Do you want some?”

I tilted my head, trying to figure out why I had been so irritable.

Everything ached. My body was just tired. And sore. My boobs were so tender it hurt to put on my bra in the morning and it hurt to take it off at night. One minute I was giddy, the next I wanted to cry.

Oh. Oh, no.

“Lex, when was your last period? When did it start?”

“We always start at the same time now or within a day or two of each other.”

“No, really. When?”

“Um, you had to take me for tampons when I started because Leia had used the last one. That was the night before competition, so three weeks ago?”

I hadn’t had a period that one time, even though I had taken the green pills. I remember thinking that was odd. I’d meant to call my doctor, but never got around to it, figuring that it must be the stress of the girls’ birthday party planning.

The next month was just a little spotting and I was actually glad because I had a lot going on with Halloween coming up. I didn’t want to have to deal with cramps and was excited to go to the fair they had for Martha and Smokey Forrester’s anniversary.

And I’d missed my last period now, too. I hadn’t noticed because the doctor called in a different prescription than he usually did and the pills looked different. I remember thinking I should have started, but then thought it was something to do with the prescription being a different brand.

Lexi squeezed me a little tighter and the angle she was at squished my breast the wrong way and caused me to flinch.

Oh. My. God.

“Girls, I’m going to go and talk to Rowdy in the barn for a little bit, okay?”

“Are y’all going to yell some more?” Leia asked me.

“No, baby. I’m going to go out there and apologize for acting like that and tell him I’ll try to control that shit in the future.” I laughed, terrified about what was happening, but I wanted to reassure my girls. “I can’t promise it won’t happen, because that would be a lie. People argue and sometimes they get loud, but then when it’s all over, if it’s worth it, they apologize and try again.”

“That’s what you tell us when we fight,” Lexi laughed.

“It’s sound advice, sweetheart. Now you two head to bed. We’ve got an early day tomorrow. You’ve got to be at the school by seven for that field trip.”

“Love you, Mom,” Lexi said as she pulled away.

“I love you, Mama,” Leia told me and followed Lexi down the hall.

“I love you both. Now give me and your dad some alone time. Go to sleep, and we’ll all start fresh tomorrow.”

◆◆◆

ROWDY

I glanced up from the saddle I was polishing and saw Sierra sitting off to the side on a bale of hay, watching me work. I didn’t say anything, just went back to what I was doing, honestly worried that she was going to start fucking screaming again and then I’d lose my temper and scream right back.

Like we’d been doing for weeks.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” I heard her say softly.

“I’m sorry I yelled back,” I told her. “And I’ll try to quit being so uptight about, well, everything.”

“No. You be you. I married you, quirks and all, and I understand why you’re that way.”

“Hell, I don’t understand why I’m that way.”

“You jumped into parenthood when you had barely hit puberty. Your life was chaos and I blame your dad for that. You had to grow up way too fast because your life was out of control,” Sierra shrugged. “You learned to control the things you can. In the house, when you’re agitated about the girls or something, you sit down and work on your puzzle. Because all the pieces have a spot and they fit. Everything has a specific place and you can make it work. I think