Forevermore

Twenty Three

One last day, I tell myself when I wake up the next morning. After today, she'll be back on her merry little way and all will be well.

I open my bedroom door and almost step on Honey when I leave. He's laying right outside my room, lost in dog slumber.

After a quick inspection to make sure no one's in the hall, I kneel down and run my hand over his golden coat a few times. "Good morning to you too."

I'm not sure why it's now, but that's when the memory of last night's conversation with my mother hits me. I don't regret a single thing I said. I do, however, worry that she's going to be argumentative today.

Good thing she tends to sleep in pretty late. That means I get to avoid her for a peaceful couple of hours.

I make my way downstairs, where I hear my brother shouting about a video game. When I turn to enter the kitchen, my dad is sitting at the kitchen table, sipping coffee as he stares out the window.

"Morning, Dad," my voice sounds as tired as my eyes feel.

He looks over at me and nods curtly. "Good morning. There's donuts if you want some. Ezra ate one of the jelly, though, so you won't be able to have two."

"Okay." It's not until I've put a maple bar and a jelly donut onto a plate that his words truly process in my mind. I wait until I'm sat across from my dad to ask, "Ezra's here?"

He nods. "They're in the living room."

Many emotions take turns entering my brain. I'm glad that Ezra and Lucas have made up since the argument just a few nights ago. Then I'm selfishly glad that I'll get the chance to see him in person today. Then it worries me that I'll grow as distracted as I was yesterday morning over a silly forehead kiss. Then I remember the fact that my mom is still here.

"Nothing's gonna happen, Indi," Dad says. "Paloma went out with Richard."

Richard? I thought her husband's name was Zachary.

But then I remember that my mom isn't exactly the most loyal person on this planet.

Richard was her first husband after my dad. They were together a whole year before news about his affair broke out.

Too bad.

All I know is, if that were me, I would not disrespect myself so much that I'd meet up with a man who cheated on me while we were married. And I would not disrespect my husband by meeting up with my ex-husband while out of town.

What a joke.

Instead of focusing on that, though, I ask my dad about the recreational baseball team he's on. And when he talks about it, he brightens in a way that I've never seen for him before.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Sundays are my 'rest' days. I don't do anything, but my brain is far from a restful state of mind. Even after my run.

Dad is cooking dinner and I'm downstairs watching Atlantis: The Lost Empire with Lucas when Mom walks through the door. I notice the way my brother instantly stiffens when he realizes it's her. I don't blame him.

We both turn our attention back to the TV.

She clears her throat. We ignore her.

She says, "Hello to you too." We ignore her.

She walks around the couch to sit beside Lucas and we ignore her.

She asks, "What has gotten into the two of you?" We glance at her, then at each other, before returning our attention back to the TV, yet again ignoring her.