✅ My Cousin's Keeper [NaNoWriMo 2021]

133. Our Household

This bonus chapter is dedicated to Ross! Thank you for all your support.

"Tess?" I called out as I kicked off the uncomfortable formal shoes. "Are you here?" Ffrances called as well, in case Tess somehow hadn't heard us come in. I guessed that it would

I could hear movement upstairs, but this time it sounded like she was in the spare room. No matter how much I tried to help her, it seemed that she was determined to keep playing at being a grown-up. I didn't know what else to do. I might have sighed with my frustration then; Ffrances could certainly tell that my happiness after today had just taken a knock.

"Don't be a bitch, Gabby," she said. "Please?"

"I won't," I answered right away. "I promise. I'm sorry, I just... I promise, I only want to–"

I might have said more, but I didn't want to have this conversation in front of Tess, and I could hear her footsteps at the top of the stairs. I stopped talking quickly, and turned to kiss my fiancée instead before she came around the corner.

When our lips parted, I turned to see Tess halfway down the stairs, looking as nervous as I had ever seen her. And behind her, there was... I blinked, and did a double-take. My first impression was that I had somehow strayed into a horror movie, but once I forced myself to think clearly I could see a figure partially obscured by bandages. And protruding from the bandages, a straggly beard that seemed kind of familiar.

Spike. The predator was here in my house, and she hadn't even asked for my approval. My fist clenched involuntarily, and then I forced myself to relax. My mind was racing now, and there were more details to account for than I could process at once.

He was hurt. I thought back to Ffrances telling me about the incident with Tess and Duke. They were in the hospital. That was what she had said. I'd skipped over it at the time because I was terrified to think that I had caused harm to come to my little girl. But if Spike was still in bandages, I knew that I should have felt guilt over that too. And I should have been angry because Tess thought she was mature enough to do something like this without my approval. But as the words were forming behind my lips, I knew right away that I couldn't say that. Ffrances had made it very clear. I had told Tess that the jerk could move in unless Ffrances said no; and Ffrances had told her that she could assume she had approval until she explicitly heard otherwise. If I went by the letter of what I had promised, that boy was entitled to be here until I could persuade Ffrances otherwise; and as soon as I thought back over what she had said in the car, I knew that I'd been the only one in the dark.

Ffrances had known that this guy was going to be here. She knew that Tess and Spike were spending the day together. I didn't know how much detail their conversation had gone into, but I knew when I looked at my fiancée that she approved of this. And she had said in no uncertain terms that I was on thin ice. I couldn't say no to whatever Tess planned. Of course, Ffrances hadn't thought anything like this would happen when she demanded that. But now I had to prove to her that I could keep my promises. I could try to persuade her later that she needed to put her foot down so that we could protect the innocence of the children.

I might have said something on impulse, and tried to take back the words. But Tess was glaring at me, telling me that Spike had moved in. He already lived in the spare room; that would have been why she was hiding all of her diapers back in the nursery this morning. Now that I knew, I hated that I'd missed that interpretation this morning.

"I said I'd ask you!" I said to Ffrances. I was already sure that she knew, but it was hard to believe that Tess had gone behind my back like this. Sure, Ffrances didn't mind. But shouldn't Tess have waited, to give me chance to ask her first? As soon as I said the words, I remembered what I had said to Ffrances earlier. And that I'd had plenty of chance to ask her today, like I'd promised Tess I would. I was in the wrong here, and there was no way to deny it. On the day I'd expected us to become a proper family, I found that there was a very real possibility of my fiancée leaving me if I said the wrong thing. Because I had lied to her.