Vodka On The Rocks (The Uncertain Saints Book 3) (26 page)

“What’s going on?” Casten asked, taking in the pandemonium.

“Your kids decided to shit…at the same time…and blow out of their diapers…at the same time…in their crib…during nap.
At the same time!
” I screamed at him as I moved into the bathroom then dropped down to my knees beside the bathtub.

I pulled the spray nozzle down and slowly started to hose him off.

Davy and Ivy were twins.

When their birth mother had chosen us, we’d been beyond excited…and so happy.

Color us surprised, though, when we got to the first ultrasound and realized that she wasn’t pregnant with just one baby, but two.

We jumped at the chance, so thrilled that words couldn’t explain.

We’d been trying for a very long time, and it was wonderful to see the light at the end of our tunnel when it came to these two precious lives.

Water splashed on my dress, and I was thankful that that was all that got on it, seeing as it could’ve been worse.

Way
worse.

“I can’t believe you’re wearing that again,” Casten laughed from the doorway, his large hands cupping the now-diapered bottom of Ivy.

I looked down at my wedding dress, seeing the old stain from last year when he’d told me he wanted to adopt a baby, and smiled.

“I’m making good memories in it,” I told him.

He grinned and walked away, leaving me to finish cleaning up Davy.

Yes, good memories indeed.

Casten

Year 3

“Casten!” Tasha called from the bedroom.

I stood up from where I’d collapsed an hour before, completely exhausted from having to wrangle two one year olds for a fucking party that was pointless when they wouldn’t even remember it.

“Yeah?” I asked, rounding the corner to our bedroom.

I smiled when I saw Tasha.

“Can you help me?” she asked, trying in vain to reach around to unzip her dress.

I walked up behind her.

This year her wedding dress only zipped up to middle of her back, and the reason why was evident as she turned around, finally showing off her belly.

“Ahhhh,” she sighed in euphoria. “I can breathe again.”

I grinned.

“I don’t know what possessed you to wear that to a birthday party of all places,” I grumbled.

She stuck her tongue out.

“It’s a tradition. I can’t just
not
wear it because we had plans for today. I only get to do it once a year,” she scrunched up her nose.

I held up my hands then immediately dropped them to her swollen belly.

“How’s our baby doing today?” I asked, rubbing her tummy like I always did these days.

Ever since she’d started showing, I’ve become obsessed with her baby belly.

I couldn’t go a single hour when I was in her presence without touching it.

Mostly, I did it because I couldn’t believe we’d actually created a life together.

I’d never thought it possible.

Hell, it’d been nearly three years of unprotected sex, and we’d never had a pregnancy scare.

So when Tasha had come to me with her suspicions about four months ago, I couldn’t quite keep the pride out of my voice. Or my step.

I was like a fucking rooster strutting around, puffing out my chest.

“Will you go make sure their light is off before you get in the shower with me?” she pleaded, batting those beautiful brown eyes at me.

I smiled.

“Sure.”

I made my way back out to the kids’ bedroom, unsurprised when I saw the light on in their room.

They’d started climbing out of their cribs when they were nine months old. And now, at one-year-old, I was lucky if they didn’t destroy their room before morning.

I made my way to the crib that they were sleeping in and looked down at their two exhausted faces.

And felt like I was on top of the world.

Resting my hands on their backs, something that I did every night, I felt the gentle rise and fall of their chests and I realized something.

I had two of life’s most beautiful things right there in the palms of my hands.

And later that night, as my wife laid against my chest, her little belly poking me in the side, I counted my lucky stars.

Tasha

Year 10

I rubbed barbeque sauce off of the white fabric that lined my breasts and groaned.

My wedding dress had seen better days.

Maybe this would be the year that I managed to get it dry cleaned.

“How do you spell daddy?” I heard from the living room.

I didn’t take notice until I heard what he said for a second time.

“One more time, daddy.”

“B.A.D.A.S.S.,” Casten said, enunciating perfectly.

I blinked, then turned and rounded the corner of the kitchen.

He was scrolling through the television, one hand behind his head, with the other extended across the arm of the couch with the TV remote in his hand.

“What was that?” I asked Casten.

“What was what?” Casten asked with a smirk.

I smiled.

“Those letters you just told Sissy,” I said carefully, trying not to laugh.

Casten tossed me a grin.

“You heard me just fine, woman,” he returned.

I shook my head and turned on my heels, walking back to the kitchen and the dinner I was in the process of making.

I loved that man.

I loved everything about him, our kids and our life together.

And I always would.

Oxygen Deprived

Book 2 in The Kilgore Fire Series

8-4-16

Chapter 1

Men and women are different. If a man is scorned, he’ll show up at night. If a woman is scorned, she’ll show up at your job and smash your shit in front of everyone.

-Proven Fact

Aspen

I stood at my front window, eyes narrowed as I watched man after man move heavy boxes out of the back of a moving truck into the house directly across the street from mine.

Every single one of the men that were helping were all drop dead gorgeous…and I knew them all.

It was kind of hard not to when the fire station was right next door to the police station.

If I didn’t know them directly, I knew their faces; and it wasn’t a good thing, either.

They all would know my shame.

Would know that…

“I can’t believe you’re under house arrest,” my best friend said.

I grimaced at her.

“At least my job is from home,” I muttered darkly.

Somehow, in the light of day, this wasn’t anywhere near as
okay
as I thought it’d be.

In fact, once I ran out of milk, around two in the afternoon, nothing was funny. Not at all.

“This
suuuucks
!” I said loudly. “Why did this happen to me?”

There was silence for a few long moments, then my best friend’s laughter.

“Probably because you were caught beating the crap out of your ex boyfriend’s truck, and then his woman,” Parker said, laughter filling her voice.

I turned my glare on her.

“Shut your face,” I said through clenched teeth. “Or I swear, by all that’s holy, I’ll shove that coke can up your ass.”

Parker could no longer contain her laughter, and she fell to the floor with the hilarity of it all.

Me, on the other hand, yeah, I didn’t get it.

Parker continued to laugh until tears rolled down her cheeks, but I stared at her for long moments, letting my dissatisfaction show.

“I’m sorry,” she said, trying to catch her breath. “But you’d laugh at me, too, if you were in this situation.”

I sighed.

I would.

I wouldn’t be able to help it.

However, I was the one in this situation, not her, so it was hard to say what I would and wouldn’t do under different circumstances.

I crossed my feet out in front of me and stared at the blank wall where my TV used to be.

Danny had taken that while I was in jail, as well as my Xbox, controllers, dish receiver, and kitchen appliances that were small enough to fit into his mom’s SUV.

How did I know that?

Because my neighbors told me.

They’d spent hours telling me how they watched him take everything.

“Why does your cat have a note attached to her neck?” Parker asked, her eyes caught by the sight of the white paper that stood out starkly against my cat’s black fur.

“She’s a whore,” I said simply.

“Why?” she asked, crawling on her hands and knees toward the cat.

She stopped, read the note, and then snorted out a laugh.

“She’s a muffin stealing whore?” Parker asked.

I nodded.

“I was bored,” I said. “I even took her picture and submitted it to Ellen so she could be put into that pet shaming contest that everyone is doing.”

“Ellen?
The Ellen Degeneres Show
?” Parker asked
. “I don’t think Ellen does that.”

“Well, she should,” I muttered. “Speaking of Ellen, she’s on!”

I was now on day two of my five-month house arrest, and I was fairly sure by day seven, I’d very likely kill myself.

Parker and I watched about five minutes of it before she stood, stretching her arms up high over her head.

“I’m going to Wal-Mart. Do you want me to get you anything?” she asked. “I’ll drop it off tomorrow on the way to pick the kids up from school.”

I shot up off the couch and ran to my office, picking up a piece of white computer paper and folding it in half.

Once I was sure the marker wouldn’t bleed through, I picked up the only writing utensil I could ever seem to find, a Sharpie, and quickly wrote down a list.

Once I had that done, I walked back to the kitchen where I pulled out seven twenties and walked back towards where Parker was still standing, watching the show in front of her.

“Here,” I said. “This is my list.”

“Aspen,” Parker started. “This only has a TV on it.”

I nodded.

“Yep,” I agreed.

“But, I thought the chief of police ordered Danny to give all your stuff back,” Parker said. “That doesn’t make sense to get you a TV.”

I gave her a look.
“Does your brother ever do what he’s supposed to do?” I asked
. “I doubt he ever follows orders unless The Chief makes him do it, and even then he’d actually have to come over to ask me whether he gave it back. It’s not like Danny’s going to offer up that information.”

Parker grimaced.

“My brother’s a dumbass,” she muttered under her breath. “I’ll get your TV back for you, but I’m not spending this money on it. I’ll buy you groceries instead.”

“Hmm,” I said. “Just make sure you get me some cheese squares.”

“Aspen,” Parker said. “You can’t eat like that when you have no way to workout. You’re gonna get fat.”

“I’ve got it all planned out,” I said. “I can go all the way to the end of my yard on the back side, and all the way to the sidewalk in the front. It’s exactly five thousand two hundred and eighty feet if I make the loop around seven and a half times.”

She looked at me.

“How’d you figure that out?” she asked.

I shrugged.

“I got bored this afternoon, and my uncle left that roll thing that measures out distance,” I pointed to the measuring tape that was on the table next to the door.

She snorted.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll bring you some food back tomorrow. And if my brother doesn’t drop the TV off, I’ll make sure to bring you one.”

I threw my hands around my best friend.

“You know I don’t blame you, right?” I asked.

She sighed.

“Yes,” she nodded. “But I’m the one who set you up with him in the first place. I thought he’d changed his ways. Had I known he was just going to go back to his cheating and whoring around, I would’ve never given him the permission to date you.”

I gave her a look.

“Since when has my boyfr, err…your brother done anything that he was supposed to do?” I asked
. “You could’ve told him all day long to stay away from me, but he would’ve inevitably done exactly what he wanted to do in the end.”

“Well,” she said while heading to the door. “It doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.”

I stared at the back of her head. “Parker,” I said. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Stupid?” she said sweetly. “Never.”

A banging at my door woke me up.

I startled, sitting up and dislodging the cat from my feet, effectively pissing him off and justifying the attack he led on my feet not two seconds later.

“Motherfuck sucker!” I growled, yanking my feet away.

The cat looked up at me with his adorable mutant eyes.

“Go fuck yourself, Lucifer,” I growled.

Lucifer didn’t bother to look innocent anymore, instead he hissed at me.

“Fucker,” I muttered, getting out of bed as I did.

Grabbing the robe, which belonged to Danny, and wrapping it around my shoulders, I walked to the front door and peeped out the hole.

My eyes narrowed as I looked at my ex-boyfriend in despise.

“What do you want?” I asked him, looking back over my shoulder at the clock above my fire place.

Three in the morning. Awesome.

“My sister’s making me bring the TV back, and if you want it inside, I suggest you open the door or I’ll leave it on the front porch. And we both know you won’t be able to move it,” Danny said annoyingly.

“Just leave it,” I said. “I’ll get Jonah or Downy to move it tomorrow.”

Danny had the nerve to laugh.

“Go away,” I growled through the door.

He did, making sure to take the TV to the very border of my yard first.

Danny left, but not before he accidentally kicked the TV over, leaving it sprawling in the wet grass just outside of range for my anklet.

“Son of a bitch,” I growled, yanking open the door in time to see Danny speed off in his stupid nice pickup truck that we’d picked out together. Although it looked worse for wear, causing me to smile.

I walked down the sidewalk, stopping just at the edge of my yard.

I stared down at the anklet, lifting my robe out of the way, and tested it.

The instant my foot went out of range, it started blinking red.