Cruel World (The Tribe Book 1)

16. Mopey Trudy's Back

We're all dancing and having a good time, except for the few people we don't notice have slipped away. That is, until we hear shouting from the back of the mall. Specifically Trudy shouting, presumably at Bray and Salene, who aren't with the rest of the group.

"Well, shit's hitting the fan I guess," I mumble, and Lex, Martin and Amber all hear me and sigh in agreement.

It ruins the good mood of the party, and we end up shutting off the music for the night and cleaning up, before heading off to our rooms. The kids all look dead on their feet, so Martin and I send them to bed, saying we will clean up. Amber, Lex, Ryan and Zandra have wandered off somewhere, and the boys are in Jack's room, fiddling with more gadgets.

"It's a shame, really," I state, earning a confused look from my boyfriend.

"That Trudy had to ruin it with the shouting. Everyone was having such a good time together, everyone was happy that Cloe was back, and that we have a tribe name now, and now it's gone to shit," I explain, and he nods, tying off a bin bag.

"It really is. I just wish she'd get over that obsession with Bray, or at least stop throwing herself at him when he doesn't return the feelings. It puts the rest of us in an awkward position and then we have to deal with the wreck that Trudy becomes afterward because she can't function. And then all the bitching and moaning between the two girls," he agrees, sharing his thoughts as we finish cleaning and quickly chuck all the rubbish in the skip near the sewers.

"He needs to stop leading them both on. Like, stop it altogether or pick one, and stop messing them about and giving them mixed signals. And he needs to put his foot down better with Trudy, because otherwise she keeps becoming the obsessive puppy and guilt trips and manipulates him, and he lets her. He may as well have doormat written on his forehead most of the time, when it comes to Trudy," I say, getting a snigger out of Martin when calling Bray a 'doormat'.

We walk upstairs because we can hear Brady crying, so we want to check if Trudy needs help at all. Sure enough, she's lying on her bed, facing the wall and ignoring her.

"Trude, do you want us to take her for the night?" Martin asks gently, getting no response from the girl. He sighs and walks in, picking Brady up and we take her down to our room. She's overtired and just wants to be cuddled, as shown by her not being happy when she gets put down, so I quickly change into come tracksuit pants and a long sleeve plain top for bed, and take her from Martin so he can change. I decide to climb in bed with her, sitting with my back against the wall, figuring she might like that and will drift off eventually.

She slowly stops grumbling, now just pouting with her head in my neck, laying on my chest.

"Well, you definitely got your love for cuddles and using my chest to lie on from your daddy," I mumble to her with a smile, and she makes a small grumble of agreement, causing me to laugh softly. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Martin smiling at us.

"Are a lil grumpy baby? Not able to sleep with all the music, and your mummy letting you exhaust yourself crying, huh?" I mumble, rubbing her back in slow circles to help keep her calm, noting how that helps her just like it does Martin.

"She's a lot like you, ya know? All the same stuff calms you guys down, looks like you, got your eyes and hair, and she's a little cheeky bugger like you," I tell Martin with a smile, he thinks about it and nods with a laugh.

"Yes well, most of that is because she loves being with you, and you give the best cuddles and are amazing at calming us down or keeping us sane," he comments, causing me to blush, looking back to Brady, who is slowly drifting off in the calm atmosphere.

"God I can't wait to have a baby of our own, be able to call them ours, and not have to deal with Trudy's moods because it won't be her child. But mostly because you're such an amazing mother, even though she isn't yours. Same with most of the tribe, they aren't your siblings, but because of a chance meeting, we've become a huge family, and a lot of the time it seems like you're the mum of the pack, the alpha," he says, chuckling at the end. I smile at his words.

"It's hard not to love her, she's so happy and easy once you know how to read her and understand her. Same with the others, we're all just scared kids, and some more than others just need time, understanding and unconditional love, and I'm more than willing to provide that. A lot of the time I don't think of myself as a kid, I just turned 17 when the virus hit, I should be 18 now at least, and even before the virus I was extremely mature and self sufficient. Then again, seeing as how my mum had left when I was younger and Dad was providing for me and Jack and had to work so hard, it's no wonder," I say.

"But that's why you're the perfect leader for this tribe. Because of all that, because of your personality and how you are with them. This tribe wouldn't be a tribe without you. You're the glue that keeps us together and keeps us organised so we don't completely lose our shit," he says, laughing at the end, finally climbing into bed with me after placing Brady in her crib, her having drifted off enough we could transfer her without a fuss.

He climbs in and I scooch down and lay my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat and tracing circles on his chest with my finger. One of his hands is placed on my waist while the other moves my hair out of my face, and slowly we fall asleep, exhausted from the days events.

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I run upstairs to go and grab Brady, because Trudy seems to want to continue her moping and neglecting her daughter. As I reach the top, I see Dal and Jack carrying her into the café to Amber and Salene.

"Why isn't Trudy looking after her?" Salene asks.

"Because of last nights events and the fact that apparently Bray has left again, know anything Salene?" I snap, tired of her feigned innocence. Amber has to hold in a laugh, knowing I'm fired up.

"Here Dal, I'll take her, seeing as I'm her godmother and Martin is her father. Most likely I'll be looking after her for at least a few days," I say, carefully taking her and quickly going downstairs to my room, changing her and finding she's had an explosion.

"No wonder you're so upset, honey. Don't worry, Leia will clean you right up and get you in some new clothes," I coo at her, cleaning her up with lots of baby wipes and putting her in a new diaper after making sure to put cream on her to avoid diaper rash, particularly since Trudy has been so careless I don't want to take any chances. As I'm zipping up a new onesie and cuddling her in a blanket, Martin comes in, having finished bringing in food from the garden on the roof.

"Hey, is Trudy in a strop again?" he asks me, coming up behind me and kissing my neck gently, smiling down at Brady making her babble to him.

"Yeah, Bray left apparently, I think it'll just be us looking after her for a few days. Salene keeps trying to take her, any excuse she gets just so she looks better to Bray, it's getting sad. She tried 3 times this morning and it's annoying me," I grumble, swaying back and forth to keep Brady happy, and Martin joins, holding my hips as we sway.

"She'll learn eventually. I'm sick of Trudy doing this, it's not good for Brady being neglected, but she'll also be confused when she understands what's going on and her mother can't decide whether she wants her or not and will take responsibility. The only constant things for her seem to be you and I," he sighs.

He helps me place Brady in the carrier, and we continue swaying as if we are slow dancing, now facing each other. I move closer to him and we stop swaying as he wraps his arms around me more, us being careful of the baby on my chest. I lean up and give him a sweet kiss.

"I love you," I mumble, placing my head on his collarbone.

"I love you too babe," he mumbles back, head on top of mine as we continue swaying.

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Liv.