Carolina Wren

Chapter 35

Wren's POV

Exhaustion felt like a constant pressure on my bones as I fought to keep my eyes open during second period on Tuesday. My paranoia over the possibility of being called back into the office yesterday had kept me jumpy. Then grocery shopping threw our household completely off schedule. Our pantry was finally looking less like a barren wasteland but I was rewarded with late bedtimes for the boys, exhaustion fueled temper tantrums during bath time, Juni maintaining her sleep strike, and a mountain of homework of my own.

This morning had been far from a factory reset, just to add insult to injury. Juni was being clingier than usual, and Keegan had woken up early, even after a late bedtime. His mood was on a hair spring trigger and all he wanted was to be held. Getting his breakfast in him had been a challenge all on its own. He didn't want to eat what I had to offer, but he couldn't tell me what he did want to eat.

I had hoped that my walk to school would be a few minutes of peace, a short reprieve in an otherwise hectic day, but instead it was a mental battlefield as I debated telling Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green about Juni and Keegan. Weighing the pros and cons of telling them that Sheila was neglectful or waiting until three-quarters of our household weren't on the verge of imploding in the hopes that they could find a way to keep me with all three of the kids.

On one hand, there was no such thing as the perfect day to spill that sort of information. Once they found out about the babies, it wouldn't take long for them to figure out that they're primarily with me and Sheila has very little to do with their day-to-day care. On the other hand, this morning I had seemed like the under qualified babysitter.

The blows didn't stop coming, either. It was a hot, humid day with no relief in sight and our school had some serious maintenance and upkeep issues. The A/C in the main building isn't working right so my exhaustion is being exacerbated by the stuffy discomfort of the classrooms. Not quite hot, but definitely not an enjoyable temperature for August in South Carolina. I never thought the day would come where I'd rather be out in the trailers all day.

The desk behind me creaked, making me jolt awake for the twelfth time. I sensed North leaning over his desk to whisper in my ear, "Are you alright baby? Did you not get enough sleep?" His breath was too warm on my skin with the room as uncomfortable as it was, but his thoughtfulness still gave me a small sense of peace.

"Rough night," I murmured, picking up my pen in the vain hope I'd be able to make sense of my notes later.

He slinked back into his chair, but I could still feel his attention on me. His worry. My eyes drifted to Nathan, who was still acting distant. Even the other guys had started to notice, their frowns as their eyes darted between the two of us making me feel even guiltier. It wouldn't be long before Kota was trying to play peacekeeper. He always seemed to be refereeing their squabbles and the thought of him feeling the need to step in with me and Nathan was humiliating.

My eyes were getting heavy again when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. For a brief moment, I assumed it was a text but when it kept buzzing, my heart nearly stopped. None of the guys would be calling me while I was in class, leaving the only options outside of a scam call being definitely not good.

I slipped my phone out of my pocket and checked the caller ID. The contact info for the daycare glowed brightly at me. My skin immediately felt cold as my mind flashed back to how needy and clingy Keegan had been this morning. He got like that sometimes, but other times it was an indicator that he wasn't feeling well. I've never hoped harder in my life that he had just bit a kid and that was the reason they were calling me.