Rollercoaster (The Circle Series - Part 3)

Chapter 22

"Mom, what happened to the internet?!"

"Mom, I'm hungry!"

"Honey, have you seen my Giants shirt?!"

Leesha whimpered and pulled a purple throw blanket over her head. "Go away," she cried quietly. Between her mother's passing, planning a funeral with much of the family flying in for the service and a baby pressing into her pelvis, all she wanted was to be left alone with her pain and heartbreak.

Eight months after finding out she was pregnant, the baby made it uncomfortable to lie still or even go to the bathroom. Walking was laughable with her momma penguin waddle and her ankles were always swollen.

Neither Ethan nor Ellie had been this bad. Fucking Bongiovi genes!

"Mom!!"

"Mom!?"

"Honey?"

She grit her teeth together as silent tears slid down her cheeks. Her depression had sunk her low into the pits and she'd found herself retreating into her own mind, dark and cold. Her phone buzzed on the nightstand beside the bed.

Julie: Hey honey, just checking in. Hate to do it but I need your signature on the Expo paperwork before Wednesday. Can I pop in later? Jon wants to know how you're feeling too.

She hurled the phone with as much force as she could muster, against the bedroom door. She took little satisfaction when it only broke into two pieces.

"Shit! Honey?"

"Go the fuck away! Fix the internet, fix dinner and fuck off!!" She screamed from under the blanket.

"Woah! Hey, babygirl," David murmured as he soothed his wife with slow strokes over her back, gingerly sitting on the side of the bed, "what's up? Talk to me."

"Don't fucking touch me, asshole," she sobbed. "You're all acting like you're fucking helpless!"

He tried to lower the blanket to see her face but she held it tightly. He sighed softly and said, "I'll go sort out the kids but then I'm coming back up here so we can talk. Is Sam giving you hell?"

"Go..." Leesha grumbled and sniffled. Hell was putting it lightly and all she wanted was for Sam to be out. Eight hellish months of puking and cravings, zero libido one minute to dripping and salivating the next. Insomnia.

Not to mention David finishing his round of chemotherapy and the kids being of very little help thinned her patience even further. Yes, she was happy to have her husband home, but she'd hoped to have more help from Ethan at the very least.

Part of her wished she's gone quietly and taken care of it before telling the guys...before any of them became attached. The other part knew the guilt would have been too much after her miscarriage all those years ago.

David kissed her head beneath the blanket, his lips cooler than normal, and whispered, "I'll be back in five minutes." He rose and headed downstairs to fix the issues everyone had.

"Ethan!" he yelled as from the stairs, his voice becoming more distant with each step, "Reboot the damn modem yourself and Ellie, you're 14! If you can't make yourself something to eat, then you can go hungry."

"But Mom is the tech expert!"

Leesha rolled her eyes and sighed. She forced her lids shut and tried to block out the yelling. "And she's the one who makes those little heart pancakes and cloud-shaped eggs!" Ellie complained.

"You all have thirty seconds to get your asses to me so I don't have to yell anymore," David shouted, "You too, Arielle! Your mom is trying to sleep."