Tantrum

Ch. 5 What Matters

*** Gwen's POV ***

"I'll come over." Heath offers.

"No. I need to do this on my own. I'm just..." I trail off because honestly I don't know what I am anymore.

Well, one thing I am at the moment is sober. I took Spencer's words to "dry out" as a warning of sorts. I hate the realization, however, that I am struggling without the little nip of alcohol taking the edge off my whirring brain.

"I'm coming over. You can't even form full sentences." Heath grumbles.

"Heath, no! I'm good. A little nervous maybe because I don't know how the boys are going to respond. I told them that Mr. Phillips was going to explain how this is going to happen and the possible outcomes. Mason is cautious, but relaxed a little. Tim was just silent." I share what happened after I hung up with Spencer.

"What's up with Tim? He was the one who adjusted more quickly afterward, right?" Heath questions.

"He's been in a twist since that whole thing went down at Mason's school. I've apologized and..."

Heath cuts me off. "Why did you apologize? That creep of a superintendent..."

"PTA President." I correct him.

"Yeah him, he's the one at fault. I wonder how many other women he's fondled like that." Heath rants.

"Well, from Tim's perspective, he doesn't know what set me off. Just that I reacted aggressively and got in trouble with the cops. I'm wondering if it didn't trigger memories of Tammie and Clint." I ponder. While I loved Tammie, her husband Clint was notoriously bad at staying out of trouble and he dragged Tammie into it sometimes.

"Well that kid needs straightening out if he thinks you're anything like them." Heath grunts.

"Thanks, love. Look. I better get off the phone. The boys are due home and I need them to do some chores before Spencer arrives." In other words, I need to prepare for a possible battle since they'll want to veg out as usual.

"Call me later. I want to know how it goes." Heath says supportively.

"Will do. Love you."

"Love you too, Gwennie."

Just as I expected, the boys are less than thrilled about helping me get the house ready for our visit. Mason gripes at first, but then gets moving. Tim, however, parks on the couch and grabs for the remote.

"Tim, come on. This is important." I plead.

"Trust me, Gwen. They aren't going to ship us out over a messy room and dirty shower stall." He dismisses the severity of this visit, but it's the use of my name that grabs my attention.

"When did I stop being Aunt Gwen?" I ask in confusion.

"You're not my aunt so why should I call you that?" He retorts as he lands on a channel and settles in, not even noticing the hurt that I'm not doing a great job of hiding on my face.

"Right. It's not like I've known you since birth or anything." I mumble as a new emotion takes over. I snatch the remote from him and flip the TV off. "No TV until the chores are done."