𝑻 𝑯 𝑬 𝑵 𝑨 𝑵 𝑵 𝒀 (18+)

ten.

                                D O M I N I C

I didn't like Amara's boyfriend. I wanted to hold no judgment because it wasn't any of my business but I didn't like him. I opted to stay out of her way, she was already aggravated with me so going to meet her boyfriend at the door like I was her father wasn't in my best interest. It wasn't until I heard Josh's complaints that I decided to go and check the guy out. He was a good-looking kid, about five foot eleven, with nice hair, and good style. He was calm compared to Amara's anxiousness. He hadn't introduced himself to Josh or Jamie which was why she was shooting him such an icy glare.

I didn't care if he spoke to me or not but ignoring my children while they stood right in front of you wasn't something I wanted to willingly let go. I would've said something but I could tell Amara didn't want any problems. She made that abundantly clear when she started over explaining Josh's need to make everyone uncomfortable no matter the circumstance. I hated it, but I let it go for her sake. Hopefully, she'd ditch him or he would learn manners the next time she brought him to my house.

If you were to ask me? I was rooting for the former.

"Amara says no elbows on the table when you eat," Josh tilted his head and slurped on his spaghetti. Sauce was covering the entirety of his mouth and he had no intentions of wiping it off anytime soon. "Amara told you to wipe your mouth while you eat Josh," Jamie chimed in. He had a piece of garlic bread hanging from his mouth, the same piece he'd been struggling to bite off for the last minute or so.

"Amara said not to eat with your mouth full Jamie."

They've been reminding me of what Amara said all evening. It started right after she walked out of the door. Amara says it's rude to not say hello when you go to someone's house. Amara said wipe your shoes down before you come inside. They hadn't listened to a damn thing she said but they sure loved telling me about it.

"Oh yeah? What else has Amara said?" Josh plopped down on his chair after sitting on his legs for the past twenty minutes and hummed, "don't tell daddy I gave you cookies before bed."

I'd have to talk to her about that on Monday.

"I want you guys to finish eating so we can all get to bed. We have an early day tomorrow and I don't want to hear grandma's nagging." I could hear Josh's next few words before he even spoke them, "I'm telling grandma you said she nags."

"You snitch on me and I'll tell her you want to go the country club with her instead of swim lessons." Josh despised the country club and honestly so did I. When Stephanie and I were still together we went for my parent's sake but the people were far too snobby for my liking. Josh hated getting his cheeks pinched by older women he didn't know and Stephanie was tired of them asking when she planned on losing the baby weight. We just stopped showing up after a certain point, telling my mother we had prior engagements we couldn't brake whenever she invited us back.

Fearing the consequences, Josh rolled his eyes and went back to scarfing down his pasta. He was done in a few minutes, Jamie leaving the last few bites of his food on his plate for tomorrow. I cleaned the kitchen up and gave each of them a bowl of fruit for dessert while they waited. Ice cream would've left them too hyper and I was exhausted beyond repair. I wanted to be present with them tomorrow and to do that I needed a good night's sleep. I couldn't be held responsible for a sugar crash, not when they were already close to dropping their heads on the kitchen table.

"Alright, first one to put on their pajamas gets extra cookies at lunch tomorrow." It was the only way I could get them up the stairs in a timely manner.