Becoming Us (COMPLETE)

*Fifty*

I'm lucky. I knew that.

My boyfriends were two of the best men in the world, and they loved me. It wasn't all talk or all sex—even though that was pretty amazing—they also took every opportunity to show me how much they care, and here they were, doing it again.

As soon as I told them Mama was headed this way, we went in the house to get things ready.

"Dara can have my bed," Carey said, as he crossed the house to his room. "I'll change the sheets and straighten up."

My jaw dropped, but before I could say anything, Tre said, "I'll get your stuff out of the hall bath and put it in with ours so she can have her own."

"Okay," Carey called from his bedroom.

"Thanks, guys!" I yelled to both of them as I went to our bedroom to dig through my stuff for some comfy clothes for her to sleep in. She wasn't bringing anything with her and even though we had a couple of hours until she'd probably want to sleep, I wanted her to feel welcome.

Fifteen minutes later, I stood at the window in the kitchen, squeezing the cotton shorts and baggy tee shirt I'd found for her and staring at the driveway, waiting. If she didn't pull up soon, I was going to chew my lip off.

Tre came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. "You alright, baby?"

"What do you think finally made her kick him out?"

He sighed and pulled the clothes from my tight grip, setting them on the counter, and then turned me toward him for a hug. I leaned against his warm chest, but couldn't make myself relax.

"You'll find out when she gets here." Tre's hands slid over my stiff body, to the back of my thighs. He lifted me to sit on the counter and stood between my legs. Carey appeared and hopped up to sit beside me and the scent of them together—their colognes, always mixed with the smallest bit of weed and paint—was so nice, I finally felt like I could finally take a deep breath.

Tre pulled me closer to rest my head on his shoulder as Carey rubbed my back and spoke. "All we know is she's well enough to drive and call you. She might be totally fine. Maybe she just realized what a shit-weasel he is."

"Yeah, maybe." It wasn't much, but Carey was right, and it made me feel a bit better. All this time, I'd been afraid the next time I saw my mother it'd be in a hospital. Instead, she'd be at my house any minute where she'd be safe and hopefully, Gary would be out of her life forever.

Mama's rusted Chevy POS pulled into the driveway with the engine squealing. The awful screech cut off when she turned the key, and after a few seconds, she stepped from the car.

"Do you want us to leave and give you two some time?" Tre asked.

"No, stay." I glanced around, suddenly aware of how weird it'd be if she caught all three of us standing at the window, staring at her. "Can you find something normal to do out here?"

Carey spun around and jumped off the counter, headed toward the living room. "I'll find something for us to watch."

He swiped the remote off the arm of the chair, and Tre pecked my cheek before going to join Carey on the couch. He took one of his canvases from the table and started sketching stuff for work, the way he would any other night while we watched tv.

I stood there, watching them, and soaking up the normalcy of them sitting beside each other. My heart fluttered. God, I loved these men.

Carey pulled up a competitive cooking show and looked over to smile and give me an encouraging wink as a soft knock sounded at the door. I took a slow breath and went to let Mama in.