When the Past Returns

Lazy Momma Days...Maybe Not

With the kids back in school and Teagon by her momma's side, I decided to do a little shopping. We were preparing the move to the new house. Sheri showed us her house in L.A., but Nikki didn't seem too interested. It was a two story, 7 bedroom/ 7 bathroom house that was 7,501 sq ft. "There's got to be something better." He had said after we were in the car. We continued searching after that. He found the house we're moving into now. It's in Santa Monica, a mile away from the beach. Eight bedrooms and 10.5 bathrooms with a Japanese garden. Nikki knows me too well. So, here we are at target, getting new curtains for every room, bed sets, and little things here and there. "Black-out curtains for me and daddy." I mumble to myself, pushing the shopping cart down the aisle. "Momma, I get my own room, right?" Tiggy asks, pulling at her pigtails. "Yes, now stop that. Daddy worked hard on those." I say, gently smacking her hands away. "But, they hurt." She whines. I sigh. "Alright, let me see." I take the ponytail holders out slowly and slid them on my wrist. "Better?" I ask, starting to push the cart again. She nods and starts looking at the curtains. "I want butterfly ones." She says, pointing to them. I pick them up, look at them, and find another one. "Pick. I think this one," I shake the one she picks out, "is better, but it's your room. What's your pick?" I ask. "Mine." She grabs for her original pick and tosses it in the shopping cart.

"Dadddddddddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!" Teagon screams. She jumps out of her car seat after I unstrap her and runs to greet Nikki. "Hey, munchkin. What'd you get?" He asks, picking her up and looking at the new Cabbage Patch Kid I bought her. "What is everybody doing here?" I ask, looking at the cars parked in the driveway to the new house. Vince's, Mick's, and Tommy's cars were parked behind Nikki's and the family van. "They're helping with the moving. But, now they're in the pool, taking a break." He says, wrapping his arm around my waist and kissing me. "Ew, daddy." Tig shrieks, giggling. "You don't like kisses, Tiggy-poo?" He asks before attacking her. "Daddy, no!!" She laughs, pushing his face away. "We thought we heard goofballs. Hey, girls." Tommy says, hugging me while he dripping wet. "Hey, Tommy. I hope you cleaned the pool before you got in it." I say, pulling my now wet shirt away from my body. "Yeah, no worries. We cleaned it." He says, laughing slightly. "Your house is fucking amazing, Abs. We didn't think you'd get Nikki to get something like this." Vince says, hugging me too, dripping as well. "We needed something peaceful." I laugh. Mick hugs me, not so wetly. "Storm got sick, so I went and picked her up for you." He says, motioning towards the house. "Thank you. I didn't know she was sick. She's in which room?" I say, walking towards the house. "One of the smaller ones upstairs. I'll take you to her." Mick says, grabbing my hand. "Okay, Tiggy, I'll be back. Don't take any of the heavy things." I say, walking with Mick into the almost fully furnished house. Walking up the floating stairs, I get the feeling of falling. Come on, Abby. You were tumbling from a silk cloth that hung from a rafter. You'll be fine, I tell myself. We get to the top and walk into Storm's new room to see her with a boy. He was a black haired, skater kid who had his one hand tangled in my daughter's hair and the other on her hip. "Storm Breanne Sixx!" I yell at the top of my lungs. "Oh, crap. Who's the old lady, Storm?" The kid asks, kissing her neck. She looks at me, feared. But it isn't me she's fearing. It's him. I rip him off her and pin him to the wall. "What do you think you're doing to her?" I ask through my teeth. "What's going on?" I hear Nikki ask. "Not now." I growl. "Abby, what's going on?!" He demands, holding down my empty hand. "Dad, I'll explain later." Storm whispers, pulling me away.

Later, before bed at the old house, I decide to go see how Storm is. "You're upset with me, aren't you, mom?" She asks, no emotion in her voice. "I'm not. I need to know what happened though. Mick told me you were picked up from school. Were you really not feeling good?" I ask, running my fingers through her hair. "I didn't feel good. I called dad 'cause I knew you went shopping with Tig and Uncle Mick came. He drove me to the new house and I guess someone, that guy, Michael Hughes, followed us. He crawled in through my window and forced me to kiss him, mom. I didn't want to. Please believe me." Storm says, her eyes clouding with tears. "Honey, don't cry, okay? I believe you. It's okay. I'll go to the school tomorrow if you want. Beat him up," this makes her laugh, "Just don't worry. It'll be okay. I believe you. I love you, my sweet Storm. Don't worry. We'll go to school tomorrow. Go to sleep. I love you and sweet dreams." I say, pulling her close and kissing her head. "I love you, too, mom. Goodnight." She says, laying down and pulling the sheets up to her neck.

The next morning, I'm up early, as usual, making breakfast for the family of nine. Bagels and egg sandwiches with bacon and a glass of orange juice. "It's finally Friday. Thank god!" Gunner says, taking the last bite of bacon. "It's only the third week of school." Nikki says, cutting Teagon's bagel into fourths. "But, we high schoolers have a lot of work to be done." Juniper says, her head held high. "Really?" I ask. This child...."Yeah, I have all honors classes. Try to live up to that, Storm." she says, taking a big gulp of juice. "June, why don't you ever act like you're 16?" I ask. "We have Gunner for that." She says. "I thought you wanted a car. How do you expect us to get you a car if you don't show us your responsible enough to get one? Or that you're old enough? Hell, Tiggy could get one by the time she's 10 if she wanted by the way she's maturing." Nikki says, rubbing my back. "Wait, a car? You want a car?" Gunner asks, his eyes widen. "Yeah, you don't?" She asks like it's a big deal. "He asked for his 17th for a day of just relaxing. He doesn't want a big party or any of that. He wants a dinner with us then some cake and movies. That's it." I say, remembering the conversation from 4 months ago. "You're crazy. We can't do that one party thing anymore!" She exclaims. "I want a big party, like my 16th." She says, tossing her bag over her shoulder. "Then work for it, Juniper. We're not just going to give it to you anymore." Nikki says. "That goes for everyone in this house now." He says, walking to the backyard. He isn't in a good mood at all...