Rochdale | LGBTQ+

.Twenty Five.

It'd been two months since we kicked out Adam, and I hadn't heard from him since. Which was perfectly fine by me. I'd dropped out of school. I knew I probably could've had an academic future, but I had to take care of the littles. Libby, Wynnie, and now Finny. Finny has a really weird breathing issue. When he lays down, it's like he just gets the wind knocked out of him, because he starts panting. But he's babbling now. We got plenty of formula stocked up for him, and the girls adore having someone smaller than them to watch over like "mother birds", as Penny and I call them.

But Lucas was still in Samantha's clutches. Oh, and that bitch is five months pregnant. Turns out, she got pregnant before she forced Lucas into have intercourse with her. So yeah, that's lovely. 

Maddie isn't happy with me for dropping out, and she was pissed when she found out that Lucas got to come over and watch the shit go down with Adam but she had to be in school. I still tried to hang out with her, but the weather was getting too cold to be outside and I didn't want to risk stopping by their house with Samantha there. We talked over the phone every night, and Maddie complained that Samantha just waddled around with her big belly and demanding people wait on her hand and foot.

Since I wasn't at school, I could watch the littles during the day while Penny worked, then go to my shift at the Bargain Mart in the evening. 

I mean Greg was often there, too, but he'd gone back to his old ways. He claimed that he couldn't bear withdrawals, and went back to drinking despite Chester's protests. Speaking of Chester, he mentioned that if I wanted to take Samantha down, all I had to do was tell the police that Samantha had gotten pregnant when Lucas was underaged. Though it was technically true, Lucas had been above the age of consent. And he did consent that time. I wished I could just tell everyone what Samantha was doing to the poor guy, and instead of them all siding with Samantha or calling Lucas a pussy, they beat the shit out of her and we all lived happily ever after.

Their dad had ended up back in prison though. I thought that might help our case, but all Lucas said was that Samantha just had to make a phone call and he'd be dead once his dad got out. (Their dad had robbed a dentist's office and gotten four months in prison.)

I was starting to worry that that might be more true than I wanted to believe. After all, Mr. Sampson had been arrested for attempted murder before. What if he actually succeeded this time, and this time it was his own kid? The thought made me so scared, I considered dropping all rescue attempts and just continuing to meet with Lucas in secret to avoid the risk of him getting seriously hurt. Because that hurt way more than I wanted to admit.

But Samantha, Maddie, and Lucas had the house to themselves. So once Penny walked through that door and took of her coat I was putting on mine and walking through it as well- just in the opposite direction. I gave her a squeeze before hurrying down the steps. I didn't have a shift today, but I did know that Samantha was at an appointment. Maddie told me about it, said that their cousins were driving up to help take care of the bitch. 

I wasn't surprised when I found the door unlocked and I found Lucas collapsed on the couch, beer can in hand. I leaned over him and pressed my lips against his forehead. His eyes fluttered open. 

"Barker? What a lovely surprise..."  he opened his mouth to yawn widely, and I could smell the beer on his breath. I flopped down on the couch next to him. 

"Is Maddie here?"

Lucas looked offended for a moment. "Don't tell me you came here for Maddie when-" He broke off. "Stop fucking with me Barker," he said, swatting my arm. "You know she's at school."

"I know. Which means this house is all ours, right?" Lucas grinned and leaned in to kiss me. I held my finger to his lips. "Uhp. Brush your teeth first."