𝙱𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙳 ~ 𝚁𝙴𝙴𝙲𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝙻𝚂𝙷

𝙸𝙸. 𝚈𝙴𝙰𝙷, 𝚆𝙷𝚈 𝙽𝙾𝚃?

10TH JULY 2024
-THALIA MITCHELL-

She'd gotten him wrong, but that was her mistake. Her and Xavier hadn't been apart long, and he had already had some new girl on his arm. She looked at the picture of her, Xavier, and Kai from when they were in their honeymoon period, giddy and together. Maybe if he had listened to her or tried to help her whenever she said something was wrong, then she wouldn't have kicked him out.

"Coffee's here! What are you looking at?" Liv snatched the frame out of her hands and replaced it with a mug of steaming, freshly brewed coffee. A disapproving look quickly appeared on her face, but Thalia dodged it. Aside from her brief nod of gratitude, she avoided looking at Olivia altogether.

Olivia quickly noticed Thalia's discomfort and pulled out a bag from the side of her bed. "This came for you, by the way."

"What is it?" Thalia looked at the package and then at Olivia's attempt at looking oblivious and innocent. "Can we skip the part where we act like you haven't opened it?" Thalia laid back down in her bed, watching Liv spin around to reveal the huge slit in it. Olivia had this habit of touching things that weren't hers. If she were home when something came for Thalia, it would be open and, in her room, ready for when she got home. If she was honest, Thalia didn't mind it; it saved her the trouble of doing all that herself.

"Sports wear." She admitted. "A bunch of shorts, shirts, jumpers, and jackets. Since when are you into the NRL?"

"Since I got hired by the Brisbane Broncos." She said the name of the club like it was a fantasy, as if it wasn't real. She missed Liv's reaction as she sifted through the clothes. It made sense that they didn't want her to wear formal clothing when running around taking pictures of a sports team.

Olivia grabbed the clothes from her hands and threw them on the bed, forcing Thalia to look at her. "Tell them you changed your mind, T. There are other jobs out there."

"No, it's a good job. I like the job," repeated Thalia. She'd found herself saying that a lot more since the meeting yesterday, but it still never stuck. "The salary's good, and I signed a contract; I couldn't leave if I wanted to," she shrugged.

"Get ready for work. Wake up Kai. I'll make breakfast." Knowing Thalia's tells, Liv decided not to press on the issue any longer; she nodded, flicked Thalia's mug twice, and left the room. She gnawed on the inside of her lip as she watched Liv walk away. There was that feeling again, like she should say something. The words danced on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't get to them, or maybe she didn't want to. She didn't know the difference. Pushing the thought aside, she just did as she was told, got dressed, did her hair and makeup, and went to wake up Kai; she wanted to see him before she left anyway.

Thalia stopped outside his door to admire the childish artwork that was taped to the door, stick drawings, and a particularly ambitious crayon sketch of a dinosaur on a rocket ship. She pushed open the door to Kai's room gently, and there he was, a tiny figure bundled under a mound of blankets, his dark curls peeking out at the top. She watched him for a moment before attacking him with tickles. Kai shot up from his bed and immediately started to squirm under her touch.

"Mummy, stop!" He screamed through his laughter and thrashed around, trying to get out of Thalia's grasp. "Stop, please!" Thalia chuckled and finally let up on him. Her heart swelled with love for him, more and more as she looked at him. Smiling, she gave the blankets a light tug. Kai sat up, rubbing his eyes with his cute little five-year-old fists. Thalia couldn't help but reach out, ruffling his curls.

"I have to go to work now, but Liv will be here to spend the day with you. She made you breakfast." Kai nodded, still half asleep. Thalia helped him climb out of bed, his small feet padding softly on the carpet. He hugged her tightly, and that feeling of uncertainty she felt at the bottom of her stomach came back.