For The Rest of my Life

Chapter 1

My Mom told me that when you give birth the second time, your parenting skills change.

I didn't believe her, but now, at 31, with two five year old sons, two four year old sons, and a two year old daughter, the word careless is an understatement.

I had to sell my car and so did Nick.

With five kids, it's impossible to keep track, especially when four out of five is an identical twin.

School starts in three days and everyone is here for an end of the summer pool party. Nick and I have been fighting for like, three months.

Of course nobody knows, but I'm starting to worry about us.

But again, he's being an insolent prick. He's trying to force Josh an Zack to ride the fucking bus when we're capable of picking them up. I know he still loves me. He tells me every day, and I tell him I love him too, because I do, but lately he's been making me want to fucking scream.

He hasn't brought up the bus thing since our last night, so he must've given up and realized I'm right. He's making sandwiches before we go out to go swimming. Everyone is in the living room.

I go out to get the mail.

When I pull everything from the mailbox, my eyes rest on a yellow card with Josh and Zack's bus number on it.

What the fuck!

Anger.

I'm pissed. The entire family is over and they don't know Nick and I have been fighting.

I know he's in the kitchen.

I go storming in the house.

I slam the door so hard that the windows rattle.

Everyone is laughing and talking.

Nobody has ever heard us fight before, because we never have gotten into a real big fight.

So when I go storming in the kitchen and slam the paper on the counter and snap, "What the fuck is this?" the entire house goes silent.

The downstairs is a complete open floor plan and you can see everything from almost every room, so everyone in the living room can see us in the kitchen.

We've been short tempered with each other lately, so he's already annoyed with me when he turns around.

"What is what?" he sighs.

"This!" I pick up the yellow card and wave it in his face.

He snatches it from my hand and skims over it, and then shrugs. "I told you they're taking the bus."

I'm so pissed.

When I get mad, I either cry or just start yelling. He never yells, but lately, he's just been short tempered with me and I him.

"No. They're. Not." I say.

"Yes they are, Evelynne." He says, annoyed. "It's set in stone."

"I'm their parent too, Nicholas! You can't just make the fucking decision!"

"I didn't." he says. "You refused to compromise, so I made the decision. I included you." He says. "I took the bus my whole life. They deserve to get every aspect of school. You're being selfish."

That's a new one. He's never actually insulted me before, or called me a name.

This is a first.

"How the hell am I being selfish?" I snap.

"You're not ready for them to grow up. You refuse to accept it. You're trying to hold them back."