Pieces Of Us - Until I Find You Again // Book Two

Chapter 3

It should have been easy now right? I'd finally decided to stop wallowing in self-pity and take my life back. I had made the choice to fight for my family.

When I got to Emily's house to pick up the kids, my plan was to get her to talk. She'd asked me not to hit her with anything the other night at Lucy's school and I'd obliged but now things were different. She'd had a few days. And I'd been good that week. I'd showed up on time to everything she asked me to do including two soccer practices for Lucy and a doctor's appointment for Noah.

But when I pulled into her driveway I got one helluva rude awakening. Julian's pretentious black Mercedes with the windows tinted so dark you couldn't see inside was parked next to her Range Rover. I also had a black Mercedes with windows dark tinted but that's beside the point. He was a pompous jerk. I wasn't.

Apparently this talk I'd been preparing for all week was going to have to wait. I frowned as I trudged up to the front door of her house. She opened the door to let me in before I even made it all the way up the steps,

"Hey, sorry...Noah's having a meltdown."

I furrowed my brow. Noah seemed to be having a lot of those lately. It seemed like my initial self-assurance that Noah was untouched by what was going on with Emily and I was completely wrong.

I stepped inside, looking down at Lucy as she pulled her Converse on,

"Daddy, can I have a sleep over with Samantha this weekend?"

Samantha was Lucy's friend from down the street. I didn't mind the little girl, she was sweet and she and Lucy had fun. But her mother was clearly a fan and the way she looked at me sometimes made me feel like I was a piece of meat at her dinner table. It was slightly disconcerting,

"We'll see, Diz."

I heard the footsteps come down the hallway. The loud ones coming from a pair of $600 shoes. I had $600 shoes, but again, that's beside the point. I hated his stupid haircut from 1995 that put his blonde hair into a pompadour that rivaled Liam's. I hated his smug smile when Lucy stood up and hugged his leg. I hated hearing him call Emily "Baby". She wasn't his baby.

He turned to look at me, offering his hand,

"Glad to see you could make it on time today."

I resisted the urge to punch him in the throat,

"Well ya know...wanted to make sure you didn't have to deal with them any longer than you wanted to."

He smiled and turned to kiss Emily's cheek,

"I'll be home later."

Home. I hated that he used that word. This wasn't his home. I don't care if he was living here. He flashed me a smile and grabbed his suit coat before walking out of the house. I sneered at him when I turned to watch him close the door. What a jerk.

I looked down at Lucy,

"Let's get out to the truck. Time to go." She turned to give Emily a hug and kiss.

Emily reached up to tug on her ponytail,

"I'll see you Sunday night. Be good for Daddy." Lucy nodded. I took a whimpering Noah from Emily's arms. She sighed, "He's teething so he's going to be a handful this weekend. I put the medicine the doctor gave in his bag. It helps if you give him something cold to chew on."

I nodded, taking the baby bag from her,

"We got it handled, don't worry."

She cast me a nervous glance and I wasn't sure if it was because she was worried about Noah or if she was worried about me trapping her into talking. I turned and walked out of the house after studying her for a few seconds,