Leave a Trace: Book Three

Chapter Twelve: Spoiled

So tell me how I just got pulled over *inserts eyeroll emoji*
ALSO FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT DID NOT READ THE AUTHORS NOTE, THIS IS A TIME SKIP. LIAM AND LOGAN ARE 15, BENJAMIN AND BRANDON ARE 13, NICHOLAS AND NOAH ARE 11, AND VALENTINA AND VIVIENNE ARE 9.

Chapter Twelve: Spoiled

"What are you getting Dad for his birthday?" Nick asks me as I stand in the makeup aisle at Ulta. Yes, I dragged all six of my sons with me to the makeup store, and no, I don't care.

If they can't suffer through shopping with their mother, how are they going to suffer through shopping with their future girlfriends?

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" Liam repeats.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Brandon asks.

"I mean it's only July."

"Dad's birthday is next month." Ben says.

"I know that, Benjamin. I'll figure something out."

"You should get him an iPad." Logan says.

"You want me to get him an iPad so you can take it." I roll my eyes. His smile falls as he realizes I know what his intentions are.

"Yeah, I was your age once." I mutter. "I know what I want to get him, I just don't know if I can."

"What is it?" Noah wonders.

"I'm not telling you guys." I say, picking up my favorite naked pallet and walking towards the line.

"Why not?" Liam asks.

"Because you guys have a loud mouth."

"No we don't." Logan scoffs.

Sit's my turn to scoff. "Please. You guys are most definitely your fathers children. You guys have the loudest mouths ever, just like your father."

"Dad keeps secrets pretty well."

"Dad keeps my secrets because I'm his wife."

They stop questioning me. The woman rings up my pallet and watches as I pay.

"What day do we go home?" Nick asks.

"August first." I say, thanking the cashier and grabbing my bag off the counter.

"Why?" He continues.

"Because school starts on the tenth."

A chorus of groans omits from my boys. Ignoring them, I walk towards the exit. All of them rush to get the door for me at the same time, but Brandon gets there first.

"Thanks buddy." I ruffle his hair.

"Mom!" He groans, glancing anxiously at a teenage girl and her mother who walked in as I walked out. "You're embarrassing me!"

I don't respond as I walk to the car. Liam and Logan start complaining over who gets the front seat.

"If you guys can't have a discussion about it, you both will sit in the back." I say.

They drop it right away and they agree to let Liam have it on the way back to the Malibu vacation house because Logan got it on the way there.

I get in the car and turn the key in the engine. It roars to life and all the boys get in and put their seatbelts on. I click mine into place and back out of the parking spot, heading back to the house.

All of them are relatively quiet on the ride back, and I take the time to enjoy the quiet. That's something I'm not used to.

"What's for dinner?" Brandon mumbles.