"Fly... Feel your mother at your side " -Glass Animals, Youth
********************************
"Cam, you know it's in his best interest."
"I said no, Catalina. Why is that so hard for you to understand?"
I huffed out a breath, putting my cup of coffee down. "Is it the money? I told you I'd pay. I don't mind."
"Of course. You pay for everything, don't you?"
I felt myself vibrating with anger. "Get a fucking job, then, Camila! It's not rocket science. You work, you get paid." The words came out through clenched teeth. "But that's beside the point right now. Leo is my nephew. Money isn't an issue when it comes to him."
Cam narrowed her eyes at me, pushing her half-eaten plate of breakfast away. "I told you. It's too soon."
"He's five, Camila. Five. He needs to be in kindergarten," I said for the hundredth time. "He needs to interact with other kids. Learn...shit. He's ready."
"I'm not talking about his age, Catalina!" Cam stood up. "After everything Leo's seen, you think he'll be able to handle being around so many kids at once? My answer is final. No."
She flounced off, and moments later, I heard her in the living room with Leo and Eve. Eve had him streaming Sesame Street, and he loved it. That was what made me feel he was ready for school. His face lit up with wistfulness whenever he saw those kids and puppets. Cam was just being fucking obstinate for nothing.
But what could I do?
***
"This is a terrible idea," Camila said for the umpteenth time.
"So you've said," I muttered, pulling into an empty spot behind a truck. I could feel my sister's anger emanating from the passenger seat. I turned to her. "Look, you can't shield him from a normal childhood forever, Cam. This is in his best interests."
"What would you know about his best interests?" she hissed at me. "You have no idea what Leo's seen, what he's done, what we've been through. You've been here, living a perfect existence. A normal one. Becoming Pussy. You don't know anything."
Deep breaths, deep breaths, deep breaths... Fuck it. "Not this bullshit again. A perfect existence? Really? You know, I might not have been through what you've been through, but just like Leo, I had a junkie for a mom. I wouldn't have been able to be where I am today without making some fucking friends."
"Mama?" Leo's voice came from the backseat. "I don't like it when you fight."
Cam was glaring at me when she said, "I'm sorry, baby. Auntie Cat and I will stop."
"Let's go," I muttered, spotting Maya approaching the car.
It was going to be a long fucking day. I half-wanted to just dump Cam and Leo on Maya and leave, but I'd promised Cam that I'd stay, since she didn't know Maya. But that was before yet another inevitable fight in which Cam either threw her past—or the fact that I wasn't a mother—into my face.
I pasted a smile on my face and got out of the car while Cam dealt with Leo.
Maya threw her arms around me, enveloping me in the sickening scent of baby powder. "Hey, P! I'm so glad you came, too!"
I weakly wrapped my arms around her and tried to hug her back. It was hard to match that kind of excitement when Cam had just pissed me off. "It's been a minute, hasn't it?"
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branded (phantoms mc #2)
Literatura FemininaOnce upon a time, there was a boy named Marlon who fell in love with a girl named Cat. Like her name suggests, she had claws --- sharp ones. But the thing about cats with sharp claws is that as much as they hiss and scratch, they still enjoy being s...