The Ritual

“Really?” He arches a dark brow with interest.

“Speaking of girls. Looks like you lost a fight with a tree.” Blake observes Royal, her eyes looking over his scratches with disapproval.

Reign starts laughing, Ryann pulls her lips back and Royal just shakes his head. “Something like that.”

“I hope you use protection.” Ryann states.

“What the fuck, Ry? You shouldn’t know things like that.” Reign tells her.

“Condoms?” She asks tilting her head to the side.

“Sex.” Royal answers.

“I’m seventeen, not ten.” She throws her long dark hair over her shoulder and exits the kitchen.

“Dad …?” Reign’s eyes go from mine to his mothers, when he nods his head.

“We’ll discuss it later.” I tell him as Blake exits the kitchen. I follow her down the hallway to our master suit.

“Does this conversation we’re having later have anything to do with the two girls driving down our driveway at seven in the morning, or the one I watched sneak out the sliding glass door?”

I smile, she sees everything. “No. He wants to join the Lords.”

Her body stiffens. “No.” She shakes her head.

“Blake—”

“The answer is no, Ryat! You know how I feel about that.” She removes her suit jacket and throws it down onto the bed.

“We all do but he wants to join them as bad as you wanted to go to Stanford.” My wife never wanted to attend Barrington, but again, she wasn’t given that option. For the last two months her and Ryann have been visiting colleges to see which one is her favorite choice after her high school graduation next year. So, far looks like Stanford is winning.

“That’s not fair.” She places her hands on her hips and glares at me.

“I know.”

“No, I mean not fair to me. One is an education, the other could get him killed.” She snaps.

“We always told the kids that we would listen to what they want.” I remind her.

“Except this.” She pulls away from me and turns her back to me.

“You’re being unreasonable.”

Stopping, she spins around, her mouth falling open. “And you seem to forget everything you went through because of them.”

Walking over to her, I grip her hips keeping her in place. “He doesn’t need our permission.”

Her bottom lip starts to tremble, “I know.” She whispers. “I just didn’t want her to be right.”

“Who?” I frown.

“Doesn’t matter.” She avoids answering.

A knock comes on our door before our daughter steps in. “Hey, my car is on E …”

“Again!” Royal yells from down the hall.

“So, I’m going to ride with the boys to school.” She informs us.

“Okay,” Blake nods. “Are you sure you got enough sleep on the plane?”

“Yeah.” She smiles at us. “Love you guys. See you after school.”

“Love you,” we say in unison.

Turning her back toward me I hear her sniff. I sigh, “Blake …”

“We’re out.” Reign pops his head in.

“Wait!” She hollers, reaching up and wiping her face before spinning around to face him. “Your dad said you wanted to talk about the Lords.”

He glares at me and then looks back at her. Answering, he squares his shoulders. “Yeah, I do.”

She places one hand on her hip the other in her hair, and she nods more to herself than him. “Okay. We’ll talk when you get home.”

“Really?” he asks, his face lighting up.

“Really.” She tells him.

“Thanks, mom. Love you guys.” He takes off and we both stand silently, listening to doors shut, the kids argue. Then we hear Royal’s car start before they drive away. Leaving us in silence once again.

I walk over to her, and she looks up at me with tear-filled eyes. “I don’t want him to hate me.” She chokes out.

Pulling her into me, I hug her tightly kissing my hair. “He could never hate you, Blake.”

She pulls away. “I hated my dad and Valerie for so long because I didn’t understand what was really going on. I thought being truthful with them was the right thing.”

“It was.”

“How?” She points at the door. “He thinks it’s some game.”

“No. He doesn’t.” Reign understands more about the Lords than I did at his age. I jumped headfirst not knowing what to expect. I’ve tried giving him as much information as he could possibly need, knowing that this day would come. “All we have to do is listen. We’ve still got a few months before initiation even starts.”

Nodding, she runs her hand through her hair. “I guess.” She says quietly. “I just feel like my hands are tied.”

“They’re about to be.” My eyes drop to the way her silk button-up blouse pulls against her chest.

“Ryat—” She shoves my shoulder and I grab her wrists, pulling her into me. Her body crashes against mine, cutting her off.

Letting go on one, I slide it into her long, dark hair and pull on the soft strands, forcing her to lift her chin, so she has to look up at me. “We have the house to ourselves, and I have a few hours before I have to leave.” My wife has been gone for two days and I plan on making up for that lost time.