I was sitting in the corner of the sofa with Skylar tucked into my body. She covered us with a quilt as soon as we got comfortable. I wore shorts and a long sleeved thermal. Since the kids were here, she wore flannel pajamas that were more modest than what she normally wore. I thought she looked just as adorable in the blue and green flannel as she did in her shorty pajamas and a tank top. She thought she looked like a granny in her jammies.
Skylar and I were still talking although Nickolas went to bed earlier. Dominick came in at one like he was supposed to. I wondered if he ever did anything that was the least bit rebellious. Was there a time that he was not responsible? He thought we were waiting up for him. We weren’t. We were talking about the three chil
dren concerned for them and their welfare.
I started off the conversation by explaining what happened tonight. Dominick groaned as he plopped down into a chair. “I’m sorry Ronan. You shouldn’t have had to see that. I shouldn’t have gone out tonight.”
“Now wait a minute,” Skylar told him. “You being home wouldn’t have solved anything. Your mom was more than willing for Ronan to take your siblings home with us.”
He nodded. “She brings guys home on the weekends sometimes. I have to hide it from them as best I can.”
“Dominick, you shouldn’t have to be the adult in the family. What if we can help you?”
His head shot up and he looked between us. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know exactly.” We really didn’t. Right now, we were grasping at straws for a way to help these kids.
“But we want to help you,” Skylar told him. “We want to start by talking to your mother. She has to be made aware of what she’s doing to you three.
In the next few seconds, Sky and I both saw hope appear in Dominick’s eyes and disappear just as quickly. We couldn’t promise him anything. We might not be able to reach her but it was worth a try at this point. Then, if we couldn’t sway her into getting help, something needed to be done to help the LaBenito children. They couldn’t keep taking care of themselves but we had to be sure that they could stay together one way or another.
Chapter 17
The next morning, Skylar and I showered and dressed so we could take the kids to breakfast at the diner. The kids didn’t because they didn’t have clean clothes to wear. Dominick hoped his mother made it to work. She didn’t often miss he told us but he was never sure how she made it at times. Maddie rode with us while Nickolas rode with Dominick in his car. She never stopped talking during the fifteen-minute ride to the diner in the heart of Pointe Royal. Quietly, we looked at each other and laughed at her conversation with us.
After finding a parking spot across the street from the diner because their lot was full, I helped Maddie down from the backseat of the truck. The boys had to park even further away. I saw them jogging towards us so we waited for them and walked inside together. Maddie was holding my hand as we crossed the street. There was only a ten-minute wait for a table for a group, our size.
Dominick talked about the game while Maddie talked to Skylar about our baby. I was half listening to both children. Amazing how this felt, almost like a family. I turned and glanced at Nickolas who was watching his mother wait tables. I touched Dominick’s arm and he looked where I was looking. “Nick, you okay?” He asked also noticing the hostile look on his brother’s face.
Nickolas glanced at us both then he nodded but as we waited I could see the steam building inside Nickolas. The kid was about to blow. I moved him outside quickly last night but he wasn’t stupid. He knew what was going on in his living room. He had been very vocal about it.
The hostess came to the station and picked up menu’s. Then she called our name. Dominick walked in front of me with Skylar and Maddie in front of him. Maddie was holding Skylar’s hand now. They stopped quickly to say hello to Delilah.
The diner was packed full of patrons. Then they moved on through the crowded tables to the back where Diane, the hostess and the wife of the owner was leading us to our table. I glanced back to see where Nickolas was. He too stopped to talk to Delilah. Everything seemed okay. Skylar and Maddie already sat at our table. Dominick was about to sit down when he heard his brother shout at their mother.
“Skanky whore,” were the first words out of his mouth. Dominick rose and was right behind me. He shoved her away from him before I reached him. I grabbed him around the shoulders and pulled him back against me. He was calling her more obscenities while she stood there and took it. Tears were glazing her eyes.
“Stop Nickolas,” I said to him.
Dominick stopped to my left with his hands on his head in confusion. I glanced over my shoulder to see Maddie with her hands over her ears. Skylar’s arms around her, comforting her.
“Come on Nickolas, let’s step outside.” I guided him out the door. Dominick stayed with their mother. I passed my own parents on the way out the door looking perplexed at the situation that was taking place in the restaurant. I knew everyone was watching us. On the sidewalk in front of the restaurant I gathered the kid in my arms and held him close. “You need to talk to someone kid before you explode,” I whispered to him.
“I think I just did.” He sobbed against my chest.
I hadn’t realized that my mother followed us outside. “Ronan, what is going on?”
I turned slightly not letting Nickolas go. “This is Delilah’s middle child, Nickolas. Nick, this is my mother, Stevie Moore.”
He pulled away from me a little and wiped his face on his sleeve. His hazel eyes still looked sad and wet with unshed tears. He stuck his hand out to my mother. “Nice to meet you,” he said but his eyes were trained at the concrete sidewalk.
“Everything okay?” Mom asked shaking his hand.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Sky and I kept the kids last night so Delilah could go out. Dominick usually does but he wanted to attend a party after the game. It worked out great. We got practice at being a parent and he got to be a teenager.”
She smiled at me. “Mom, what is a good curfew for a nearly seventeen-year-old?” I asked.
She frowned at me. “Why?”