Relapse

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

“Aunt Ivy, what are we doing today?” Tanner asks, looking over at me.

A week has passed since my date with the guys and it seems like time is moving in a blur. I’ve seen them all on separate occasions throughout the week and I can’t help but to miss watching the bond amongst them, but I’m also enjoying getting to know them all individually too.

“I don’t know. What do you want to do?” Today’s Sunday and we usually don’t do much other than lounge around the house.

“Well, Coach Chase said that I could play his Xbox if you let me come over.”

A part of me should have known where this was heading. Since confirming that the guys are my boyfriends, Tanner has grown even closer to them, including sending them iMessages from his iPad, so I’m not surprised that he’s wrangled Chase into letting him come over. I have no doubt that Tanner probably tried to convince him it’d be okay with me, but the guys have been respecting my boundaries so Chase likely told him to ask me first.

I purse my lips as I look at Tanner’s hopeful brown eyes. He’s off of punishment and he hasn’t gotten into any more trouble at school. I’d gotten a personal call from the principal to tell me about how much better he’s doing but I know she was only trying to see if I was still pissed about how our meeting went. I’d decided to let my anger about the meeting go, but if the problems occur again, Tanner will be pulled from the school quicker than the principal can say unstable home, and I’ll contact the school board.

I’ve still been keeping a close eye on Tanner myself. I took him to a joint therapy session with Patricia and she encouraged me to keep bringing him in for joint sessions and find him a separate therapist for him to also see individually and it’s something I’ve been looking into.

Still, a part of me worries after him. But I know I have to relax some. “What time?” I ask.

“Now?” He gives me an adorable smile that’s hard to say no to.

“Fine, I’ll walk you over, let me grab Lilly.” I find some shoes to put on and grab Lilly’s hand as we walk over next door.

I ring the doorbell and a few moments later the door is flying open. Emmet is standing before us and his eyes are half closed before he blinks and offers a slow smile. It’s three o’clock and the sun is out but I’m not surprised that he was asleep. I’ve learned that he keeps an odd, chaotic, sleeping schedule.

“Hi.” He smiles at me before turning to Tanner and giving him a high five.

“I’m here to play Coach Chase’s Xbox,” Tanner tells him.

“Oh,” Emmet looks at me for confirmation and I nod. “Chase!” He yells into the house before leaning on the frame of the door, rubbing at his eyes.

“Long night?” I ask him.

He gives me a smile. “Long morning. I just went to bed a couple of hours ago.” He yawns.

“Work?”

He nods before gesturing for us to come in. I walk past him and he closes the door as Chase comes around the corner. He smiles at me and Lilly pulls at my hand as she tries to get to him, but I hold on to her.

“Ready to play some Call of Duty?” he asks Tanner who gives him a nod.

Lilly lets out a whine and her free hand tries to pull at Emmet to give herself some leverage to get to Chase.

“Lilly,” I fuss.

“It’s okay,” Chase says, moving over to sweep her up, much to her delight. “She just wants to play Call of Duty too, don’t you, bug?” He tickles her and she laughs. “She can sit in my lap while we play,” he says, looking up at me to make sure it’s okay.

“Okay, just call me if she needs a diaper change.” I looked it up recently and it’s almost time to start trying to get her to potty train, especially since she’s slowly but surely saying more words, but we’re still dealing with diapers for now. Chase tried to change one when he’d taken the kids to the park and Lilly had a poopy diaper. He’d ended up on my doorstep with poop on his shirt, an annoyed Tanner who hadn’t wanted to leave the park, and a giggling Lilly, so I try not to let the guys do it to prevent messes.

“Will do, come on bud.” He puts his free hand on Tanner’s shoulder and ushers him down the hallway.

I know Nathan is at work, so the rest of the house is quiet as Emmet gestures for me to follow him and I do. He leads me to his room, where unsurprisingly Charlie is laying down in the corner. She has a chew toy in her mouth and is lazily playing with it. When she sees the open door, she trots out and Emmet closes the door behind her.

“Sit,” Emmet gestures for me to sit on his bed as he starts rumbling in his closet. He grabs something off the top shelf and when he turns for me to see it, my mouth drops open.

“Oh my God.” I stand, not able to keep away from the beautiful art before me. I’ve always claimed the title of artist, but looking at Emmet’s work… I’ve never felt less adequate.

I don’t dare touch the masterpiece, but I do gawk.

A man, completely created from shades of black, takes up the portrait and while most of the image is outlined with only the barest of shading, somehow it still looks like the man is about to come off the page. The man is beautifully sculpted with inky black hair that hides his face but just barely shows a strong jawline. Pieces of the man have been cut out using lines, making him look like some sort of cyborg, but black blood drips from his hands. Printed on his chest are the words. “Shattered but not broken.”