... and Forever (Next Generation: Chaos Bleeds 1)

The old Tabitha, the one with violent tendencies, would march down to the school and smack every single teacher in the face. Okay, the old Tabitha as a six-year-old may have also hit the kids for name-calling a few times.

Right now, Nathan didn’t have a poisonous bone in his body.

“You know what, kids are just mean.”

“I’m a kid.”

“You’re not mean. You’re perfect.”

“Mommy.” He groaned.

“I mean it. Some people don’t think this, but it takes a lot to be a good kid. A great kid, in fact.” She cupped his face, wiping away the tears. “You know Angel?”

He nodded.

“Well, she is one of the nicest people in the world. Some people believe she is a bit of a pushover. She’s not strong, but believe me, they are all wrong.”

“They are?”

“Angel is strong. No matter what anyone has thrown at her, she has stayed strong and sweet and kind. You see, anyone can be nasty. Not everyone has it in them to be nice.” She kissed his head. “I wish I was a little more like her.”

“But you are nice, Mommy.”

“Oh, sweetie. I’m not as nice as I could be. I know that.” She kissed his cheek. “Are you ready to go to school?”

“Mommy, don’t tell my teachers, okay? I don’t want them to tell everyone in class.”

Tabitha sighed. School politics always pissed her off, but she didn’t want to hurt her son.

“Fine. I won’t say anything. I’ll be a good mommy.”

“Thank you.”

“Sweetheart, don’t tell your dad about me being sick. He’ll worry.”

“Do I need to worry?”

“No, I can fix it. It’s fine.” She kissed his cheek and grabbed the car keys. Simon had gifted her with a car for Christmas, while she’d gifted him with a scrapbook of memories. He’d spoken between Thanksgiving and Christmas about wishing he’d been there for every step of Nathan’s development.

Even though she’d wanted to forget she was pregnant at times, Daisy and Miles had been the main two who helped her to document everything. Every little piece of her journey. From each ultrasound photo, to the day of her giving birth.

There were baby photos.

She’d gotten pictures of it all and had taken Simon on the journey with her.

Surrounded by their family, he’d cried and held her. Simon had loved the scrapbook as he hadn’t gotten one of his own. His own birth hadn’t been documented. Even though Lexie had loved him, she hadn’t been part of every single detail leading to his birth.

Dropping Nathan off at school, she wanted to go and wring the teacher’s neck. She loved fighting a lot, but what she had come to realize, there were different ways to fight. It wasn’t always with fists and rather than use them, she’d decided to fight for her life with her family. To make Chaos Bleeds, Simon, Nathan, her entire world. Rather than go in and hurt the teacher, she instead kept a nice polite smile on her face and drove to the clothing store. She frowned at seeing a line forming outside of the door. Driving around the back, she found Lexie and Natalie tossing out some boxes.

“You know they’re behaving like it’s Christmas out front,” Tabitha said.

“I put a large poster out front saying we have a new line. We’re unveiling it here, and if it goes well, we’re hoping to expand,” Lexie said.

“These were literally doodles I made in a sketchbook,” Natalie said. “Lexie saw them and knew they’d make a perfect fit or something. I had no idea they’d look so good.”

“What brings you here? Are you wanting a job?” Lexie asked, hands on her hips, giving her back a little stretch.

“Er, no, I was wondering if you knew where Simon is today?”

“It’s Friday. I’m afraid Devil’s taken him to one of the meetings with Lash and the guy from the Billionaires. James? Ugh, I can’t remember.” Lexie waved a hand in front of her face. “Can I help with anything?”

“Unless you can dress up as Simon and pick Nathan up, nope.”

“Come in for a coffee.”

Tabitha held her hand up. “Make mine a tea. I’m not drinking coffee at the moment.”

Natalie had already made her way inside but Lexie folded her arms and smiled. “I wondered when you’d, you know, figure it out.”

She wanted to deny it but she winced. “You knew, huh?”

“Your body has changed a lot, Tabitha. I see you a lot, and I can see the difference.” She pointed at her chest.

Tabitha glanced down. Her buttoned shirts were a thing of the past for the time being. She was in the stretchy kind of large shirts.

“Yep. They like to grow.”

“Does Simon know?” Lexie asked.

“No. I haven’t taken a test to confirm it, but seeing as I spewed my guts up every morning for the past couple of weeks, I’d say I don’t need a test. I have the other signs as well.” She followed Lexie into the shop.