Paradise City.

Chapter 57: Acid Rain.

Chapter 57: Acid Rain.

¬Peasnie¬

It’s been a few days since I last went to see my dad’s grave. I couldn’t go back there, not now. Not today or tomorrow at least. Today was mine and Phil’s second anniversary and he had plans for tonight and tomorrow. That means, no kids in the condo tonight. Phil’s having Dan and Melissa watch over them. Nevaeh is old enough that we can have someone else watch on her for a while. Anyways from what I’ve heard they’re gonna need to pack down on their baby sitting skills since there’s a little Howell on the way. Nobody actually knows yet, only them, Phil and me. I can’t wait, we’ve made them the God parents of Nevaeh and James and they’re amazing at that so I’m excited to see how they’ll handle having one of their own. Dan was so terrified when he found out, everyone could see it but he put on a brave face for Melissa. You see when you’ve known someone for as long as I’ve known Dan, you know by looking in their eyes what emotion they’re feeling. And at that exact moment he had sheer fear in his eyes. Dan has every right to be though, finding out you’re going to be a parent and you’re barely breaking twenty-two, that’s terrifying. I was scared when I found out I was expecting at twenty. I can’t imagine how Phil felt. I pray to God I’m never going to have another pregnancy like James’. I hated knowing there was a chance that the love of my life wasn’t the father.

James toddled around the coffee table, chewing on the DVD player’s remote and blabbered on happily. He’s recovered from his surgery nicely. The Doctor’s said that his hearing is now 50% in his left ear and 25% in the other. At least he can hear a lot better now. Nevaeh was swaddled in a bright pink blanket on the couch, sleeping soundly with a soother plugged in her mouth. James loves his baby sister, sometimes he’s jealous but I don’t think he fully understands that Nev is here to stay. He knows there’s a baby that takes up a lot of mom and dad’s attention and there’s a lot of pink, girly things in the house. He loves her with his whole heart though and it makes me smile when he comes thundering into Nevaeh’s room when she’s crying, just to reassure her.

“James,” I sang out to gain his attention. He looked at me with his bright blue eyes beaming brightly. He chomped down on the remote; luckily I took the batteries out so he couldn’t operate anything mindlessly.

“Don’t eat the remote, silly.” I told him lightly. He giggled and waddled around the coffee table to me, putting the remote down on the table before taking off towards the kitchen. My attention was caught by the buzzer going off. I got up off the couch and walked over to the box, pressing talk.

“Who is it?” I said loud enough for them to hear me.

“It’s us.” I heard my Uncles say from the other end. I didn’t say anything else, I just let them in. I grabbed James, scooping the little boy into my arms and carrying him to the couch where he sat beside his little sister. I picked up Nevaeh and put her in a basinet that was had down here. James was chewing on something else now. I didn’t need to worry about opening the door, it was unlocked. And like I expected they came in with tired looks on their faces. Seeing the four men already broke my heart, knowing that now whenever they come over it’s not going to be five happy faces. They greeted both James and me with a tight hug.

“Hey kiddo, how’re you holding up?” Matt asked as his arms tightly wrapped around me. I choked on a sob but I managed to stay composed. I pulled away from him and nodded, using very little amount of words.

“I’ve been holding up, have you talked to anybody else?” I asked shakily. Since Dad died I couldn’t bring myself to go over to the house and see if everyone’s okay. Last time I saw them it was at the funeral. I haven’t even texted Kier since then. I know that he’s been put on antidepressants and so has Bailey and Alfie is going to see a social worker weekly. The twins have been staying at Bailey’s parents’ house a lot of the time. It seems like this family is falling apart at its seams. Dad was the glue that held it all together and now that he’s gone, everything’s gone to hell.