My Little Bump

Chapter 34

I run to him wrapping my arms around his middle. He stands in place, his body quivering for a moment before wrapping his arms around me. He lays his head on my shoulder sniffling. I hug him tighter, digging my face into his shirt.

"Hey guys! I found out that Charlie is a Yorkshire Terrier, Yorkie for shor- what's going on?" She asks, finally looking up from her phone she stole back to see us. I pull away from Ken and look over at Kate. She watches us with a weirded out expression.

"Ken's m-moving out of the c-country." I tell her. Instead of a saddened expression, she becomes angered. She stomps into Kathy's room and slams the door shut. It's soundproof, so I'm scared to see her walk back out.

I expect her to come back out screaming, but instead see her stumble out with the door slamming behind her. She looks up to us with a discouraged expression. Her head drops and she walks to Ken silently. She wraps her arms around him tightly and buries her face into his chest as I did. He hugs her back and it's silent for a while.

We all end up sitting on the couch with Kate and me on either side of Ken. Our sobs have reduced to sniffles with a few stray away tears falling.

The boys race down the stairs quietly with Charlie in Caden's hands. He peeks around the corner before running to us giggling with Tommy. "Ken put Charlie in our room last ni- what's wrong?" Caden asks, finally realizing our predicament.

"Ken's leaving the country." Kate says, discouraged. Caden becomes depressed immediately, dropping his head and letting a few tears fall.

"But what about the weekends?" He asks us, still with a lowered head.

"Kathy's forcing me to leave." Ken responds, his voice cracking. "I have to do what she says until I'm eighteen."

"How much longer until you're eighteen?" Caden asks hopefully. I close my eyes, knowing his answer.

"A few months." He says as if it's painful to tell. Caden doesn't say anymore. He climbs onto Ken's lap and curls up into a ball, lying his head on his chest. He lets go of Charlie, who also lies down on Ken's lap.

Tommy doesn't say anything. He sits down in front of Ken's legs with a contemplative look. I watch him carefully, noticing his strange behavior. He now wears a blank expression as he stares at the wall in front of us.

"Tommy?" I say. He looks up to me, his expression changing the second I say his name. It goes from nothing to broken in a millisecond. My heart shatters the moment I see his face and I open my arms. He jumps into them instantly, and sobs into my shirt. I wrap my arms around him, fresh tears falling down my own face.

I look over at the other three. Kate rests her head on Ken's shoulder and he returns the gesture by resting his head on hers. Ken has his arms wrapped around Caden who has his hand in Kate's.

Charlie notices Tommy's sudden change in mood, and stands up to lick his hand. Tommy looks over at him and I notice a small smile creep into his face. A real smile. I haven't seen him smile in this house for a really long time.

Suddenly, I get an idea. I smile at my brilliance. I take a few moments to plan out the little details and to let everyone calm down a bit more. When I think it's alright to voice my idea, I sit up a little taller to get everyone's attention. It works.

"Why don't we hang out all day today with all of your friends at the water park? You don't have to tell all of them, we can do that." I tell Ken.

"I don't want to hang out with anyone else but you guys and Shelby. And I need to tell her." He says. "And that sounds like a good idea." He smiles at the thought. I text her immediately, inviting her over for something urgent. She texts back instantly saying she's on her way.