Raising Teens

Chapter 15

I'm laying in bed, facing away from Noah. His arm is around me, between my breasts, his hand in a fist over my heart.
I know he's still awake, because he keeps fidgeting.
"I'm sorry I'm such a slob." He mumbles.
I sigh slowly. He nestles his nose into my neck, resting there.
"The kids were throwing their shit everywhere." I whisper, staring blankly at the wall. We haven't even bothered shutting the light off. "They're..." I shake my head. "Where did we go wrong? I thought we were good parents."
He takes a deep breath.
"Ruby's good."
"Ruby is twelve." I mumble. "Give her a few years."
We're both quiet.
"You don't think they're going to change." He mumbles. He's not asking, he's simply stating the obvious.
"I know they're not going to change. Not on their own, anyway." I mumble.
We're both quiet.
"What do you want to do?" He whispers. His breath tickles my neck. I shiver. Immediately, he grabs the blankets, pulling them up higher. They were at my hips before.
I don't protest, I just lay there, smiling softly about how cute he is.
It soon fades away though, and I continue staring at the wall.
"Come on." He mumbles, kissing my neck softly. "I know you've got some plan in that head of yours."
"Honestly Noah, I don't think we should wait for them to fuck up again. I'm always the target, and it hurts. It hurts so much when they tell me they hate me, that they want me to die. That I should have died..." I trail off.
"So you want to send them to boarding school." He says.
"Not boarding school." I shake my head. "I can't fathom being away from them for the school year. I want to ride out the end of the school year, and send the five of them to boot camp for the summer."
He's quiet for a long time.
"What, like military boarding school?"
"No, boot camp. It's shorter, move effective."
"And if it doesn't work?" He asks.
"Then they go to boarding school."
"Are you serious?" He asks.
"Yes."
We're both quiet for a long time.
"Okay." He says. We both lay there. He starts fidgeting a lot.
I don't even have to turn.
"You're hard right now, aren't you?" I ask.
"Um...I could be risen..." he trails off. I start laughing quietly, rolling on my back to look at him. He's cringing. I keep laughing, and when I look down and see he's straining against his boxers, I start laughing harder.
"Come on." He whines. "I can't seduce you when you're laughing." He's smiling though. He puts his forehead on my chest, laughing too. I reach up, running my fingers through his hair, taking a deep breath to stop laughing.
He lifts his head.
"Wanna have sex?" He asks.
"Okay." I smile.

<><>

The next morning, I get up for the kids.
They're all still in bed.
I heard their alarms go off, they just shut them off. I open their doors.
"Get up." I say.
I'm wearing Noah's sweatpants and his shirt.
I bend over in the hall, tying my hair up in a knot.
We had sex and went to sleep. I didn't even put clothes on, we just left the door locked.
I've just peeled my naked body off of his. I go downstairs.
I threw all the food away last night.
I sigh loudly and go upstairs. I grab my coat and shove my feet in my boots, grab the keys for the Dodge, and I leave.
I drive to McDonalds and get them their favorite breakfast meals and go home.
They're downstairs now, waiting. I pass their food out.
"McDonalds?" Rose asks.
I hardly let them eat out. That shit is so unhealthy.
"I threw the food away." I mutter.
"Oh, that's right." She mutters.
They eat and drink up. I don't have any cash on me.
"Can I get lunch money?" Caden asks.
"Uh..." I hesitate. "I don't have any cash."
"I'll just ask Dad."
I don't say anything, but when he hits the stairs, I remember Noah's naked.
"Caden!" I call. "Come back!"
A couple seconds later, he walks back.
"What?"
"I'll ask him." I say.
"Why can't I-" he cuts off. "Oh." He wrinkles his nose. "He's not dressed."
"Obviously he's not dressed." Rose says. "He's in bed. He's-" she cuts off. "He's naked." She says. I just sigh, walking out of the kitchen.
I go upstairs, to Noah in bed.
I sit down, putting my hand on his bare back.
"Hey." I say gently. He shifts, lifting his head, opening his eyes a crack.
He grunts.
"Do you have any cash for the kids for lunch money?" I ask.
He yawns.
"I gave them each twenty dollars like, two days ago." He says.
I frown.
"Alright." I kiss his forehead, going back downstairs.
I walk into the kitchen.
"He gave each of you twenty dollars two days ago." I say.
"Mom, that was a week ago!" Rowan says. "Dad doesn't do anything! He didn't-"
"You're not getting any money." I say. "And how do you expect him to keep the house spotless when you guys throw your shit everywhere? All the clothes I picked up, only one of pieces was his, and it was his winter coat." I say.
"You're starving us." Rose says.
"I'm not starving you." I say.
"Yes you are." Caden says. "That was a week ago."
I sigh. A second or so later, Noah comes downstairs.
"They said it was a week ago." I thrown my hands up.
"No it wasn't." He mutters, rubbing his face.
"Yes it was!" Ruby says.
Even Ruby is arguing.
"No it wasn't. I know, because I went to the bank on Sunday to get out the money, and I gave it to all of you Monday morning. If you want to continue arguing, I'll just get the bank statement." He leans against the counter, crossing his arms.
"Fuck this." Rose walks out of the house.
The others follow her.
Brooke is still in bed because she's suspended.
"Where's Brooke?" Noah asks.
"She's suspended."
"She only got suspended for the rest of the day yesterday." Noah sighs.
I sigh, frustrated, going upstairs.
I rouse Brooke, and go back downstairs, following the kids to the bus stop.
I'm staying to make sure they don't try to ditch.
I wait until they're on the bus, and then I go home. Brooke is in the kitchen when I get there, eating the McDonalds I got. Noah is dressed.
"I'll drive her." He says.

<><>

I spent the rest of that day looking at boot camp. There's a great one in Colorado.
Noah said that our family is still in town, so I left him with the grocery list and went to Charlotte's.
I let myself into the house.
They're all in the kitchen, talking.
"Brecklyn." Mom says. "I haven't seen you since you left."
I shrug.
"How's it going?" Dad asks.
I shrug.
"I'm sending them to boot camp." I say.
Silence.
"Are you serious?" Charlotte asks.
I nod. "I'm letting them finish the school year."
"What about Rose? She's eighteen and she graduates."
"Oh, Rose has to retake senior year." I shrug.
"What? Why?" Dad asks.
"She's failing." I sigh.
"Is Noah going to coach in April?" Mr. McCarthy asks.
I sigh.
"I have no idea." I say.
"But you hope he doesn't." Liam says.
"I want him to be happy. I'll be fine, I just...the kids are out of control. I don't know where I went wrong."
"I don't think you went wrong." Mom says.
I sigh.
"I'd give anything for them to be babies again, when they actually liked me."

<><>

Noah went to coach. It's the last day of school. The kids have no idea that their bags are packed.
Rose is retaking senior year.
I'm sitting on the couch, waiting.
I'm sitting on the couch. Noah is at a game right now. Rose, Caden, and Rowan are already sitting in here, staring at the suitcases, nervous.
Rose told me to go fuck myself today, and the kids all laughed.
The front door shuts.
Noah's already been gone for two months.
There's a few minutes that pass, and then Brooke and Ruby walk into the living room.
They look at the bags.
"What's going on?" Brooke asks.
I take a deep breath.
They sit down.
"This is-" I cut off, fiddling with my fingers. "Incredibly hard." I say. "But you guys are going to Colorado for the summer."
"Why?" Caden asks.
I look at them.
"You're going to boot camp."
"Oh, no I'm not." Rose says. "I'm eighteen."
"Yes." I say. "If you don't go, you can't live here. Nobody in the family is letting you come live with them."
Silence.
"So either I go, or I'm homeless." She says.
"Yes."
Silence.
She buries her head in her hands.
"I don't want this to happen anymore than you guys do." I sigh. "But after everything that's happened, I'm not putting up with it. You're all going."
"Whatever." Rose says angrily.
So we leave, driving to the city, we get on a plane to Colorado, and we get a rental car when we land, and I drive them to the camp.
I walk them into the office.
The woman already know we're coming. She gives me a sad smile.
"I can't fucking believe you're doing this." Caden says.
"Yeah, you're such a bitch." Rowan grumbles.
She's fucking fourteen.
"Okay, I love you guys. I'll see you in August."
They don't hug me, they just glare.
The woman takes them away, and I leave.
I go back to the airport, and fly to the city.
I take the Dodge to Noah's hotel and get a key, and I let myself into his room.
It's eight at night.
My heart feels heavy and my head feels full.
I haven't seen Noah in two months. The kids have been worse than ever, and I know they actually hate me.
I won't see them until August.
Noah is in bed. He knows I took them today. He called me so many times.
The second I round the corner, he's sitting up.
I didn't tell him I was coming.
I look at him. He frowns.
I stop walking, standing in the doorway.
I drop my purse, take a deep breath, and start sobbing, burying my head in my hands.
"Oh, no." He says. "No, baby. No." I feel his arms wrap around me. I cling to him, crying.
"They fucking hate me!" I gasp. "They hate me so much, Noah! You should've seen the way they looked at me!"
He picks me up, carrying me to the bed. He takes my shoes off and tucks me under the covers, and climbs under with me, holding me tightly, running his fingers through my hair.
I cling to him, crying.
He holds me, kissing me, brushing tears away, doing whatever he can to help calm me.
Finally, after a while, I stop crying, just laying with him.
"Oh, I hope we made the right decision." I whisper.
"We did." He says.
"How can you know?" I sniffle.
He runs his fingers through my hair.
"I have faith."