The next morning, I groaned as I rolled over to turn the alarm clock off. "Up, B," I said, shaking his shoulder. "We have to get the kids up so that we can get them to school."
"I told Isaiah that he could skip today," he mumbled.
"You did what?" I exclaimed, turning to look at him, suddenly wide awake.
"He clearly has some unresolved issues and going to school isn't going to help him with those. I think it would be best if we talked to him today. Besides, he's got good grades, and he hasn't missed any other days. He deserves a little break. Don't you think so?" Bryce defended.
"When I was a kid, you didn't miss school unless you absolutely had to. I wasn't allowed to take days because kids were mean to me. I understand that he's going through it, but I don't think that letting him skip today is going to be good for our argument against dropping out," I shot back.
"I'm picking up his work when I drop the other kids off. It's already been taken care of. It'll be like when kids had to do online school because of the pandemic in 2020. It'll be fine. Why don't you go take a relaxing shower or something while I get the kids ready?" he suggested, rolling out of the bed and wrapping his arms around me.
I buried my face in his chest. "Sometimes, I really want to hate you," I mumbled.
"I know," he laughed, heading out of the room to get the kids up.
I hopped into the shower, letting the water run over my body. "How is this supposed to be relaxing when I've got ninety-seven billion things to worry about right now?" I wondered aloud. "Cade, and Isaiah, and my dad? God."
I got out of the shower, wrapping myself in a towel. I plugged the blow dryer in, sectioning my hair off to begin drying it. I almost didn't hear the phone ring, but I saw it light up on the bathroom counter and answered it quickly.
"Kate Hall," I answered. I didn't recognize the number, so I was a little bit worried.
"Hi, Kate. This is Rhonda Sullivan. I'm calling to talk to you a little bit about your case. Do you have a moment?" she asked.
"Yes, absolutely," I replied, wrapping the towel a little bit tighter around me and sitting on the closed toilet lid.
"Kate, I have several law students that do some interning with me. Late last night, I was sent a podcast by the name of Exposing Gen Z's Most Problematic Influencer. I was shocked at the contents of the podcast; however, this is really good for us. I will be in contact with his lawyer in just a little while, and I will be pushing for this case to be thrown out. No amount of money is going to make him feel like he's not an asshole for slandering you, and no amount of money is ever going to repair the damage that he has done to your reputation with this disastrous new business venture," she explained.
I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much, Rhonda. You have no idea what a weight this lifts off of my shoulders. This has been insane, and it's only been a day."
"I know. I want what's gonna best for you and your family, okay? I will talk to his lawyer, and I will make sure that I give you a good summary on what he has to say. I'll be in contact after I have had a chance to speak with him. Have a good day, Kate," she said, hanging up.
I finished blowdrying my hair, pulling it into a loose, low ponytail before heading back into the bedroom. "What to wear today?" I muttered to myself. I pulled a pair of jeans on quickly, rifling through the closet. I settled on a Sway hoodie, pulling it on quickly as well.
When I got downstairs and into the kitchen, all four kids were already sitting at the table and eating their breakfast. "Good morning, munchkins," I greeted them, tousling Isaiah's hair as I walked behind him.
"Good morning, Mommy!" Owen yelled, running around the table and wrapping his arms around my legs.
"Daddy made French toast this morning, huh?" I asked, patting Owen's back. He sat back down, and I made my way over to the stove where Bryce was flipping another piece of French toast in the pan. "Thank you," I whispered, wrapping my arms around him from behind.
"You don't have to thank me, my love. I'm their dad, and I'm your, um, I don't know what we're calling each other right now, but whatever that is, I'm it. This is exactly what I signed up for when we got married and had kids," he assured me, patting my arm that was around his waist. "Now, as much as I love this, I need you to let go before I burn this piece of French toast."
I chuckled, grabbing a cup of coffee and pulling myself up onto the counter next to the stove. "You'll never guess what phone call I just got," I said, taking a sip.
"I can only imagine," Bryce replied.
"Mom, why do you get to sit on the counters?" Annalisa asked.
"Well, because I'm tall enough to be able to reach the floor if I start to fall," I explained, looking over at her. "Anyway, my lawyer called."
"Oh, that's fun. What did she say?" he asked. "Something good? I really hope so. You could definitely use some good news."
I nodded. "Yeah. She's gonna try to get them to throw the whole case out because of the podcast. I'm really hoping that it works. I have no idea how much more of this I can take."
"Alright, kiddos! Everyone make sure that you have their shoes on, and let's go get in the car, please!" Bryce yelled clapping his hands together.
Isaiah sat in his chair as the other kids followed Bryce out the front door. "Alright, Mom. I guess this means it's time for us to talk."