“Mom! They’re back!”
My car had been returned an hour earlier. With cookies in hand, the delivery guy made his way out to a Ford pickup waiting for him, and Piper settled in the window seat. She’d been waiting for Aston to pull up, and truthfully, I’d been hiding.
“Oh, look, they’re in a sports car. Tyler must be excited!”
Piper ran to the front door and yanked it open before they even made it up the walkway.
“Hi,” she said quietly, shyness replacing her exuberance from earlier.
“Move, I want to show Mom this,” Tyler said as he pushed past her, and I frowned at him.
“Tyler, say it nicely.”
“Excuse me,” he said automatically, and then held up a video game. “Look!”
“Oh, I’m looking. Where did you get that?”
“Little A and I won enough tickets for us each to get a game! Can you believe it?”
“Oh, I can believe you probably spent a fortune in tokens to get those tickets.” I shot Aston a dagger-filled look, and he rolled his eyes.
“Mom, don’t ruin it,” Piper said. “They had fun. Plus, you know . . . you didn’t pay for it.”
“She’s right,” Aston said with a smug grin. “This was my treat. We went for a good time.”
Freaking Aston, spoiling everyone already.
“Where’s Little A? And Mara?” Piper asked.
“We dropped Little A at home with Mara, who stayed home with Denise to do her nails.”
“Oh, is Denise your wife?”
Freaking Piper, pumping for information.
“I’m going to get some water. I’ll be right back,” Tyler said, oblivious to the tension.
“Denise is my nanny. Well, not mine, but the kids’,” Aston said, looking directly at Piper.
“Oh. I bet she’s nice. We don’t have a nanny, but my friend Ashley does. She does all their laundry and cooking. Mom does that here.”
Smoothing my hand down the front of my shirt and clearing my throat, hoping to buy myself an hour, I only got ten seconds. “Piper, sweetie, calm down. No need to ramble.”
“It’s okay,” Aston said, bending a little to see eye to eye with her. “You can ramble, and I’ll answer all of your questions.”
Piper nodded, studying Aston’s face. “We have the same eye color.”
“Yes. Yes, we do.” He reached out to touch her, maybe to stroke her cheek or hair, but he pulled back with a slight tremor in his fingers.
Now my already shattered heart was dust. I’d done this, caused this pain.
“Can I give you a hug, Piper?”
His voice didn’t waver, but I knew it took a lot for him to be so hesitant. Gone was the cocky attitude, and in its place was a nervous dad meeting his daughter for the first time, thirteen years too late.
Piper nodded, and Aston pulled her in.
Tyler took that moment to reappear. “What’s going on? Piper! What’s wrong with you?” When no one answered, he turned to me. “Mom? Why is she hugging Aston?”
“Tyler, let’s give them a moment, and I’ll take you in the other room and explain.”
Aston looked up and mouthed, “Thank you.”
I led Tyler to the kitchen. I wished I could report he took the news as well as Piper.
“What? You mean, he’s her dad? Why don’t I get him? He would take me to the arcade. Dad never takes me to the arcade.”
My son was young, immature, and bruised from the divorce. I didn’t know why I expected him to react any other way.
“Tyler, listen. You can be close with Aston,” I said calmly. “He’s going to be spending time with Piper, so you can see him too.”
“Whatever.” He slid down in the kitchen chair, sulking, his video game forgotten on the counter.
“Tyler,” Aston said from the doorway. “Your mom’s right. She didn’t have a choice in how this all happened. But you’re Piper’s brother, so guess what? You’re going to be part of my world too.”
Tyler eyed him warily, and I couldn’t blame him. This was a lot for me, let alone an eleven-year-old kid.
“Yeah. Dad always says he’s going to do stuff with us too, and then he never does. Now Piper doesn’t have to be upset with him because she has you. And I’m stuck . . . and Mom gets upset. She doesn’t think we know, but we do. Right, Piper?”
Tyler glanced at his sister, who looked up and nodded. Then they both turned to look at Aston. Up until this moment, they’d only seen jovial Aston, but now they saw his hard-as-stone expression. He didn’t try to hide it, even when I gave him a death glare.
“Now, that doesn’t work for me. I don’t like to hear your mom was hurting.”
“Well, what about when your dad hurt her?” Obviously, Piper couldn’t help herself. Then again, I’d always encouraged her to speak her mind.
“Piper, I don’t think this is the time for that—”
“No,” Aston said sharply, interrupting me.
Sweat once again lined the nape of my neck, and I wished the air was blowing a bit harder.
“Piper, you’re right. My dad did hurt your mom, as did I. I hate to admit it, but this was before I knew what being a man meant. I thought I was a man, all grown up, but I wasn’t. Now, as adults, I don’t want to hear of another adult hurting your mom.”
This was all still taking place in my tiny hallway. The four of us in a standoff—a motley crew—trying to make sense of what we meant to one another and how we all fit together.
“Whatever.” Tyler shrugged, scowling. “I’m fine. You have a new dad, Piper. Good for you.”
Piper moved close to her brother and wrapped her arm around him. She was such a giving soul. If Aston hurt her, I’d kill him.
“Tyler, listen to me,” Piper said softly. “We’re in this together, okay? If Aston’s not going to be nice to you, then I’m not going to spend time with him. Yeah, Dad isn’t always nice, but now you can share with me. ’Kay?”
Tyler nodded but refused to look up.
Aston didn’t look up
