“You’re such a girl,” Jax yells, then tries to dunk Lilly.

“I know I'm a girl. I'm a princess. Right, Daddy?” She puts her hands on her little h*ps and glares at her brother.

“Right, baby,” I say, putting my hands up on the dock and pulling myself up and out of the water.

“You two ready to get out?” I ask, putting a hand down to Jax, who kicks his way over to me. I take his hand and pull him out of the water, and once I’ve gotten him and Lilly out, Jax starts chasing his sister around threatening to hug her, causing Ashlyn to scream and run away from him.

“This is way better than the zoo,” Lilly says, and I toss my arm over her shoulder, pulling her into my side. “It’s a good thing that warm front came through or this would really suck,” she says with a little shiver.

“Thanks for giving me this,” I tell her, kissing the side of her head.

“It’s been a lot of fun.” We make our way to our blanket that we had laid out on the grass, along with our cooler full of drinks and snacks. Jax runs to the blanket, gets a towel and his extra set of clothes from the bag that Lilly packed. I have no idea how she knew that we would need all that; I guess it’s a mom thing. I take him to the truck to help him get changed and bring back a jacket for Lilly to throw on over her wet clothes. We all sit down on the blanket and Lilly hands the kids each a sandwich before handing me one. Her eyes roll back before she sits forward and pulls out her cell phone from her back pocket.

“Shit,” she mumbles, looking at her phone.

“You said a naughty word,” Ashlyn informs Lil.

“Sorry,” she says, smiling.

“Don’t worry, babe; we can get you a new one,” I tell her, pulling her phone out of her hand and looking at it. I can see water in the screen, so I know that it’s not salvageable with a bag of rice.

“I can’t afford a new phone,” she says, looking at it.

“Will you stop doing that?”

“Doing what?”

“I didn’t ask you to pay for the phone, Lil. You can get a line on my account. It’s past time for you to get a Tennessee number anyways.”

“But I really can’t afford it. I still have to pay the lawyer,” she says quietly, looking at the kids. And just like that, I’m reminded of the shit that is still happening around us. That shit, along with my ex, is something that I don’t like to think about. Lucky for us, both have been quiet lately. The case against Lilly has been put on hold due to lack of evidence. And Jules has not made any contact since she went to Lilly’s school and attacked her. The day Lilly showed up at my jobsite in tears from what Jules did to her, it took everything in me not to kill her myself. Not that I didn’t track her down and make it known that if she continued her bullshit I would make her life a living hell. But even though she’s been quiet lately, I know that she is up to something. I just don’t know what.

“I love you, Lil. You and Ashlyn are mine, and it’s my job to take care of you. So please, let me do my job.”

“It’s not your job,” she huffs out, looking annoyed.

“Yes, it is.”

“A job is something you have to do whether you want to or not.” Her eyebrows come together, creating a small crease between them.

“Lil.” I shake my head; she’s so frustrating sometimes. I lean over, running my finger between her brows. “This is something I want to do. I love taking care of you guys.”

“I don’t want you to resent me,” she says so quietly that I almost miss it.

“How could I resent you?” I run my hand down the side of her face.

“I don’t know.”

“Babe, you have to stop doing that. Are you happy?” I ask quietly, looking at the kids. They are now off running around in the grass, chasing birds that keep coming to them because they are dropping bread as they run.

“Yes.” She watches the kids and a smile comes to her face. “I just don’t want you to feel like I’m putting all this on you, you know?

“Baby,” I laugh, pulling her over to me. “If you told me that you were going to stay home from now on, that would f**king thrill me.”

“Why?”

“I like knowing that you’re at home when I get home, and that my kids are being taken care of by you.”

“Cash—”

“Hey, I didn’t say that you were going to stay home forever, but as long as you are, I’m cool with it.”

“Just promise me that you will tell me if you get to a point where you’re not cool with it anymore.”

“Where’s all this coming from?” I ask her, not understanding what’s bringing all these doubts to the surface when we have been doing so well.

“I don’t know. I’m just used to working, so me not working is messing with my head. I love being home with both the kids, but...” she trails off, shaking her head.

“But what?” I ask when her face pales slightly.

“Um…I…it’s nothing.” She shakes her head again and I know it’s not nothing.

“Lil, please talk to me.”

“Jules came by yesterday. The kids were down for a nap, and I answered the door not thinking, but I think she realized that I’m living there.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want you to be worried, and when she saw that it was me who answered, she left without really saying anything.”

“Next time she comes by, you need to call me.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine, babe, but I will not allow her to f**k with you or my kids.” I take a breath, trying to calm down. And speaking of the devil, my phone starts ringing, with Jules’ name coming onto the screen. “Yeah?” I answer on the second ring. Standing, I walk away from the where Lilly is and the kids are playing.

“So you moved in that chick?” she asks with venom in her voice

“Lilly is not a chick; she’s my woman, the mother of my child, and soon, my wife. Second, you don’t ever get to question what I do, or when or how I do it. And third,” I growl when I hear her trying to cut me off, “you do not get to show up at my house unannounced ever.”

“I think I have the right to know if there is a criminal around my son.”

“Excuse me?”

“I heard that she is a criminal.” I can tell she is smirking; I’ve seen her smug face enough to know what she sounds like when she’s doing it.

“Who the f**k told you that?” I ask, my gut twisting.

“Don’t worry about who told me, just know that I know all about her.”

“You don’t know shit. Why are you calling me?”

“I want to see Jax,” she says nonchalantly.

“Not today.”

“Why not today?” she whines, and I clench my fist. She never wants to see Jax, and she never calls to check on him. Even when he had to stay in the hospital with strep, she wasn’t concerned enough to see him.

“It’s my birthday. We’re spending the day together.”

“So you could come too,” she says in what I'm sure she thinks is a sexy tone. All that shit does to me is make me want to punch something or cut off my dick.

“Have you lost your damn mind?”

“Please, I want to see our son.”

“I will call you tomorrow and set up a time to meet up with you,” I say, hanging up. I lean my head back, looking up at the sky through the trees. I hate that I’m going to have to deal with her ass for the rest of my life. I feel arms wrap around my waist, and my hands go to Lilly’s on my stomach. I look down when I feel arms around each of my legs, and I know that no matter what bullshit Jules pulls, if I have this, I will be happy.

Chapter 9

Lilly

“Don’t touch me,” Ashlyn says from the backseat.

“I'm not touching you,” Jax says.

“Don’t touch me!” Ashlyn yells this time.

“I'm not touching you,” Jax repeats, and I can hear it in his voice that he is smiling and really trying to piss off his sister.

“Mommy, Jax isn’t touching me! Stop not touching me!” Ashlyn cries and I laugh. Looking through the rearview mirror, I can see that Jax has a finger close to his sister, but far enough away that he is not actually touching her.

“Jax, leave your sister alone,” I say, trying to sound firm, but it’s really funny so it’s difficult. I never had siblings growing up, so I have no idea what it’s like, but I love how Jax is with Ashlyn. I love that she has someone there for her. And I know that, yes, he picks on her, but let someone else try to pick on his sister and he turns into a twenty-year-old and lays down the law. No one, but no one, picks on his sister except him. Things have been good—no, that’s wrong—things have been perfect…well, that is if you don’t count getting accused of check fraud and losing your job.

The good thing is that I had my meeting with the school board and my case was dismissed. They were not happy about what happened, but after the union heard my case and saw for themselves the evidence against me was all false, they said I could return to work. And I would, just not at that school. I don’t want to work somewhere where the principal didn’t even give me a chance to speak, due to her own feelings and her own situation. I want to be somewhere that people know me and my character enough to realize I would never do what I had been accused of.

So for now, I’m a stay at home mom. I love having the kids, but I miss teaching. I have put in an application at the local middle school, and I’m waiting to hear back from them. So, things are going awesome, and we have all settled in. I’d thought that it would be weird living with Cash, but it isn’t; I love it. I love that the kids have each other. I love that I get to wake up to Cash every day. I love him coming home to the kids and me, and having family dinners. I love that his family has started acting more comfortably around me. The only thing that I don’t love is his ex. I know in my head that she is Jax’s mother, but my heart doesn’t like that very much. I hate seeing the disappointment on his little face when she is supposed to show up and doesn’t. When he does see her, I hate the way he acts when he comes back to us. I hate that Cash is subjected to dealing with her when she wants to act like she cares about Jax, then how he has to put up with the aftermath of Jax, and trying to explain to him why his mom is such a bitch. So if not for his ex, things would be perfect, and that is one thing that worries me. When Cash and I were together before, things were like they are now, minus the kids. I’m concerned about getting too comfortable, but at the same time, he makes it so easy to fall back into a place where I feel safe and loved.

“Mommy, where are we going?” Ashlyn asks for the fiftieth time since we got into the car.

“I told you, love bug, we’re going to the hairdresser.”

“Oh, yeah,” she sighs, making me laugh. I pull up out front of the salon, park, and hop out of my giant SUV. When I open the back door, both of the kids are standing and waiting for me to help them down. They each grab a hand as we make it into the building. The woman behind the counter greets us right away with a huge smile.

“Hi, I have a three o’clock appointment with Justin.” She looks over her shoulder into the back of the salon.

“He is just finishing up with his client; if you could give him about five minutes, he will be right with you,” she says, looking down at the kids. “Do you guys like to color?” she asks, and they nod. She ducks behind the counter and comes back up with some coloring books and crayons. We go over to the sitting area, and Jax and Ashlyn kneel in front of the table and start coloring.

“Lilly?” I look up when I hear my name being called. My eyes make contact with a very pretty Spanish man, and I say pretty because he has on more makeup than I do.

“That’s me.” I stand, looking down at the kids.

“You both be on your best behavior. I tell them, walking into the back of the salon. The reason I chose this place is because it is one of the only places around that allows you to bring your children with you, and while you are getting your hair done, they watch your kids.

“They will be fine,” the girl who was behind the counter when we arrived says, looking over at the kids.

“Thank you,” I say as my hand is grabbed and I'm dragged into the back of the salon.

“I'm Justin.”

“Nice to meet you,” I say as I'm sat down in a chair and a cape is tossed over my shoulders.

“I love this color, honey. Who is your stylist?” Justin asks, making me smile.

“That would be Nutrisse 6.60,” I say, and smile when his mouth opens and closes like a fish.

“This is from a box?” he asks breathily, lifting my hair and letting it run through his fingers.

“It is,” I confirm. “I came today to have you cut ten inches of it,” I tell him. Watching him smile.

“Ten inches will leave you hair here,” he says, holding my hair up to just below my shoulders.

“That’s fine.” I smile, looking at him in the mirror.

“Are you sure about this? I mean, your hair is so amazing,” he says quietly.

“Well, I really just want a change, and I think that a new cut is a good place to start,” I tell him.

“Let’s do this then,” he says, pulling a rubber band out from a drawer. I watch as he pulls my hair back into a ponytail at the base of my neck, and then pulls it down some before reaching over and grabbing a pair of scissors. “Last chance, love, then there is nothing I can do.”