Jenna, being the amazing sister she was, had shown up as quickly as possible. Severe bribery involving new video games had been enough to lure a still reluctant Cal out of the house and over to his aunt’s for a sleepover, although he insisted on hanging on tightly to his brother. I had kept my eyes dry, my smile pinned to my lips until they had gotten out the door. I let myself have the night to cry. I finally dozed off in the early hours of the morning, my chest raw from my sobs, my eyes so swollen it wasn’t an effort to close them as exhaustion overtook me. Now that it was morning, however, I had to crawl out of my bed and face the world. The emptiness inside my was a constant, gnawing ache, as though a part of me was simply being consumed until it disappeared. I was sure Jenna was ready to be relieved of the children, and I needed to face both the boys and Brooke.

I couldn’t face a shower and didn’t have the energy to change clothes, so I simply headed downstairs. I slid on my flip-flops and pulled my hair back into a messy ponytail before taking a deep breath. I did not want to face the world outside of my front door, but it was time to suck it up and do just that. I shot Jenna a quick text, asking about the kids.

They’re awake and having fun. How about we meet back at your place?

I hesitated for a moment before accepting, I was mildly relieved that I wouldn’t have to drive with how exhausted as I was. I swung the door open, only to come face to face with the last person I wanted to see. “What are you doing at my house?” My words were frosty and brittle as I glared at the woman who had caused so much trouble.

Libby’s eyes drank in my messy hair, my wrinkled pajamas, and my oily skin as a smirk played over her full lips. “Why I was coming to check on you, of course,” she said with a simpering smile.

I slammed the door shut behind me, locking it before pushing past her. I didn’t want to give this vindictive woman a minute more of my time than was necessary. “Leave me alone.”

“I told you you’d be sorry.” The words were a teasing lilt. “Those men are mine. If they won’t be with me, I don’t want them with anyone else.”

I spun to face her, glaring. “They’re people, not toys in some twisted little game. Or didn’t you learn that in Boston?” I spat the words at her; exhaustion, depression, and anger removing the filter from my mouth.

She nearly stumbled before flipping her hair behind her shoulder with a snort. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. You authors, always making up stories in your head.”

I arched a brow, leaning back against my car. “If you’re going to try and keep your past from catching up with you, you may not want to use a derivative of your actual name or have such a large social media presence. It was pretty easy to backtrace some of your pictures to other accounts. Your accent’s fairly clear when you get pissed off. It wasn’t hard to dig up your history with a few intense hours of research.”

“You’re just a liar.” Libby spat the words at me, anger twisting her face, hard lines digging deep, makeup unable to hide them. “Who do you think will believe you, after I already destroyed your reputation here?”

I shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. “They don’t have to believe me. Unlike your claims against me, I actually have physical proof. Kind of hard to hide court records and arrest photos, right, Elizabeth?” I knew the words were a taunt, but I was done letting this woman play with me.

She slapped me across the face, and I could only stare at her, stunned. While I had wanted to punch people before, especially this woman, I had never actually been in a physical altercation. The squealing of tires behind me announced Jenna’s presence, and my furious sister jumped from the car. I shot Jenna a warning glare, turning my attention with fake smiles to a wide-eyed set of children.

“Brooke, please take your brothers into the house.” I was grateful when she immediately complied, tugging the reluctant boys to the door. I tossed her my keys. Cal’s eyes welled with tears as Brooke pulled him towards the door.

“Don’t you hurt my mom again!” he called out, glaring with all his six-year-old might at the woman still glaring at me.

“Em, go with Cal. You know he won’t calm down otherwise.” Jenna’s voice was steely, her eyes hot. I hesitated, unsure what to do, and incredibly grateful that Alex had gone to Troy’s. I doubted he would have handled this well. I didn’t want Jenna losing her temper, but Cal was crying for me, and my duty to him came first.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Jen,” I warned softly, before turning my eyes back to Libby. “You hit me again, I’ll call the cops. I have enough information on you to do some serious damage,” I threatened. “You stay away from my kids as well. If I hear even once that CPS is involved I will turn it over, every last paper.”

She snarled and rolled her eyes, though she didn’t outwardly object. I headed inside after the kids. Cal threw himself into my arms, burying his head into my neck.

“She’s a mean lady,” he murmured, his voice thick with tears.

“I’m okay, sweetie,” I said softly. “Aunt Jenna and I have it handled.”

Jake had tears in his eyes as well, though he fought them more than his brother. “I’m the man of the house now. I should go talk to her.”

I put Cal on the ground, pulling Jake into me for a hug. He was growing up so fast. “Sweetheart, it’s fine if you want to be the man of the house. It’s still my job to protect you. I’m still the mom. How about we focus on taking care of each other? I see you’re already helping Cal.” I shot a pointed look at how Cal had crept up beside his brother, one of his hands gripping Jake’s shirt tightly while the other clasped onto my arm.

“I can’t believe someone hit you.” Brooke’s voice was full of awed horror.

I shook my head, trying on a smile as I focused back on Cal. “Did you have fun with Aunt Jenna?”

Cal’s eyes widened as he scrabbled for the small pack on his back. “She gave us two new video games!” He tugged at the zipper trying to release them, and I laughed.

“Jake, mind taking your brother and helping set up the video games? It would be a huge help for me.” Jake puffed up his chest, sliding the bag from his brother’s back and taking his hand in his.

“Come on, Cal. Let’s see if you can beat me.” The taunt caused a smile to tug at my lips. He may be trying to be a grown up, but my little boy was still in there, competitive and driven to tease his siblings.

I turned back to my daughter, who still wouldn’t meet my eyes as she stared at the door. “I’ll talk to you in a second, okay, Brooke? We’re due for quite a chat here.”

“You’re not going back out there!” Worried eyes finally pulled back to mine. “She actually hit you. You should call the cops.”

“I’m just checking on Jenna,” I assured her. “I don’t think she’ll make that mistake again.” I pulled the door open in time to see a raging Jenna pressed nearly face to face with Libby. Both’s mouths were moving, though I was too far away to hear what was actually being said between them. If the pure fury on their faces were any indication, no apologies were forthcoming. Before I could say a word Jenna’s fist whipped up, smashing hard into Libby’s nose. Blood flew and Libby shrieked, her perfectly manicured hands clamping over her nose as blood spurted between her clenching fingers. She fled to her car as Jenna glared after her. “She’ll call the cops on you,” I called out to Jenna, watching Libby peel away from the curb.

“Let her. It’s her word against ours. She hit you and was threatening me.” Jenna continued to stare after the retreating car, nearly vibrating with anger. She turned to face me, color high in her cheeks and her breathing hard as she came up the path to the porch. “You going to be okay?” Her voice was lower now, her eyes searching as she looked over my shoulder. I assumed Brooke was standing there in as much awe as I was in.

“I’m fine, Jenna.” She snorted, clearly not believing me. She looked me up and down pointedly, before turning her attention back to Brooke.

“You remember what I said.” The words were a warning, and it was my turn to snort.

“I’ll handle it, Jenna. Thank you again for jumping in to help. It meant the world to me.”

“Anytime, little sis.” She hissed out a breath, shaking her hand. “Man, that’s harder than I remember it being.”

The laugh that burbled from my throat felt good, and I could only shake my head. “Go ice your hand, Rambo. I’ll talk to you later.”

I watched her climb into her car before I turned to Brooke. “Upstairs, young lady. We still need to have that talk.” I followed her up the stairs, closing the door of her bedroom tightly behind us.

“I want to go live with Dad.” Brooke’s words tumbled out in a rush as the door closed with a snap. I resisted the urge to lean my head against it, squeezing my eyes tightly against the rush of pain.

“You said you couldn’t bear to live with your dad. You just started on dance team here, you want to go to college here,” I pointed out to her. “Not to mention that by the time we got an actual custody exchange through the courts you’d already be eighteen.”

She shrugged, acting nonchalant as she flopped onto her bed. “So don’t go through the court. I’m old enough to make the decision for myself.”

“You’re seventeen. You’re angry. I get that, but the world can’t bend to suit what you want.”

“Oh, so it’s only what you want?” Her eyes flared for a moment. “I already told Dad I wanted to move in with him. He said to have you and me video chat with him today.” I hesitated a moment, unsure of my footing. I probably shouldn’t be surprised that she already reached out to him, he was her father after all. Yet I was used to there being a distance between the two of them. I expected her to turn to Jenna, not him.

“I’m going to call your father in a second here.” I was unsure of what his reaction would be and didn’t really want to find out in front of Brooke. The last thing she needed at this point was her father’s disgust and anger at her mother. I wondered if he’d ask for all the kids, or if he was simply considering Brooke living with him because she had asked him. “For now, know that your grounding still stands. No matter how angry you get, speaking to me like that isn’t appropriate.” She wilted slightly under my glare.

“Aunt Jenna said the same thing. I thought she was going to slap me when she heard about it from Cal and Jake.”

“She wouldn't hit you.”

Brooke scoffed. “Apparently none of you are what I thought you were, so how do I know that? Besides she hauled off and hit that woman outside.” She paused for a moment and scowled. “That terrible woman. I’ve seen her around before, she talks to some of the dance moms. Who is she?”

“A nightmare,” I muttered. “She’s not your concern. Give me a bit to talk to your father before we take things further. I meant it, though, Brooke. No phone, no laptop, no computer, no t.v. You are seriously grounded.” She grimaced but didn’t fight me, simply flopping back onto her bed to stare at the ceiling. I stepped from the room, shutting the door firmly behind me before heading to my own.

Fear tickled along my spine, licking at the residual anger and depression that lingered in me. I was surprised that she would have reached out to him, hesitant and edgy that he was partially aware of the situation and he hadn’t called me himself, nauseated and scared that he would try to take our children away. I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself as I settled onto my bed, choosing to use my laptop for a video call rather than my cell. I could read his face better than his voice, and I needed as big of an edge as I could get. I knew it was early there, barely six a.m. in California, but I wasn’t willing to wait. If I was going to face everything, I may as well get it all done in twenty-four hours.