I know I should head straight to mom’s and pick up Chris. However, I turn up my street instead. I just need some down time to figure everything out. Nothing crazy. Just, like, an hour to get my head on straight about everything that’s happened today. I slow to a crawl as I drive up to my house. Chelsea’s silver SUV is parked in my driveway.

So much for that idea.

I could just keep driving. I could go until the car runs out of gas, or my heart runs out of rage, or I finally figure this mess out.

I pull in at my house and throw the car in park. Running away never solves anything. I’ve learned that the hard way. Reaching over to the passenger seat, I grab my purse and look at the pink paper card I tossed on there when I left Spalding. There’s no real point in giving it to Mack, he’ll see through Galt’s pathetic attempts at manipulation a mile away.

I sigh as my eyes travel over the drawing on the front. The effort and detail her young hands put into drawing each shaky heart. No, screw that. I will give it to him. Not because I care about my boss and his games, but because someone needs to care about the little girl who worked so hard to make this for Mack.

Grabbing the card, I head into the house to see why Chelsea’s here. If it isn’t one thing, it’s another.

“She’s here! She’s here!” My son’s cries can be heard through my living room window as I walk by it.

Stepping inside, I can see Chris hopping around with excitement. Chelsea is on the couch sipping a coffee. If she only knew what Mack and I were doing on that couch last night, she wouldn’t be sitting there. She’d probably go shower in some Lysol.

“Hey, what’s going on?” I look at my sister.

“We’re going to Elitch Gardens! And a hotel! It’s gonna be awesome!” Chris practically vibrates in his skin.

“What?” I raise my eyebrows at Chelsea, but she just sips her coffee in response. Her eyes are twinkling at me. She’s up to something.

“Good afternoon, beautiful.” Mack struts in from the kitchen holding a mug that says “Supermom” on it. He’s not the only one who gets to have a comic book alias. Although, I don’t think kids will be saving up their allowance to buy the latest supermom editions any time soon.

What is he doing here? Just walking around my house like he’s been there all his life. He holds out the mug to me. “Here you go, with a dash of milk. Just like you like it.” His signature smirk is pasted to his face.

“Aww, isn’t that sweet?” Chelsea chimes in. “Lauren, why don’t you pour that in a travel mug so we can get this show on the road. I don’t want to get stuck in rush hour traffic.” My big sister bosses me around in her signature style.

“Where are you driving? What’s going on?” I wrap my fingers around the warmth of the mug, ignoring Mack for the time being.

“Elitch Gardens! We’re gonna go on all the rides, and sleep in a hotel, and get room service too! Right Mack?” Chris jumps around like a kid on Christmas morning. If that kid was on meth.

“Whoa? What?” My eyes flicker from my hyper child to his hot-headed father. “Mack, can I talk to you for a sec?” I put the coffee down on my mantle and walk through the kitchen and out the sliding door into the backyard. I don’t check to see if he’s following. I know he’s not stupid enough to stay behind.

“Aww! Why are they talking?” Chris whines inside.

“Just give them a minute, honey.” My sister consoles him as Mack slides the door shut behind us.

Suddenly, his arms slide around me and he hugs me from behind. “I wanted to surprise you with a little treat.” He murmurs in my ear and I instinctively rest my head back against his chest. “I know today was pretty stressful for you, so I booked us a couple rooms at the Four Seasons and got us some passes at Elitch. I figure a little R & R will be good for you. Chelsea is going to share a room with Chris, so I’m going to have two days in a hotel with you to do whatever I want.” His voice grows thick with desire.

I flutter my eyes closed for a moment and feel the tension ease from my shoulders. Dr. Galt’s stupid face pops into my head and my tendons practically snap as the stress winds me back up. “Mack, you can’t just spring things like this on me and call my boss and demand he give me days off.” I pull away from him and turn to face him. “Today was ridiculous, I could’ve gotten fired you know. And you taking off and not answering my texts or calls was a pretty shitty thing to do to me. What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t thinking, I was reacting. I wasn’t going to let that asshole threaten your job because of me. I know I didn’t handle it the best.”

“Didn’t handle it the best? Mack you can’t just do whatever pops into your mind. We’re adults now, you have to act like one sometimes. I’m not sure what’s going on with you. And then you just make plans with Chris and Chelsea without even talking to me? How did you think that was gonna go over?” My teeth are clenched together so tight that my jaw hurts.

Mack stands straighter as he squares off his shoulders and looks into my eyes. “I know today was a shit show, Lauren. I fucked up.”

I can feel the anger begin to drain from my body along with my energy. “Look, I don’t want to fight with you. The truth is, I’m worried about you. Chris told me about what happened at the grave the other night,” I lower my voice and touch his hand gently.

Anger flashes in his eyes. Mack pulls his hand away. “I’m fine.” he answers tersely.

“Are you sure? Cause you know it would be understandable if you needed a little help. You’ve been through a lot. More than any of us can imagine. Chris has only been going to his group therapy sessions twice now and look how much it’s helped him. Maybe you can find a group …”

“I said I’m fine.” He juts out his chin and clenches his fists at his side. I can see him struggling with his demons and his temper. I’m not sure if he can win this battle though. Mack takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. When he opens them, the rage has passed and sorrow has crept into it’s place.

“I know that I haven’t always dealt with everything the best, ok? But I’m fine. Just let me deal with things the best way for me. Anyway, I wanted to say sorry for the way things happened today. That’s why I wanted to make it right and treat you guys to a few days of fun. I thought it would be nice to spend time together as a family.” His crystal blue eyes scan my face as my anger and my forgiveness battle it out.

“A family?” I mumble, his eyes holding me in place.

“Yeah, you, me, Chris. Our family. I asked Chelsea to come because I don’t have a car and still need to learn to drive with my leg,” he looks down at his prosthetic wearily. “And she agreed to come along and help look after Chris. Now we can start making up for some lost time together. We don’t have to hide our relationship anymore, since I left Spalding. It’s all good.”

My mind keeps dancing around the word “family”. It’s something I’ve always dreamt of, sharing my life with Mack.

“What’s in your hand?” He reaches over gently plucking the card from my fingers.

“It’s a card. The chief’s daughter made it for you.” I don’t bother telling him why he gave it to me. It doesn’t matter.

A smile creeps across Mack’s face as he looks down at the pink paper. “That’s nice,” he looks up at me, “I can’t wait to get cute little homemade cards from our daughter.”

“Our daughter?” My breath hitches in my throat. Mack steps toward me and wraps his arms around me.

“Of course. We make beautiful children. It’d be a damned shame to stop with one.” His voice rumbles in my ear and I can feel my resistance melting away. “Why don’t we go to Elitch? Let me make today up to you? I’d like to take Chris somewhere fun and then, once it’s just you and me in the hotel room, I can really make things right.” His eyes twinkle.

“Well,” I press up against him, “I guess I do have the time off now.”

“You do.”

“And Chris is pretty excited to go.”

“He is.”

“So, I guess we can do that.” I agree.

Mack kisses me and I melt into his arms. I love how the same man that can drag so much chaos into my life can also make me feel so protected from it. How does he do that?

I pull away and look back into his eyes, “But Mack?”

“Yes.”

“You have to promise that you won’t have anymore outbursts or anything else for that matter. Ok? I don’t want Chris seeing you get like that; it’s too upsetting for him.”

“Cross my heart,” he smiles and crosses a x over his chest.

I can’t help but laugh. Mack will never really grow up, but that’s what makes him so much fun to be around. A few days together as a family will be nice. Family. That word just fits so well. We’re finally all together again.

As a family.