Page 55 of Broken Discipline

“I’d like a kid’s hot coco, please,” Larkin said.

“No, no, no, Larkin. How about a kid’s caramel apple cider?” Leon asked.

“Do you have caramel apple cider and hot chocolate?” Ramona asked in a deadpan voice.

I pointed back at the cabinets and the fridge. “It’s all there.”

“Really?”

She beamed at me, then hopped off of the stool, helping herself around the penthouse. Like she belonged here. Like she was home. And that filled me with comfort.

After we finished breakfast and the kids had an ample amount of free time in the toy room, we headed back to the Carter Compound. The sunlight glowed around the buildings, bringing warmth to places that had always been gray. Romana even reached to squeeze my hand before she followed the kids through the front door, and I realized something: she was starting to trust me, and that made me want to do somethingmorefor her, to show her how much she meant to me.

“Hey,” I said, pulling her to the side. “Let me take care of the kids for the day. You go take care of yourself. Take the day off.”

“I can leave the kids with you?” she asked. Her question should have irritated me, but it didn’t. Being a serious mama bear, it was in Ramona’s nature to question everything,especiallywhen it came to her cubs. She needed to know that they were safe.

And the fact that she was evenconsideringmy offer, meant that I was right. She was beginning to trust me.

“We’ll bake brownies,” I said.

“Youbake?” Ramona gasped.

I shrugged. “I’m sure they can teach me.”

“Did you say brownies?” Larkin called from the other room. “Like chocolate brownies? Can I be the taste tester?”

I exchanged a silent look with Ramona, both of us amused that the twins had the uncanny ability to hear literally everything, especially when it came to sweets.

“No.Iwant to be the taste tester,” Leon shouted. “Larkin was the taste tester last time.”

“Was not.”

“Was too!”

I turned back to Ramona. “Nothing crazy. Brownies and movies. Maybe some board games.”

“Like that ladder game, Daddy?” Larkin shouted.

We had played that game at the academy once. “Yes,” I said. “I’ve got that in the closet.”

Ramona blinked rapidly, shocked that I had a kids’ board games ready in the Carter Compound. But I had always been ready for them, even if I knew they might never be mine.

“All right,” Ramona said. “It’s been ages since I got a pedicure.”

I handed her my black card, then dialed the best salon in Fairview, booking her a full treatment for everything they had.

“It’s done,” I said. “Lilacs.”

Her eyes widened. “Lilacs?”

I nodded. “Only the best for my wife.”

“Mama, where are you going?” Larkin asked, popping around the corner. “Can I go with you? Please?”

“We’ve got other things planned, little lady,” I said to Larkin. “Brownies and movies and the best board game ever.” I gently pushed Ramona toward the front door. “Go. Enjoy yourself.”

“It’s almost like youwantme to leave,” Ramona said, winking. But it wasn’t that. I had watched her for the last few years, absorbing herself in her children’s lives. Whether it was giving herself up to Bruce’s fantasies, or never giving herself a break, or passing out from exhaustion as soon as the kids were in bed—Ramona had forgotten that she needed to care about herself too. This was the least I could do for her.