Page 68 of Sweeter than Honey

“Jesus, you’re such a martyr!” Lexi moans. “Nobody asked you to sacrifice yourself, Renata! On the contrary, we’re all asking you to chill out a little bit! Tudor’s not here anymore, you don’t need to nail yourself to a cross!”

“Yes I do!” I shout, although I can feel myself running out of steam. Fighting with my sister is so exhausting, and I don’t know how much longer I can do it for. “I have to keep working, and holding everything together, because another Tudor could be at our door! You heard Celine, Xavian is…”

“Fuck Xavian, and fuck all of those other vampires,” Lexi says, rolling her eyes. “If they try anything, it doesn’t matter. We’ll figure it outtogether. Celine, you, me, and Hallie.”

“I’m not having this discussion with you again,” I mutter angrily. “Just give me back my god-damned shoes! If you want to have a party, you can clean up after it yourself! I’m not babysitting you any more. I have more important things to do!”

“Fine,” Lexi kicks off my shoes, and saunters back over to the cabana.

I hiss at her as she leaves, and I grab my mauve heels.

Then I storm out of the water park.

Chapter 24: Two perfect dots

Lily

“And then the baby caterpillar cuddled up to the mama caterpillar and he said…”

“‘Mama, that was a looooong day!’” Eli and I say the words in tandem, drawing out the “o” as far as we can until we erupt into giggles.

“And mama caterpillar said…”

We say the words together again. “‘It sure was!’”

“And they they went to sleep.”

Eli presses his tiny face into my chest, the way he always does when he’s tired but he doesn’t want to fall asleep just yet. “One more book, mama?”

“No, honey, I think it’s time for you to go to bed. You know the rules, three books, then it’s time to sleep.”

He groans. “When that lady read me books, she read more than three!”

I smile at the memory. “Yes, but that lady is immortal, so she can stay up forever.”

“What’s ‘immortal’?” he asks, wrinkling his tiny nose.

“That’s a question for another night, I think.” I kiss him on the forehead. Then I pause. “Eli, what did you think of that lady? The one who put you to sleep that night? And got you a manicure?”

Eli holds out his hand proudly. They did a good job. Although it’s been several weeks, the pink nail polish has held up well. He refuses tolet me remove it, of course.

“I love my nails!” he says. “And I like that lady. She was nice. She did all the book voices.”

“That’s good. I think mama likes her too.”

“Is she going to come back?” Eli asks, his face shining.

“I don’t know,” I answer, truthfully. There’s a sad pang in my heart as I think of Renata, and the son she sacrificed her life for. It must have been painful for her to be around Eli. But if she wanted to see him again…

When look down at Eli again, his eyes are closed, and he’s drifting off already. I wish I could fall asleep so readily.

I disentangle myself from his little lanky limbs, and quietly creep out of the room. The faint sound of the TV emanates from the third bedroom. Since my mother discovered that we get ten times the channels she does, I haven’t been able to get rid of her. But it’s nice to know there’s another adult in the house, in case Eli gets up at night.

I tuck myself into bed, although it’s not even nine p.m. It’s a rare day off for me, a Saturday night. I remember when I used to go out every Saturday night. Dancing, karoake, drinks…but it’s just not as easy once you’re a mom, especially a single mom.

Still, the bright lights outside my window make the city look incredible, and full of excitement.

I take a worn paperback from my side table. You’ll be disappointed to hear that it’s not “Bitten by Desire.” But it’s a tried-and-true favourite, a sappy love story that never gets old. I prepare myself for a long, quiet evening at home.