Page 95 of Until Nalia

“I don’t know, Mom was in her bedroom when we left.”

“Alright.” I let out a frustrated breath and take my cell phone out of my back pocket. “Go put your bag down and come out and play soccer with Zuri while I call your mom to let her know that you guys are here.”

“Okay.” He looks at Zuri, who gives him a sad smile before following behind him up the steps.

“I’m going to go up and check on Billie,” Nalia tells me when the kids walk into the house.

“I’ll be up in a sec.” I dial Kristy’s number and listen to it ring.

“Logan,” she answers, sounding panicked. “Please tell me that you’re calling because the kids are there.”

“The kids are here.”

“Oh my god,” she whispers. “I can’t believe that Billie just took off without telling me she was leaving with her brother.”

“What the fuck reaction did you expect her to have, Kristy? Just last weekend, she saw Aaron on a dating website and was under the impression that he was moving out, not putting a ring on her mom's finger.”

“The dating website thing was a misunderstanding.”

“Really? Is that what he told you?”

“Yes,” she snaps, sounding angry, which pisses me off.

“And you believe him?” I ask, unable to hide the disbelief in my voice.

“Of course I do.” Then you’re an idiot. I don’t say it, but fuck, I want to.

“I gotta go, I need to go check on our daughter.”

“Tell her to call me.”

“I’ll tell her, but I’m not sure that she’s going to be up to doing that tonight,” I mutter before I hang up.

As I’m stepping up the porch to go inside, Coop and Zuri walk out of the house.

“You two okay?” I ask, wrapping my arm around Coop’s shoulders, hugging him into my side.

“Yeah.” Coop shrugs.

“Is Billie okay?” Zuri asks.

“Yeah, honey, she’s okay,” I lie because I don’t know what’s waiting for me when I get upstairs. “You two okay out here alone for a bit?”

“Yeah.” They both answer.

“Alright, stay away from the road.”

“We know, Dad,” Coop grumbles like I’m an idiot. I let him go and walk into the house, leaving the door open. When I get upstairs, Billie’s door is open and her and Nalia are sitting on her bed. Both of them with their backs to the headboard, Billie with her legs pressed to her chest, leaning into Nalia, sitting next to her with her arms wrapped around her.

“First,” I say, and Billie’s red-rimmed eyes come to me. “You do not ever fucking drive when you’re upset and crying.”

“Dad,” she whispers.

“Logan,” Nalia snaps.

“No.” I look at both women before focusing on Billie. “Do not Dad me, Billie. You put your life and Coop’s life in danger doing that, and that is absolutely unacceptable.”

“I’m sorry,” she whimpers while Nalia glares at me.