Blinding Trust (Mitchell Family, #7)(30)

What?

Jesus, you two are so na?ve. Ass licking, dude.

You need mental help! Can you please be serious for a damn minute and help me out here.

Just ask her.

Yeah, well, she won’t tell me what it is. I’m startin’ to think that this has nothin’ to do with Noah.

You’re going to have to ask her. I don’t know anything. I’ll ask Miranda, but I think she would have told me if she knew something.

I was just checkin’. Thanks, man.

No problem. Call the sex advice hotline anytime between nine a.m. and five p.m. eastern time.

I shook my head and just hung up on him. If his life depended on being serious, he’d be dead by now.

When I went back inside, Savanna was doing the dishes, while Noah dried them. They weren’t speaking to each other, but at least they were sharing a small amount of space. I leaned against the wall and watched them.

Savanna didn’t understand how much I loved her for taking on the responsibility of raising Noah. She could have walked away, but instead, she threw herself into it as if her life depended on it. I appreciated her so much.

Even at his worst, Noah loved Savanna too. He was obviously going through something, but at the end of the day, I guarantee she’d be who he asked for if he needed help. We were buddies, and that was enough for me.

When they saw me standing there they both smiled. I wasn’t certain, but I had this feeling that maybe they had spoke to one another. It would have been nice to get back to normal. The silent treatment wasn’t feasible in our house.

The girls were being awfully quiet, so I headed upstairs to check on them. Little voices weren’t coming from the playroom. They were coming from my room. I followed them into the master bathroom and found them both sitting on top of the counter. They heard the door creak and turned to look at me. Giant eyes, displaying makeup fit for two clowns just stared back at me.

“What are the two of you doin’ in here?” It was difficult not to laugh. They looked hideous, and if the circus were in town, they’d fit right in.

I could hear Savanna running up the steps, so I knew that any second they were going to be in serious trouble.

They looked at each other and then back to me. “We are getting ready for a wedding, Daddy.”

Savanna came in and gasped. She put her hand over her face and I wasn’t sure if she was more upset at the girls for doing it, or the makeup they had ruined in the process.

I chuckled. “Who is gettin’ married?”

“Barbie and GI Joe, silly. They can’t live together until they get married. Are you goin’ to come?”

Savanna said nothing as she walked up and grabbed a washcloth out of the closet. She ran it under the faucet and started with Addy’s face. She tried to pull away. “No, Mommy!”

“I have to wash it off. You will get a rash if I don’t,” Savanna argued.

Addy fussed some more. Savanna looked at me and rolled her eyes, while trying not to laugh herself.

Once we had them back to normal, and cleaned up the ruined makeup mess, we all headed downstairs. Noah was in the kitchen getting a drink. He no sooner walked back out into the living room, when he tripped and went falling forward. The large glass of milk covered the hardwood floor.

He looked back and noticed that he tripped on one of his sister’s shoes. “It’s all your fault Addy!”

I was already picking up the broken pieces of glass from the cup, while Savanna was heading over with a towel. “Just get out of the way until we clean up the mess. Noah, it was an accident.” I looked up at him and saw him pointing at Addy and mouthing ‘I hate you’.

Savanna looked at me, like she’d seen it too.

“Mommy, Noah said he hates me.” Addy was not one to keep things to herself. Both girls enjoyed getting Noah in trouble. I guess it was part of being a sibling. Since neither Savanna or myself had any, we didn’t know what was normal.

I pointed toward the steps. “Get your ass upstairs, boy!”

Noah stood up, looking guilty. “I didn’t do anything! She’s a liar!”

“Noah, we saw you do it!” Maybe Savanna should have just let me handle it, but she seemed pretty annoyed.

“No you didn’t. You’re just takin’ up for your kids!”

He didn’t get another second to back talk his mother, because I was right on his ass, chasing him into his room. My belt was off before I entered through his door. He flew onto his bed and backed himself up against the wall, holding his arms over his head. “Don’t dad! I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!”

I took the belt and slammed it against his bed, making a sound that was loud enough to cause him to jump. He balled himself up tighter. “I am about sick of your attitude, Noah. You’re being mouthy! You’re lyin’ all the time.”

“Please don’t beat me!”

I didn’t want to hurt my kid. My own father used to tell me that it hurt him more than it hurt me. I understood what that meant, as I stood there with a belt in my hand. I held it up. “Look at me, boy!”

He looked up with tears in his eyes, sniffling.

“I am done with the way you’ve been actin’. If you don’t straighten up, you’re goin’ to be done with lacrosse. You hear me?”

He nodded.

“You stay up here until you can apologize to your mother and sisters. If I ever hear you talk to them like they aren’t your family, I will tear your ass up!”