Addicted After All(121)
“Fifteen pounds,” Daisy says, tucking her platinum blonde hair behind her ear.
“You look beautiful,” Rose tells her in the nicest voice she has.
I nod in agreement. She’s healthier than I’ve seen her in a long time.
“Thanks,” Daisy smiles. “I definitely don’t feel as bony. Ryke says that I have more muscle in my legs again.”
Ryke is a good one. In a lot of ways, he brought Daisy back from a really dark place. I wish that we could’ve been there for her, but Rose and I were dealing with our pregnancies. And my addiction. I had no idea…
“Don’t cry,” Daisy says sweetly, scooching closer and wrapping her arm around my shoulder.
“I’m just happy,” I whisper to her, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand.
Rose’s phone suddenly dings and glows bright blue, not a texting sound.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“I have alerts for whenever there’s an article about Jane.”
I gape. This changes everything. “I cannot be faulted for checking the media now.” If Rose is doing it, it has to be sane. Lo may disagree with that logic, but it seems sound to me.
Rose ignores my statement, her eyes skimming the article, and I watch them slowly narrow.
Oh no. “What?” I ask, fear invading my voice.
“Those little shits posted the photos.” She shakes her head in disbelief and passes Daisy her cellphone. I think I already know where this is going.
Yesterday, Rose and I brought our babies on a walk down the neighborhood street. Since it’s gated, we thought it was safe to use strollers without any blankets covering the top. About five minutes in and the prankster teenagers sprung out of their passing Range Rover, snapping photos of Jane and Maximoff.
A part of me thought maybe they were just joking and wouldn’t sell them to the press. Not so. I peek over Daisy’s shoulder. I am staring right at a picture of both Jane and Moffy in their strollers, small tiny babies who were wide-awake and began wailing after the sudden commotion.
Sure, the pics are a little blurry, but that obviously doesn’t matter to the media.
The caption: First baby photos of Jane Cobalt and Maximoff Hale! So adorable!
I smile. “Look they called them adorable.”
Rose glowers at me again. Zero for two today. “They’re babies. No one will call a baby an ugly gremlin.”
“You will,” I refute. And then I pause. “Wait…are you calling our babies ugly gremlins?”
“Of course not,” she says quickly, her cheeks flushing. “They’re adorable gremlins.” She’s hurting my head. “My point is…” Thank you, I need the point. “That these *s are profiting off of our children. It’s wrong.”
Daisy theatrically hops to her feet and raises her fist in the air. “So let’s retaliate.” Her yellow feathers point towards the crescent moon.
Rose and I stare up at her. “What?” we say together. I whip my head back to my older sister, surprised she sided with me.
I ask Rose, “You weren’t about to end your speech with retaliation?”
“No, I was going to suggest cursing them out for the next hour and burning the articles.” Of course there is fire involved. She turns her attention to Daisy. “What were you saying?”
Daisy is the Peter Pan of our group, I realize. She has her hands planted on her hips like she is a clever, youthful creature, up to no good. “You remember back when they shot paintballs at the house?”
That feels like forever ago, but also just like yesterday. They terrified Daisy, an innocent bystander with PTSD and insomnia and a boat load of other issues. Being here in this house, all together, has unified us and hopefully helped her some.
“You all said that I could choose whether to do nothing or to retaliate,” she reminds us. I thought she was afraid of speaking up so she just let it go. “Well, I’m making my choice now.”
Rose is full-blown smiling.
I am too.
“I choose to do something. Let’s get those f*ckers back.” She wears a shrewd grin. “And I have the perfect thing in mind.”
* * *
The darkness is our friend.
I repeat the mantra over and over as we tiptoe through the manicured yard. Rose and I saw the teenagers sprint into this stone mansion after they snapped the baby pics. So we can at least inflict damage to one of them.