“Beth, maybe—” December starts, and Beth turns on her, holding her hand up and cutting her off.
“You are not in this, bitch.”
“Mom!” Max cries as Mitchell growls, “Don’t talk to December like that.”
“I can talk to her however I want!”
“No, you absolutely can-fucking-not,” I say and she turns, narrowing her eyes on me.
“Mitchell is my son, Gareth. Your girlfriend is not involved in my relationship with him.”
“When you’re in her house, it’s most definitely her business, and when it comes to the boys, she has the right to share how she feels. And—” I lean forward to emphasize my point. “—if I ever hear something like that come out your mouth toward her again, you and I are going to have issues.”
“Is she living here with you and my kids?”
“Your kids?” Mitchell’s voice is full of disgust, and Beth turns away to look at him. “We aren’t yours.”
She plants her hands on her hips. “I gave birth to you, Mitchell, so as much as you might not like it, you’re still my kid.”
“Being a mom is more than giving birth to a child.” He shakes his head. “You’d get that if you ever stuck around for more than a few weeks at a time.”
“I have a career that keeps me on the road, Mitchell,” she says defensively.
“You’re a glorified bartender for washed up rock stars. You’re not working for the government trying to accomplish world peace,” he fires at her.
Shit, I know it’s wrong, but I still feel my lips twitch.
“I can’t believe—” She turns, pointing at me. “—you are allowing him to speak to me like this.”
“He has a right to tell you how he feels, Beth. And sometimes, the truth is a hard pill to swallow.”
“You’ve brainwashed him.” She glares at me then points at December. “You and her have turned him against me!”
“No they haven’t.” Max shoots up from the couch, and Sloth stands with him, barking once. “Dad wouldn’t do that, and neither would December.”
“Max.” She points at him. “You need to stay out of this.”
“Why?” he asks, moving to stand next to his brother. “Mitchell is right. You’re not around; you’re never around.”
“Are you going to tell me she has been? You don’t even know her.”
“This isn’t about December,” Mitchell states, crossing his arms over his chest and looking much older than he is. “This is about you and the fact that you have been out of our lives more than you’ve been in them.”
“I’m trying to change that. Why do you think I’m moving back to town? I want to work on my relationship with you boys.”
“I heard you,” Max whispers sadly, and my muscles seize from the pain I hear in his voice. “I heard you last night, when you thought I was sleeping. You said that you were leaving here soon and that you couldn’t wait to get back out on the road.”
“I….” She steps toward him, and he steps back. “You misheard me. I’m just leaving for a few weeks, and then I’ll be back.”
“I know,” he agrees. “You always come back. I also know you always leave again. It’s okay; I get it. It’s who you are.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” she snaps, and I see his bottom lip start to tremble right before he turns and takes off down the hall to his room, slamming the door before Sloth can get in with him.
Fuck.
“Oh no,” December whispers, going to follow him, but Beth lunges to block her path. I move forward quick, but not quick enough. December spins around and places her hand in Beth’s chest, shoving her back. “Do not try to get between me and my boy,” she hisses, looking like a pissed off mama bear. “Get out of this house.” She looks at me. “She needs to leave.”
“You… You can’t tell me to leave!” Beth yells as December moves around her and heads down the hall toward Max’s room with Mitchell on her heels.
“You need to go,” I tell Beth, and as she turns on me and steps forward, placing her finger an inch from my face, I drop my eyes to it.
“This is bullshit. You know this is total bullshit.”
“It’s not, Beth, and if you actually paid attention during any of that conversation, you’d understand that all your kids ever wanted from you was time and attention. You can’t blame them for being pissed at you for not giving them that.”
“It’s your fault.”
“My fault.” I cross my arms over my chest. “How’s this my fault?”
“You’ve turned them against me.” She tosses her hands in the air. “You’ve made them hate me.”
“I’ve done nothing but make it easy for you to see them when you’ve felt like it, and I have never, not fucking once, made you jump through hoops to spend time with them. You can try to make this out like it’s my fault, but I’m not the bad guy, Beth. You’ve had years to build a relationship with your boys, but you didn’t, and that’s on you. Now you have to deal with the consequences.”