Petrichor: Chapter 5

SERENA

"And that's all of it. Now, I need a drink. Or five," I finished with exhaustion, as Kyle smirked and set my favorite cocktail drink on the bar top. Kyle's Place was the name of his restaurant in Baytown Texas, and I was elated to find out it also included a bar. I haven't had a drink in years and now that I could afford to let loose now that Daniel was spending the majority of his time with the boys, I could finally relax. He knew the basics of their sleeping disorders just in case Zach decided to fall asleep in the middle of having one of his intellectual conversations, and he wouldn't freak out enough to end up in the hospital. Zander on the other hand would be fine until bed time came, when he tended to do the most sleep walking.

"When did your life become so complicated?" Kyle questioned as he popped a salted cashew into his mouth from the nut bowl he kept for the customers. It was almost noon, and I knew the nut bowl would be empty by the time the lunch rush came and went, so I picked out a few for myself before I answered.

"Since I was born apparently," I sassed, causing him to chuckle as I washed down the aftertaste of the cashews with my cinnamon flavored martini. This stuff was gold and I had to figure out a way for him to tell me the special ingredient he used to make it so addicting.

"So since you're single again," he paused, waiting for me to give him my exasperated glare before he laughed and poured me another cinnamon martini, "Does this mean you and that Detective Mercy have a chance?"

The more I thought about Vince and what he had to offer me, the more I wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. He was a good man. A sexy, confident, intelligent hunk of a man who wanted me to find my happy ending, and hoped it would be with him. He said as much the night we slept together. But it was bad enough that Daniel's face planted itself into my thoughts throughout the entire sexual encounter. To tell him I wanted my happy ending to be him when I still had feelings for someone else, would only continue to make this endless cycle of romantic complications worse.

I'd tried to mentally and emotionally distance myself from Daniel during these last few years, but the second his hands touched me, my barrier came down. It was involuntary, and inconvenient and I hated him because of it. I was stuck in the same bubble we created the moment we met and it only added more reasoning to my decision not to stay. It was then I realized why he had left me all those years ago. Staying hurt just as much if not more than leaving.

"Can I get back to you after a few more drinks?"

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"Have you changed your mind about the wedding?" Daniel's question stilled me, and I quickly realized he'd been talking about Marley's wedding. It was being held at the same beach house Michael and I had renovated for her at exactly noon tomorrow. I had already informed Daniel I didn't want to make a scene and ruin her big day, but it still sucked I couldn't watch her walk down that isle. She deserved a stress-free day where she could dance, and laugh, and rejoice in this new chapter in her life.

"No. But that reminds me," I paused, reaching inside my back pocket for the one hundred dollar bill and slid it across to him on the island in the kitchen.

He raised a brow and I smirked as I turned to resume putting the groceries into the refrigerator, "You won the bet. She's marrying Michael."

Daniel's laughter became infectious as I joined in and continued to put the juice boxes on the top shelf of the pantry, so the boys couldn't get to it so easily. They were in their new room, which had previously been the guest room. Daniel had bought them a bunk bed they had picked out during a trip to IKEA a couple of days ago, and also a few desks, chairs and a couple of other things they had convinced him to buy despite his budget. I offered to pay for all of my boy's expensive tastes, but his stubborn nature wouldn't let me utter those words out loud.

"I'm happy for them," he claimed, his smile fading as he stepped into the pantry towards me, closing in on my personal space, holding my gaze as he slipped the one hundred dollar bill back into my back pocket. I swallowed hard, trying to remember how to breathe again when he glanced down at my lips, then pulled away. He was now standing by the doorway, gathering a few cereal boxes to place on the top shelf, and it was still not far enough away to not have his cologne teasing my senses.

"How's Freddy doing? I haven't heard you talking about him much," I geared the conversation elsewhere, hoping it would put a damper on the tension that had been slowly rising to the surface since I walked through that front door a week ago.

"He's a married man now. With no time to spend with his family apparently," Daniel answered, his tone more on the edgy side as he continued to tell me how he and Freddy had slowly stopped talking all together. I would've asked if it had anything to do with Daniel's drinking problem, but I didn't want to push his buttons if it would only turn him over to the bottle. Although I hadn't seen him take a drink since I've been here, Michael had mentioned something to me about Daniel going to rehab a few years ago in private. Something else I had sitting on my guilty conscious considering he started drinking again because the kids and I left.

"And Giselle? She's about ten now, right?" I continued and he nodded, a small smile forming on his lips while he began to stack up the cans of beans. I was cooking tonight, since my boys wanted some authentic Dominican food. It took me a few fires and a couple of youtube tutorials to get to this professional cooking stage, but it was worth it.

"Yeah, complete tomboy though. Gabe would be proud," Daniel mentioned with a grin as he pulled his phone from his back pocket and leaned in to show me a picture of the young girl. She was wearing a soccer uniform in the photo, with a big trophy in her hands as Freddy and who I assumed was his new wife stood next to her, sporting big and proud smiles. She looked more like her mother now, her father's baby face had completely disappeared as she got older but I could still see a glimpse of him in her kind eyes and dimples.

"She's beautiful. No boys yet, right?" I teased and Daniel's face grew serious as he placed his phone back into his pocket.

"Unfortunately, she inherited Gabe's smooth talking abilities, so Freddy has his hands full with that one," he replied, while I chuckled and shook my head, returning to unpack the bags of chips Daniel insisted on buying.

"And you? Any more kids I should know about?" Daniel asked, the question surprising me. How could he think I'd have kids with anyone but him? That realization hit me like a bag of bricks and I suddenly needed to get out of there.

"Uh, no. No kids on my end. And you?" I asked, and mentally kicked myself for even asking something I didn't want to know the answer to. I didn't want to know if he was seeing anyone. I didn't even want to know if he had decided to let Jesse in after all this time. Not that I had a right to blame him. The divorce was finalized a year after the boys and I left and I took it as a sign he was ready to move on. Which was exactly what I wanted to happen so he wouldn't come looking for us while Thea was still out there, trying to frame him.

"None. I haven't touched anyone but you since you left," he answered and I tried to hold back the smile trying to form on my lips before I turned towards the door.

"Are you seeing him? That detective guy?" Daniel questioned just as I reached for the doorknob, forcing me to stop. This wasn't the right time to have this conversation, but it didn't look like Daniel was ready to let me go until I answered.

"No. Not exclusively. We only slept together once," I stated defensively and froze the second he stepped closer to me and ran his thumb over my bottom lip, his gaze lingering on my lips as I closed my eyes and waited for his kiss. But it didn't happen. Once I opened my eyes, I saw the blush on Daniel's cheeks and followed his gaze behind me to the same little girl in the picture he had shown me just a few moments ago.

"Not again," Giselle whined as she held the pantry door open, arms crossed over her gray tank top, her jean jacket tied around her waist while a different baseball cap sat on top of her head to the side. I remembered how she never wanted to take off the cap her father had left for her but it seemed she had outgrown that one.

"Giselle, what are you doing here?" Daniel asked nervously, straightening as he cleared his throat and allowed me to exit the pantry first.

"Uncle Mike saw me head this way and decided to spill the beans about Aunt Serena being back. He thought I should prepare myself to find you two in a compromising position. I'm guessing this is what he was talking about," Giselle sassed, her dimples showing as her smile grew larger while she pointed at how close Daniel and I were standing. I cleared my throat, Daniel and I sharing a look before we turned to her.

"You haven't told anyone else have you?" I asked her and she shook her head, looking around the room when she heard the noise coming from the boys room.

"Your secret is safe with me. For a price of course," she clarified, with Gabe's infamous devious smile, as she held her hand out for some cash. The little girl was going to make a great business shark one day and I couldn't wait to witness it. Reaching into my back pocket, I slipped her the same one hundred dollar bill I had reserved as a payment for Daniel.

"You got style kid. I appreciate that," I complimented and she laughed, wrapping her arms around me for a hug.

"I'm glad you're back. Now Uncle Danny wont be so sad anymore," Giselle mentioned, pulling away from me as she turned to give him a hug as well. Daniel and I looked at each other briefly before putting on our best smiles for the little girl in front of us.

"The boys are in the guest room if you want to see them," I informed her and she seemed curious enough to nod in agreement.

"I'll finish up here," Daniel offered, while Giselle took my hand and dragged me down the hall towards the boy's room. Giselle bounced up against the cracked open bedroom door and busted into the room growling at the boys, scaring them into hiding behind the curtains. I couldn't help but laugh as I watched her terrorize them until they looked towards me for help.

"Zach, Zander, this is your cousin Giselle. Remember what we talked about, okay?" I warned them and they both nodded when Giselle returned to my side.

"Hey! Mamma said all girls are magical unicorns and we should be nice to them. Where's your horn?" Zach introduced himself first, extending his hand for her to shake as he tried to find the unicorn horn on her. Zander stepped up next, shook her hand and nodded his head towards her.

"Hello, magical lady," Zander chimed in and I rolled my eyes at his growing goofy smile.

"Zander, that's your cousin. You need to relax."

"What is a cousin anyway? Like a sister?" Zander quipped and I smirked as he stepped away and shuddered at that possibility.

"Exactly like a sister. Now be nice to her while me and your father start on dinner."

"Wait, are you guys going to Aunt Marley's wedding tomorrow?" Giselle spilled the news and I cursed silently when the boys looked at me in confusion.

"Uh, probably not. I don't think--"

"I wanna go! I wanna see Aunt Marley! Will there be cookies at this wedding? What is a wedding?" Zander wondered out loud, turning to his brother, which he often did when he didn't know the answer to a question. I hadn't planned on this hiccup happening but I knew I had no choice but to take them now. Their adorable groveling would surface shortly, causing me to surrender.

"A wedding is one of those gross things grown ups like to do. They say I love you alot and dance and eat. Mami explained it to me," Zach explained with pride as he walked towards me and wrapped his arms around me for a hug. I rubbed his head as he looked up at me and pouted.

"Can we go? I want cookies too. Pleaseeeeee," he begged, and when both boys held onto me as they pleaded, I sighed in surrender. I guess we could crash the wedding and stay behind the scenes until it was over.

"Okay. Let's go see if we can find you two something to wear last minute," I resigned and they both gave each other a high-five before running into their walk-in closet. As I turned towards Giselle, I noticed she was wearing a big dimpled smile on her face and I raised an eyebrow at her behavior.

"What are you up to, little girl?"

"Me? Nothing. Nothing at all," she claimed, waving as she walked over towards the boys to help them pick out some clothes for tomorrow's unexpected wedding crashing disaster.