The Youngest Mathers

Chapter 8

Marshall watched his sister come down the stairs. She had his nephew in her arms. She was heading out on her first date now that Axel was five months old.

Becca had met Eric in a coffee shop. She never told people that Marshall Mathers was her brother and would laugh it off when people asked because of her name. She smiled at Marshall as she entered the room. She and Eric were meeting at the restaurant. She didn't want him to know who her brother was just yet and she knew that Marshall liked his privacy.

"You look nice," he said.
"Just nice?" she asked.
"Becs, you are my sister. I ain't judging how you look."

She rolled her eyes. He took the baby from her. Chloe was glued to some kids show on her tablet. He glanced at her.

"Chlo, what are we doing for dinner tonight?" he asked.
"French fries," Chloe yelled.
"Sounds like a plan kid,"

He laughed. She jumped off the couch and started dancing about getting french fries for dinner. Becca laughed at her daughter's antics. She was so proud of how far Chloe had come since Jesse had been gone. She looked at her watch.

"I gotta get going," she said. "Chloe, be good for Uncle Marshall,"
"Ok mommy. Love you," her daughter giggled.
"Love you too baby."

She headed out the door. Marshall didn't mind all the time with Chloe and Axel. They were good kids. He was glad to see his sister finally starting to open up to people other than him and Nathan.

Across town, Becca pulled up to Gilbert's Lodge. It was a bit nostalgic for her since Marshall used to work there and that made her nervous that someone would recognize her. She was terrified of that. She sighed.

She quickly found Eric waiting on her at a table already. He looked annoyed as she walked up.

"I am so sorry. My son was being a bit ornery," she apologized.
"It's all right," he plastered an obvious fake smile on his face.

Becca could tell already that this was not going to work out. She had the check split by the waitress and headed home. She didn't even bother to lie to him and say they could do it again. She didn't want to lead him on. He agreed and proceeded to tell her what a horrible date she had been. She drove home, tears running down her face.

She entered the house quietly, trying to avoid her brother and his line of questioning. He looked up as she tried to sneak by the living room.

"You're back way earlier than I thought you would be," he said.

She nodded, refusing to look at him. It was a dead give away.

"What happened?" he asked.
"Nothing," she sniffed. "I won't be seeing him again."
"That bad, huh?"
"I apparently ruined the entire date by being 5 minutes late."
"Oh lord, one of those?"

She nodded. Marshall rolled his eyes.

"You're way better than that Becs," he said.
"I just don't get why some men have to be such psychos," she replied.
"I don't know honestly."

She sighed and went upstairs to change into something more comfortable. Her phone went off a few moments later.

"Hello," she answered.
"Hey," Nate replied.
"Hey what's up?"
"Wanna go to lunch tomorrow?"
"Yeah sure."
"You ok?"
"Rough date."
"Date?"
"Met this dude in the coffee shop. He asked me out so we went to dinner tonight and it turned out horribly."
"I'm sorry,"
"It is what it is."

She had to work in the morning but she would be able to get out for lunch with her brother. She just had to decide what she was doing with Axel. He could go to the studio daycare but she didn't want to do that with him yet. An hour or so wouldn't hurt though as long as Marshall said it was fine. She walked back downstairs. She sat on the couch with her daughter. Axel was in bed already.

"Did you get your french fries?" she asked her daughter.
"Uh-huh," Chloe answered sleepily.
"Ready for bed, princess?"
"No mama, I'm not tired."

Marshall chuckled. Chloe was always trying to convince them that she wasn't tired. She rubbed her eyes and leaned against her mother.

"Mama, where's my daddy?" Chloe asked suddenly.
"He had to go away, Chlo," Becca said after a moment.
"Why?"
"Because he made a bad choice. He hurt people," Marshall said, quietly.
"He hurt mommy," Chloe said matter of factly.
"Well now he can't hurt anyone."
"Good."

Chloe seemed satisfied with the answer they gave her. She fell asleep against her mother. Becca looked at her older brother.

"This is going to get harder isn't it?" she asked.
"Most likely," he said.
"Axel is gonna be worse. He is going to want to know everything."
"Chloe will ask more questions as she gets older. She is gonna want to know why."

Becca nodded.

"Nate called me. He wants to go to lunch tomorrow," she said.
"Sounds fun," he said.
"Can I take Axel to the daycare?"
"Yeah, cuz I can't take him tomorrow. I am gonna be in the booth all day."
"I know."

She smiled. Looking down she saw that Chloe was asleep. She picked her daughter up, said goodnight to her brother and headed up to bed.