The only sound in the house is of the heat coming through the vents. I look around my house.

It reeks of alcohol, marijuana and cigarettes. Red solo cups litter the floor, along with trash, crushed chips into the carpets, broken beer bottles...

The pool is a weird shade a blue from all the beer that got poured in it. The lawn is covered in trash too, bans of beer or glass bottles, soda, snacks...

We got home around midnight and it's well past two in the morning now, and we're all just sitting in silence. My right ankle rests on my left knee, my left arm stretched across the back of the couch. My wife sits a foot away from me, her legs folded like a lady. Her right leg bouncing up and down, her arms folded across her chest. She's been glaring at all four kids for two hours straight.

She sighs then and gets up, walking over to the cooler, kicking a few bottles out of the way. She reaches in and grabs two beers, walking back to the living room. She hands one to me and puts the edge of the lid on the edge of the coffee table. In one swift movement, she slams her hand down on the lid and the top pops off. She hands me that one and does the same with the one in her hand, she raises the bottle to her lips and takes a long swing, and then her face contorts in disgust.

"You could have at least bought decent beer." She mutters. Raylen opens his mouth to reply, but she puts her hand up. "Do not talk to me until I tell you to respond."

He presses his lips together and sinks back into the couch.

She takes another sip and I raise my bottle to my lips, taking a long swing.

It could be worse. I hold the bottle out and read the label. It's some weird name.

"Did you spike this?" I ask Raylen bluntly. He doesn't say anything. "Answer me!" I snap. He jumps.

"No." He mutters.

"How many blunts did you inhale?" My wife asks.

He looks at her and shrugs one shoulder.

"I lost count at nine." Noemie mumbles.

"You smoked?" I shout, standing up. Her eyes widen.

"No Daddy, I was counting Raylen!" She exclaims.

"She smoked." Raylen says.

"No, you forced my mouth open and tried to make me smoke!"

"You what?" Odeletta hisses. "Raylen, she's fourteen!"

"I don't know what she's talking about." He lies.

I glance down at my little girl, her short dress reaching her mid-thigh. She's grown since Valentines Day. That was eight months ago.

"Go put on clothing." I snap at her. "You are fourteen, not twenty one. That dress is way too short."

"Daddy!" She whispers.

"Go." I point to the staircase. She glances at Odeletta and then stands up.

"When you are dressed, come back." Odeletta says without turning her head.

"Yes ma'am." She mumbles. I hear her footsteps go up the stairs and disappear down the hallway. A moment later, her bedroom door shuts.

We fall back into silence.

After a couple minutes she comes down in white fuzzy sweatpants with pink rabbits on them and a pink long sleeve shirt on. She sits down on the couch in her spot.

Odeletta takes another sip of the beer and sighs slowly.

"I bet you regret not aborting me. My life sucks." Raylen mutters.

"Oh gosh Raylen, shut up." Odeletta snaps. "You know that's not true. You four have no idea how good you have it."

We shielded the kids from the truth of Odeletta's past. She didn't want them to look at her in pity.

"When I was Noah's age, I was sent off to America without my parents because the French government was arresting them for something they did not do." She says.

"What?" Raylen asks.

"I lived in the woods until I was seventeen. That's when I met Gwen. I went to school online in France in a library, I thought Uncle Liam and Aunt Annalise were dead. Murdered. I got into drugs in college and Gwen got pissed. We got into a fight and I cut myself so deep I was rushed to the hospital. I almost bled out. The girl found me in the shower in the college bathroom in a pool of my own blood! I was alone, I had always been alone!" She's pissed again. "That motorcycle that I love so much was basically all I had. Gwen bought it for me when I was eighteen. After I got out of the hospital, I was so ashamed about my life and how I cut myself. I used to do it all the time in the woods because it was the only way I felt anything! Gwen got me to stop, turned into the mother I lost when I was twelve. I thought my parents were dead!" She spats. "And I shut Gwen out because I was ashamed. A year later I met your father. He was there when I stormed into a courthouse and was almost executed to free my parents. He was there when I was assaulted and almost raped by some guy. Your father went to jail for punching that guy in the face. He was almost sentenced to fifteen years in prison! Only two months later I found out I was pregnant with you! We got married and moved on, and then when you were two years old, we went to France to see the grandparents I hadn't seen since I was ten and I found out they hired the guy that framed my parents. A few weeks later, your father was shot in the chest and he died. His heart stopped right in front of me. You were two, Raylen. Noemie, you were only...what was it babe?"

"Seven months, I think." I mutter.

"My handed were covered in his blood." She looks down at her hands, her eyebrows furrowing. She has tears in her eyes. "And Raylen you were such a sweet little boy. You walked up to me in the waiting room when nobody would tell you where your Daddy was, and you asked me what was on my hands. I told you it was juice. The person that shot your Dad was hired by my grandparents to kill him and Papa. Just because they didn't make enough money. When we were in his room to see him, you were playing with your toys in his lap and you climbed on him. You put your knee on the bullet wound and he had a seizure. You and Noemie were screaming. After that, he kicked us out, and a while later we almost got divorced over a bullshit fight because I couldn't trust anybody from my shitty childhood. We went to couples therapy and we realized it was my fault. I left for four months to figure out my life. When I came back, the president of France sent us a check for twenty million dollars because he felt bad. That phone in your pocket? That's pity money. The roof over your head? Pity money. The Cadillac you dented, Caroline? Pity money. The barn? The horses? Your beds? Every fucking thing each one of you own is pity money, because your father died. I didn't have loving parents when I was your ages. I didn't have anything. I didn't even have enough money to get myself dinner. Don't you ever tell me your life sucks, Raylen. You have no idea what that even means! I we were gone for six hours! We come home and the car is dented, the house is trashed, you're drunk and high, and we smell like a drug house! Who the fuck do you think you are to do this? I can't-" she cuts off, rubbing her temples. "Raylen, you're taking a blood drug test once a week until I see fit. Caroline, I want your MP3 player. You shouldn't have been throwing anything, no matter how mad you were. Lashing out is not the answer." She looks at Raylen. "You're grounded until I see fit. You're cleaning the horse stalls until I say. If you utter one word of complaints, I'll put your ass on a bus to military school." She looks at Noah and Noemie and Caroline. "You guys..." she sighs. "You did the right thing calling us."

"You guys called them?" Raylen demands.

"You tried to force a blunt in my mouth!" Raylen snaps. "And then you tried to ride Lucia."

"You little-"

"Raylen, shut your mouth." I snap. "You don't get the privilege of speaking. Just sit there and be quiet."

Odeletta sighs.

"You guys should have called us earlier...but you did call. So you three are going to help your brother clean."

She turns back to Raylen. "Empty your pockets."

"No."

I stand up. "Now!"

He jumps slightly and then stands up, dumping his pockets onto the tables.

Three mints, two condoms, an unlit blunt, a ziplock baggie of weed, a back of red Marlboro cigarettes, his phone, and his wallet.

I stare at the contents. Odeletta takes his phone from the pile.

"What's her name?" I ask. Odeletta gives me a confused look. Raylen just looks at me. "Come on. Tell me her name."

He glances at the pile of stuff and sighs.

"Megan." He mutters.

There's no happiness in his eyes.

"What happened?" I ask. "Did you throw this party for her?"

He looks up at me.

"It was for her birthday." He mutters. "But I caught her making out with Jake behind the barn. She was only talking to me to get close to Jake."

"That's when you started drinking and smoking." I say simply. He looks away from me. I look at Odeletta. "Amanda Baldwin."

Her eyes widen slightly when she realizes what I'm saying, and then she doesn't look like she knows what to say.

"She's not worth it." I say. "I had a girl I liked since second grade. I kissed her behind the dumpsters at recess. I liked her all the way through middle school and high school, and around graduation she started talking to me and I thought she finally liked me. Got my number and everything. She knew I liked her and she asked me to meet her at her car after school. When I showed up, she handed me her phone and asked for Uncle Mason's number."

Raylen just sighs.

"Jake is an ass." He looks at us. "I got mixed into the wrong crowd and I don't know how to get out of it."

"Did you join a gang?" I ask.

"I'm not that stupid, Dad." He mutters. "I hate my school, I don't have any friends anymore..." he trails off.

"So you switch schools." Odeletta says.

"I have been asking to switch schools since ninth grade."

"Well now you can." She says. He looks really sad, even through all the drugs and alcohol in his system. "Do you want a hug?"

He stands up with tears in his eyes and Odeletta pulls him into a hug. She rubs his back, and when he pulls away, he has tears on his cheeks.

"You smell like Mama." He sniffles, wiping his eyes. Odeletta's hands are on his arms.

"Is that a bad thing?" She asks. He shakes his head.

"No." He says. "Can I go to bed now?"

"Yes. Get water, a pot, and some Advil for when you wake up."

He nods and walks out, getting the things, and then he walks back into the living room, glancing at me.

"Did you see that Amanda girl afterwards?"

Odeletta snorts.

"Yeah, she came walking in the restaurant we were in when Mama was five months pregnant with you and started lying saying we had a child and I took off."

"She sounds crazy. What did she look like?"

"Black hair that went down to her butt, green eyes, and a red skintight mini dress." Odeletta says.

"That's a lot different from Mama." Raylen frowns, glancing at me. "What was she wearing when you met her?"

I look at Odeletta with adoration in my eyes.

"Black combat boots, black skinny jeans, a red t-shirt that was a football jersey material that said coke adds life to me and then her leather jacket was draped over her arm. Oh, and the spiked biker gloves. All she had with her was a pen and a package of paper that was still wrapped in the plastic. She was late to French class and when she walked in, she threw the door open so hard that it banged against the wall." I sling my arm around my wife and grin down at her.

"You sounded mean." Noah frowns.

"I was mean." She says. "I was really mean, but so was Daddy." She pats my stomach and smiles.

"Wait." Caroline says suddenly. "Daddy, you were shot?"

"Yes."

"Is that what the scar is?" Noemie gasps. "You told us it was a cigarette!"

In answer, I lift my shirt to reveal the scar. The kids all stare at it, eyes wide.

"That's horrible." Noemie puts her hand over her mouth. She looks like she's going to cry. "Did it hit your heart?"

"No, it hit my left lung." I say. "Popped a hole in it."

Caroline gets up when I drop my shirt, rushing to me. Crying, she pulls me into a hug. I wrap my arms around my little girl, and she sniffles in my t-shirt. She pulls away and peers up at me with her almond eyes, her blonde hair framing her face.

"Daddy, I can't believe you almost died."

"I know kiddo." I frown, rubbing her back. "But I'm alright."

"Okay." She sniffles.

"You four get on up to bed." Odeletta says.

The kids hug us all goodnight and file out, one by one.

When I hear four different doors shut, Raylen's in the basement and the other three upstairs, I look down at my wife.

She blows out a breath and looks around the house.

"Let's cuddle." She says then. She grabs the belt loop of my jeans and starts pulling me to the stairs. I follow behind her. She pulls me into the bedroom and shuts the door, and then disappears into the bathroom. I tug my shirt off and then I hear the bedroom door open.

Caroline stands there.

"Yes?"

She hesitates.

"Mama wanted my MP3 player." She says, holding it up. I see her eyes linger on the bullet scar, and they fill with tears again.

I take it from her.

"I'm okay, Caroline. It was over ten years ago."

"I know but Daddy, you were dead."

I sigh slowly, giving her a sad look.

She looks down at the floor. I hear the bathroom door open and close again, and then Odeletta walks through the sitting room to the bedroom. She glances between Caroline and I and then takes her MP3 player from my hand.

"Mama?" Caroline whispers. Odeletta looks at her and raises her eyebrows. "Did you make up that story to scare Raylen?"

Odeletta's eyes soften and she sighs, opening her arms.

Caroline starts crying and walks into them. Odeletta runs her fingers through her blonde hair.

"No sweetie, I did not make it up."

She starts crying harder into Odette's shoulder. Odeletta pulls away and wipes away her tears.

"I am okay and so is Daddy. Daddy saved me, you know. He saved me from all of that."

"Really?" She sniffles.

"Really." She smiles. "Come on baby, let's get you to bed."

_____