Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 48730 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48730 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
“Got it,” she muttered.
I hurried downstairs to find that Cian had already started loading the car.
“Ronan just came out here. I sent him back inside,” he informed me, leaning back out of the back seat. “Papers are in the trunk in my schoolbag, and I put our keepsake boxes in there too. Put the small coolers on the floorboards for now, so we have dinner.”
“What about the birthday card that was on the table?”
“What card?”
“There was a card on the table with Aunt Ashley’s address.”
“I didn’t see a card,” Cian argued.
“Okay, just—” I gestured toward the trunk. “Look through the boxes and find one with her address so we know where we’re going. Okay? Did you pack Ronan’s bag?”
“Not yet. When I got down here, I figured I’d do this first.”
“I’ve got Ronan’s bag. I’ll have him carry it down once I’m done packing it.”
Cian nodded, but I was already jogging back into the house. We were running out of time. Richie was going to come back, and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to keep him from following us. I would’ve given anything to have him with me, the thought of separating made a ball of dread sit heavy in my belly, but I couldn’t let him burn down his entire life. I may be selfish when it came to Richie, but I’d never be that selfish. The kids were my responsibility to keep safe, not his.
Ronan was practically bouncing off the walls when I got to his room, his clothes in neatly set-out piles on his bed.
“We’re going on a road trip?” he asked excitedly. “To see Aunt Ashley, right? In Oregon?”
“Right,” I said, giving him a gentle shove in the shoulder. “You started packing?”
“I knew you’d want to do it,” he frowned. “But I got my clothes out.”
“Perfect,” I said with a nod. “You still have that little blue suitcase?”
“It has cartoon dogs on it,” he replied flatly.
“It’s a bag that will hold your crap,” I replied. “Grab it.”
“It’s embarrassing,” he called as he scrambled under his bed, grunting as he pushed shit out of the way.
“No one will see it.”
“Cian will.”
“Cian knows you have it,” I pointed out. “You share a room.”
“Still.” He yanked the little suitcase out and handed it to me.
I started filling it up. “Grab your flip-flops,” I ordered. “And your Legos.”
“The whole tub?” he asked dubiously.
“Whole tub,” I confirmed. “Put the lid on it.”
“Can I bring my blanket?”
“Of course.”
We met Saoirse in the hall, and I handed her Ronan’s bag. “Carry these down and help Cian load the car. I’ll grab Ash.”
“We have to get Aisling’s medicine from the pharmacy,” she reminded me.
“We’ll get it on the way.”
I left them and took a deep breath, pausing only for a moment to calm my racing heartbeat. Then I walked quietly into Aisling’s room.
“Come on, baby,” I murmured, putting Funky Frog against her chest before lifting her from the bed.
“Where we going?” she mumbled against my neck.
“On an adventure,” I replied. She was already asleep.
I was sweating and breathing heavy by the time I put Aisling into her booster seat. She slept the entire time, listing to the side before I’d even closed the door.
“You’re in the middle,” Saoirse ordered, pushing Ronan toward the other side of the car. “Get in.”
“This is so awesome,” he said, practically hopping as he climbed in.
Saoirse met my eyes over the top of the car. “Got everything?”
“I’m going to do one more run-through,” I told her. “Wait with the littles.”
She nodded.
“I’m going to grab everyone’s pillows,” Cian said as we headed back into the house. “I grabbed Aisling’s ibuprofen—you forgot it on the banister. I grabbed our toiletries, too. I wasn’t sure whose was whose, so I just threw all the makeup and shit in a grocery bag.”
“Fuck,” I mumbled. What else had I forgotten about?
“Be right back.”
“Grab the crocheted blankets off our beds, too,” I called out as he jogged up the stairs. Mom had made them when each of us were born. They weren’t big enough to cover a bed, but all of us had kept them folded on the ends of our beds for as long as I could remember.
I walked around the house, looking at everything we were leaving behind. We’d moved in while Mom was pregnant with Cian. All the kids except me had come home from the hospital to this house. It held every memory, every treasure, every piece of our lives.
I paused at Saoirse’s school bag and pulled out a spiral notebook and pen then brought them over to the kitchen table. My stomach churned with nausea as I started to write.
Mom,
Call you when we get there.
Love you!
Aoife
I left the note on the table in case anyone came into the house looking for us.
“A little help here?” Cian called, stumbling down the stairs.