The Beast Within (Book One of the Changes Series)

-Danielle’s POV-

After my nap, I went through the rest of the day without any other weird occurrences. I got through my to-do list with ease: picked up the kids, dropped off the dry cleaning, took Cam to soccer practice, and ordered pizza from Pizza Depot. When the children and I finished dinner, what I experienced earlier seemed like a distant memory.

I noticed I felt tired again, but with a list like the one I had, anyone would be. I just needed to make it an early night tonight.

All I had left to do was throw away the paper plates we used. For that reason alone, I really did love pizza night.

The kids were in the family room, watching television for the past hour or so, but there was no school tomorrow, so a little extra brain rot was okay.

I second-guessed my logic as Nathan’s voice played in my head.

We aren’t the type of parents that let the television raise our children for us.

“Hey guys, do you want to help Mommy make some cupcakes for Daddy?”

They continued to watch television without answering me.

“Don’t everyone jump up at once.”

Cameron finally popped up off the couch, running to my side. His dirty blonde hair bobbing as he ran.

“Do I get to lick the bowl?” he asked excitedly.

I smiled down at him. “Sure. Alexis, you’d better hurry before I claim the spoon.”

Finally, I was able to tear her away from the couch. She skipped into the kitchen.

“Dibbs on the spoon, but I’ll let you have a lick Mommy.”

“How gracious of you,” I said, full of theatrics.

Lexi nodded her head before she giggled.

By the time we were done putting on the icing on our finished product, I was exhausted, but I was in a great mood. Lexi educated me on the habits of kimono dragons, and Cameron had me in tears reenacting his teacher’s reaction after the class snake escaped its cage.

They were something else. Alexis was definitely her father’s child, brilliant with devilish good looks. She knew she was “all sorts of awesome,” as she called it, and rarely tried to hide it. Her confidence and intelligence didn’t make it easy for her to make friends, though.

Whereas Cameron was an average student and a good-looking kid, but his strongest suit was his charisma. It was off the charts. Cam didn’t meet a person that he didn’t like, and they, him in return. He also got that from his dad. That was the one thing Lexi was jealous of when it came to her brother, even though she would never admit it. She claimed her friendship with Jessica, her only friend, was all she needed.

It could also be more complicated for her because she was the youngest in her class. Under Miss Feather’s recommendation, Lexi was bumped into the second grade. Even though she had left her brother to fend for himself, they seemed to adjust well to the changes.

It might have lessened the pressure on the both of them, for different reasons, not to have anyone to compare them to their twin.

“Daddy is going to love these. Can we stay up so we can see him eat them?” Lexi asked.

Some of the stress came swopping back. I didn’t know what time Nathan was going to be home. Between his sleep study research and medical conferences, we were lucky to see him at all.

“No, sorry, it’s almost time for bed. So, bath time; Cameron, you go first.”

“Mom, I took a bath last night!” he whined.

The phone rang, interrupting Cameron’s outburst and giving me a way out of our nightly argument.

“March, and don’t forget to clean inside your belly button and ears. Alexis, I’ll make sure your dad gets a cupcake you decorated, okay?”

Lexi skipped upstairs, seemingly happy with our compromise. Her brother lazily followed.

I ran for the phone. As I raced to beat the voicemail, I almost tripped over Cameron’s toy truck.

“Damn it; these kids are going to be the death of me,” I murmured.

“Hello, hello, I’m here.”

“Well hello, stranger, nice to hear your voice. I was starting to think you moved to Tibet and became one of those silent monks.”

I could always depend on my friend to keep the jokes coming.

“Hi Porsha. If I’m not mistaken, we just talked yesterday.”

“Yeah, like for ten minutes, that doesn’t count. I thought maybe my best friend wanted to know how the mediation went with Stan. However, I could be wrong since I didn’t receive a call. I mean, a text would have sufficed. I’m just saying,” she teased.

My hand went to my temple as I readied myself to apologize. Porsha was in the middle of a nasty divorce with the world’s biggest asshole.

Stan looked great on paper. An established movie producer with deep pockets that gave generously to charity. He wasn’t hard on the eyes either. His problem was he couldn’t keep it in his pants.

Porsha finally had enough and filed for divorce. To add insult to injury, he had the gall to feel betrayed when she served him the divorce papers. He swore she wouldn’t see a penny, even though she had financed her fair share of his ventures.

“I’m so sorry. I totally forgot. How did it go?”

“Yeah, you lost at least ten friend points today. But I checked the score sheet, and I don’t have to toss you out on your ass just yet,” Porsha jested.

“Okay, enough with the jokes. I know this can’t be easy. How are you holding up, really?”

“Honestly, I feel numb, but that could be the wine kicking in.”

There was a pause. I waited for her to continue.

“I can’t believe my life turned out to be so shitty. My childhood wasn’t the best. We’re not even going to touch my adolescence. Now I’m dealing with a prick that ruined one of the few things I thought was good in my life while he tries to put me in the poor house.”

I felt horrible for her. She was a good person and deserved better than she got.

“So nothing was figured out at today’s meeting?”

“My lawyer says we’re in the beginning stages. With me keeping records of our shared investments, including the winery and vacation home, he’s going to be forced into a settlement. Luckily my dad didn’t raise no fool.”

“Good, Stan deserves everything that’s coming his way. I was thinking maybe we can go out this weekend, have a good riddance celebration. What do you think?”

“I think hell yeah. Wait, don’t you have to go to work?”

I didn’t want to get into the same conversation I was dreading having with Nathan, so I decided to lie.

“I had to use or lose my vacation time. So I decided to use it.”

In truth, I called in and told them I was sick and wouldn’t be back until I had seen my doctor.

“I’m in. Okay, you’re talking about just the two of us without the children, right? Don’t get me wrong, your kids are the cutest, but I think I’m still too fragile to deal with never-ending questions and their sticky, mystery-goo fingers.”

I felt a smile form on my face, “You’re too much. We’ll come up with a plan tomorrow.”

“Does the plan include a babysitter?”

I was trying my best not to laugh.

“Bye Porsha.”

I hung up the phone and picked up Cam’s toy, slogging upstairs to check on the kids’ progress. Lexi was about to take a bath, and Cameron was playing on his bedroom floor.

I dangled his toy in front of him, “Are you missing something?”

I finished with the kids, tucking them into their beds. As I entered my bedroom, I felt alone; the master suite could have graced the pages of “Better Homes and Gardens,” but when I was left to my own devices, it just seemed cold.

Some of the feelings of loneliness went away after turning on the television. I soon lost track of time, slipping in and out of consciousness.