Free Begin Again by Evan Grace Page A

, Aunt JoJo?” Abby asked as she continued to blow bubbles.
    “ It was just a guy, sweetie.”
    She put Joey down and the kids started running a round again. Looking at her phone, it was already ten after six, and Dylan still wasn’t there. He could’ve at least called or texted her to tell her he wasn’t coming or was going to be later than he said. She’d wait ten more minutes, then they would leave. If this was going to be a common occurrence, they were going to have problems. She wasn’t going to sit around and wait for him to decide if and when he’d show up. Maybe she was overreacting because he was new to all of this, but it wasn’t fair to her to have to put things on hold for him.
    Joey screeched as he chased Abby , trying to get the bubbles. Even though she was in a piss-poor mood, the kids still brought a smile to her face. They loved each other so much. Sure they fought and sometimes drove each other crazy, but they were close. Joey may have been a toddler, but he was Abby’s shadow. It was the type of relationship she had with her big brother until drugs took over his life.
    Cash Cummings was four years older than Journey. When he started using he was 16. It was pills first, then meth, and finally heroin. He was musically gifted like their dad, but for some reason he couldn’t take the pressure their dad put on him, and so he started using to deal with it all. Journey remembered when she was younger how at least once a year her parents sent him to rehab. He’d do well for a while and then start using again. When she’d gotten the call about Abby, she hadn’t heard from her brother for about a year, and even when they buried their parents, he didn’t talk to her or even tell her she was an aunt.
    She shook her head to erase the sad memories from her mind. Glancing down at her phone she saw that it was almost six-thirty and she had still heard nothing from Dylan. Looking at Joey, a sense of sadness washed over her and a healthy dose of anger. Is this the way it was going to be? Dylan flitting in and out of Joey’s life whenever he wanted? Well to hell with that.
    “Come on , kids, you want to go get some ice cream?” She scooped up Joey in her arms kissing his cheek.
    “Ice cream? Yay!” Abby shouted and pumped her little fist in the air. They walked towards the car. “Aunt JoJo, where’s Joey’s daddy? I thought he was coming to see us.”
    “I thought he was to o, sweetheart. Let’s go.” Abby climbed in and buckled herself in as Journey strapped Joey into his car-seat.
    “Mama, mama, mama!” he squealed at her while Journey tickled his tummy when she was done strapping him in. She kissed him quick and then closed the door
    Journey started her car. As she pulled out of the parking lot, she wanted to cry. She’d been so desperate over the last two years trying to find Dylan for Joey, but now that she had, she had doubts that he wanted to be in Joey’s life, which didn’t make sense since he asked Zach to back down. Oh well. She’d been doing this alone for two years; she could do it forever if she needed to.
     
    ***
     
    Dylan was running late. He’d gotten held up at a jobsite outside of town. When he was leaving, Bellamy called and begged to come with him to the park. She wanted to meet her nephew and Journey. Even though she was 26 now, she could get Dylan to do whatever she wanted. Maybe he was a sucker, but he loved her, and after what she went through, he’d do everything in his power to make sure she was always smiling. He knew he should call Journey or at least text her, but he wanted to hurry and get there as soon as he could.
    Pulling into Luke and Bellamy’s driveway , he watched his baby sister and niece come out the front door, followed by Luke. Cari, his niece, waved to him and ran towards the truck. He jumped out and picked her up, tossing her high as she laughed. “How’s my princess?”
    “Unca Dyl , we go to the park and see Joey?”
    “You bet, sweetheart.