Taming of a Rebel

“Rebel, you can’t run away like that. I need to know where you are at all times.” The woman’s voice was harsh and loud as she spoke,

“Do you really think I don’t know when you’re flustered?”

“I just met the rudest woman I have ever seen in my life.”

“Well, when I say met, what I mean is her child ran full-on into me, fell over, and then she stomped up like Ms. Miranda Priestly and all that. She had the audacity to accuse me of hurting her kid before snagging the kiddo from my arms, turning on her heels, and leaving before I could even answer the question in the first place.”

“So she was hot, huh?”

“Oh yeah, she was hot. Was she dressed to the nines, too? You always do like a woman who takes care of herself. Those high-maintenance women.”

“But you are still determined to find your soulmate by your thirtieth birthday, right?”

Her parents were out of the question. They were the ones who had made this mess in the first place. Miranda had seen the effects of generational trauma and abuse for years. This might not have been physical or mental abuse, but it certainly was emotional neglect.

“I guess we better find some clothes for you somewhere.”

Hopefully it wouldn’t be as bad as the last one. Because once again, everything in her family fell onto her shoulders, and she was the one who had to pick up the pieces. If only she could break the cycle of bad parenting. Maybe with Rebel she could—at least for the next three days.

She was too exhausted to cook. Parenting wasn’t something that came naturally to her, and it wasn’t anything she had ever wanted. Not after seeing the way her parents had handled it. They were the perfect example of a couple who just gave up, especially with surprise kid number two.

She did not want children, and she’d been firm on that since she was sixteen and started to raise her sister because they refused to. The first three years, Miranda had been Tierney’s primary caregiver, and when she’d gone to school to become a mortician, her parents had flipped. Not having that backup had been the end of their world. But Tierney had basically been in school by then, and they were as hands off as possible since.

Still, Tori was running short on time to find her soulmate before she turned thirty. She only had nine more months.

“I practically raised her, you know.”

“Tierney. I was sixteen when she was born, and she was an oops, massively. My parents were one and done. They liked their life, and when she was born, they wanted nothing to do with parenting, so I did it.”

She had left three messages for Tierney already, but resigned herself to the fact that it might be a while before her sister listened to them, let alone called back or signed the letter Miranda needed. It might push her to have to take more drastic steps when it came to custody, and that was something she had resisted for the two years since Rebel had been born.

She really should apologize for her outburst. Snagging her phone, she called before she could find another excuse not to. Because she would find all the excuses if given the time.

“Mommy, that’s a no-no word.”

Tori was her soulmate.

I haven’t grown up with good relationships, and my parents don’t exactly have a good relationship either. I often wonder why they’re still married, but they seem to make it work. Everything with you is so easy. And I don’t believe for a second that relationships aren’t work.”

then I got scared, because what you taught me, very subtly, very swiftly, was that vulnerability isn’t a weakness.”

“Should we get matching rings or something?”

She was never happier to be out of a conflict, and this was one she could gladly say she didn’t need to be a part of.