"Well I don't plan on drinking today. Besides, cut me some slack. It's not every day you see your skinned alive ex-husband nailed up in your foyer, Heph. I dealt with it the best I could. I'm making an effort to come out of it."
"Good," he replied gruffly. "It's time to get your ass back into training."
"What's th e point? I don't have any power. It's not like I'm going to get anything done."
The snorts came loud and clear through the wall and I scowled. "We're not going to be working on your powers, Brat. We're going to be working on physical and mental training. T his afternoon Drew and I took turns keeping up the mental blocks in your mind while you slept. You need to learn how to do that yourself so Hypnos can't get in."
I wasn't scowling anymore. I was thinking about what he was really saying and letting it sink in. "There's a way to keep Hypnos out of my dreams?"
"Grace, do you think that Zeus has spent one night since Hypnos put him to sleep worrying about whether or not it would happen again? No. He figured out how to mentally block him and went on with his lif e. You may have a brain the size of a chicken's, but I'm fairly certain we can make this work for you."
I wanted to say something smart assed back to him but I knew he was right. If I could just get some sleep, everything would be better. I hadn't actually had a conversation with the kid in three days and if he was hurting as much as I was, that lack of communication wasn't good. We needed to stick together and weather this one out. He needed to know that I would always be there for him.
But, up to this po int, I hadn't been. I ’ d gone into complete meltdown mode and left the tough stuff up to the guys. Guess who's going to get the award this year for shittiest mom? That's right. This girl.
"If you could let me finish doing my business, I'll be out and you c an torture me."
"I'm going to hold you to that," he replied caustically.
"You always do," I said with a sigh.
I realized with a sudden certainty that the boys would take over my life if I didn ’ t set boundaries and a schedule right now. I was going to have to make time to write. If I wasn't going to be superhuman anymore, I needed to make a living and the books were my income.
Also – I needed to buy some clothes. The mundane and domestic stuff just kept popping up all over the place. I guessed they ’ d gone grocery shopping but we'd need laundry soap and cleaning supplies and whatnot. Also, it was prime gardening time.
There was a half-assed garden in the back yard that I unsuccessfully tried to produce food from every year. I hadn't been able to grow a dam n thing to harvest in five years. But I certainly wasn't going to give up now. I mean, I'd invested five years into the thing. That's longer than most marriages.
I finished up, washed my hands, brushed a week's worth of tangles out of my hair and sauntered into the kitchen, completely sober for the first time in days.
I'll be honest, I was afraid that Dylan would be there. I wasn't ready to face him yet. I was so ashamed for checking out completely when he needed me the most. I ’ ve joked about him needing t herapy but it's generally just that – a joke. I was in for it now.
I peeked around the corner and sighed with relief that he was nowhere in sight.
"Mom?"
I jumped at the sound of his voice and whirled around. "Jesus, kid! You scared the hell out of me."
"Are you actually sober?" His eyebrow was cocked up and a cross between derision and surprise was painted across his face.
I opened my mouth to snark right back at him and stopped myself when I realized that this was a defining moment. He deserved to be p issed off at me. However, there's a fine line between being pissed off and still showing some semblance of respect. He could be mad at me all he wanted, but he'd be respectful or I would bust his ass.
I drew myself up to my full height and looked him in t he eye. "I get that you're mad. You deserve to be mad. I
"Good," he replied gruffly. "It's time to get your ass back into training."
"What's th e point? I don't have any power. It's not like I'm going to get anything done."
The snorts came loud and clear through the wall and I scowled. "We're not going to be working on your powers, Brat. We're going to be working on physical and mental training. T his afternoon Drew and I took turns keeping up the mental blocks in your mind while you slept. You need to learn how to do that yourself so Hypnos can't get in."
I wasn't scowling anymore. I was thinking about what he was really saying and letting it sink in. "There's a way to keep Hypnos out of my dreams?"
"Grace, do you think that Zeus has spent one night since Hypnos put him to sleep worrying about whether or not it would happen again? No. He figured out how to mentally block him and went on with his lif e. You may have a brain the size of a chicken's, but I'm fairly certain we can make this work for you."
I wanted to say something smart assed back to him but I knew he was right. If I could just get some sleep, everything would be better. I hadn't actually had a conversation with the kid in three days and if he was hurting as much as I was, that lack of communication wasn't good. We needed to stick together and weather this one out. He needed to know that I would always be there for him.
But, up to this po int, I hadn't been. I ’ d gone into complete meltdown mode and left the tough stuff up to the guys. Guess who's going to get the award this year for shittiest mom? That's right. This girl.
"If you could let me finish doing my business, I'll be out and you c an torture me."
"I'm going to hold you to that," he replied caustically.
"You always do," I said with a sigh.
I realized with a sudden certainty that the boys would take over my life if I didn ’ t set boundaries and a schedule right now. I was going to have to make time to write. If I wasn't going to be superhuman anymore, I needed to make a living and the books were my income.
Also – I needed to buy some clothes. The mundane and domestic stuff just kept popping up all over the place. I guessed they ’ d gone grocery shopping but we'd need laundry soap and cleaning supplies and whatnot. Also, it was prime gardening time.
There was a half-assed garden in the back yard that I unsuccessfully tried to produce food from every year. I hadn't been able to grow a dam n thing to harvest in five years. But I certainly wasn't going to give up now. I mean, I'd invested five years into the thing. That's longer than most marriages.
I finished up, washed my hands, brushed a week's worth of tangles out of my hair and sauntered into the kitchen, completely sober for the first time in days.
I'll be honest, I was afraid that Dylan would be there. I wasn't ready to face him yet. I was so ashamed for checking out completely when he needed me the most. I ’ ve joked about him needing t herapy but it's generally just that – a joke. I was in for it now.
I peeked around the corner and sighed with relief that he was nowhere in sight.
"Mom?"
I jumped at the sound of his voice and whirled around. "Jesus, kid! You scared the hell out of me."
"Are you actually sober?" His eyebrow was cocked up and a cross between derision and surprise was painted across his face.
I opened my mouth to snark right back at him and stopped myself when I realized that this was a defining moment. He deserved to be p issed off at me. However, there's a fine line between being pissed off and still showing some semblance of respect. He could be mad at me all he wanted, but he'd be respectful or I would bust his ass.
I drew myself up to my full height and looked him in t he eye. "I get that you're mad. You deserve to be mad. I
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