“No, actually. I wasn’t. Despite me having the kids, no one seems to keep me in the loop,” I said.
“Ah. Well, she was. But when I came into my office this morning, I had an interesting stack of paperwork slid under my door.”
“Can you cut to the chase?” I asked. “The kids are wanting to watch a movie and I’m kind of ready to wind down with one.”
“Then prepare yourself for many more movie nights to come.”
“What does that mean?”
“Ryan, your sister relapsed and dropped out of her rehab program.”
“Again,” I said.
“Yes. I’m not sure of the details. You’ll have to call your mother, I’m sure. All I know is that I’m looking at a stack of papers that hands over full custody of her children to you.”
I felt my knees grow weak.
“What?” I asked.
“She’s signed them and everything, Mr. Aaron. Full custody of Zoey, Hunter, and Benjamin shall be awarded to one, Ryan Aaron.”
“Temporarily, right?” I asked.
“No, sir. Indefinitely.”
I slowly turned my head and gazed down the hallway. I could see the kids’ shadows dancing along the floor as they all curled up on the couch. What the fuck had my sister done? Was she insane?
“There’s a note here addressed to you.”
“Uh… a what?” I asked, ripping myself from my trance.
“A note. I’m assuming it’s from Valentina.”
“Can you open it and read it to me?” I asked.
“Are you sure you want me to do that?”
“She just pawned her kids off on her brother. I’m not sure there’s anything that could be worse than that.”
“Yes, sir. Give me a second to get it open.”
I heard paper ripping on the other end of the line. The emotions tearing through my body weren’t quite what I expected. I wasn’t scared. Or terrified. Or even upset.
In a way, I was relieved.
Shocked, but relieved.
“Ready?”
“Go ahead,” I said.
“Ryan. I know things with us haven’t always been good. And I know things with me have never been good. I tried my best with my family, but I’m broken.”
I closed my eyes as the lawyer took a pause.
“Keep going,” I said.
“My children are everything to me, and one thing that stuck with me is that I have to do what’s best for them. I don’t know if I’ll ever get better. I don’t know if I’ll ever want to prioritize pills over my children. I know that sounds terrible. Believe me, I do. But I’ve tried to get sober for them, and it never works. I have to want to get sober for me, and deep down, I don’t want that yet.”