Law of Attraction

Bonus Chapter 1| Nyx

The thing I loved most about being a general manager for a hockey team? I could control my hours. Nobody could tell me when I needed to come into work and even if I had meetings, I could conduct them via my laptop. It was the thing I was most grateful for because it meant I could spend more time with my family. I loved being there when they got home from school, to help them with homework and to cook a family meal every night.

I was a clingy mom, I'd admit that. Beckham teased me for it constantly. But I had to soak it up for as long as I could because my kids enjoyed being coddled. Got that? They fucking enjoyed that shit. I was never an affectionate child and Beckham was an idiot, so why were our kids this perfect? It was a question I could never find the answer to.

Our house was warm, filled with love and it was like a dream come true. I treasured the fluffy carpets in the living room, a place where the kids would roll around with a Disney movie playing in the background. It was the same carpet that my kids first started crawling on and I'd never get rid of it. I was going to be wrapped in it like a burrito and buried like that when I died.

Beckham and my room had a humungous bed that could fit all of us, especially for when we had a movie night. It was everything I never had, and I was damn thankful that I could give it to my kids. They were my everything and I'd make sure they knew that all the time. I could never understand why my mom found it so easy to leave us. Granted, she had a good reason. As an adult, I understood her actions better, understood her better.

Elizabeth had left her four daughters behind because she was struggling. The very kids that she had birthed was triggering, everything about her living situation turned her into a cowardly being. She wanted her strength back, wanted to get herself back. So she left us. As our relationship healed, I'd come to understand that she didn't want to. It was the most difficult thing she'd ever done. The very thought of leaving my kids made an ache form in my chest. It was nothing compared to what my mom had gone through. To have the very reason for you being a mother also be the reason you're spiralling? Could never be me.

But that was in the past. And I wanted it to stay there. Things were said and done, and we grew. None of us was the same people we were back then. And that was completely okay. Forgiveness was a funny thing, but along with it came healing.

"Where is she?" I called out in a melodious voice, purposefully stomping my bare feet against the floor to make noise as I walked. A gentle giggle caught my attention and I smiled, following the sound. "I feel like I'm getting warmer?" My feet led me into the living room and I could see short legs sticking out behind the couch. My smile grew. "There she is!" I bellowed, causing the little girl to erupt in a fit of laughter.

She squealed, attempting to push to her feet and run away but she'd only started walking a month ago, so her balance was off. With another shriek, she plopped onto her butt, flowery dress billowing with the movement. "Ouchie," she murmured, one of the few words she knew how to say.

I bent down, swooping her chubby figure into my arms. "You're okay, Stella. All okay." I rubbed a gentle hand over her butt and headed back to the kitchen, placing the almost one-year-old into her rubber seat. Her wide, stormy eyes followed me as I rummaged through the cabinets, pulling out a bag of marshmallows before handing her one of the pink puffs.

Her plump little lips parted, revealing four small teeth that latched onto the fluffy sweet as she chewed in content, her saliva soon turning pink as it dribbled down her chin. I watched her with a grin, reaching forward to ruffle what little black hair she had. Stella Hunt, her dad's spitting image. She was an accidental pregnancy, having been conceived on the night Beckham was given a permanent position at the research lab he was interning at.