Layla tested the doorknob to the house and found that it unlocked, so she crept in as quietly as she could. She tip toed quietly to her room, holding onto her dress and bra that she grabbed from Seth's room on the way back home, as well as the shoes she left in her front yard.
"And where have you been, young lady?" Eric asked, leaning against the living room entry.
"Motherfucker!" Layla yelled, slinging her shoes. "Dad! Don't do that to my heart, Jesus." she said.
Eric dodged the shoes, laughing. "So, where were you?" Eric asked. "I feel like I should be stern and whatnot."
"The door was locked last night, so I crashed with Seth." Layla said, walking to her room.
"Did you two...wait, I don't want to know." Eric said, standing in her doorway.
"With Seth? No. But I did kiss Leah at the club, so." Layla said, seeing Eric's jaw drop, and started laughing.
"Layla!" Eric said, shaking his head, laughing. "You don't have a house key do you?" he asked.
"No, sir, I do not. Oh, I am paying Emily to come over a few days a week and clean. And Sam's going to start coming over soon and he's going to be making some things for me." Layla said.
"And you can afford that?" Eric asked.
"Oh, yeah. Definitely." Layla said, hanging her dress up.
Layla looked through the clothes in the closet and hanging on the poles, trying to decide what to wear for her first day tomorrow. Eric walked in, standing beside her as she flipped through her clothes. He pulled out a plaid red and black skirt.
"I think you'd look very nice in this." Eric said.
Layla smiled and laid the sweater on her bed, pulling out a red blouse and digging through her things to find the matching shoes and handbag. "Thank you, Dad. I think it will look great!" Layla said, meaning her words.
"That's the second time you've called me Dad. I really like the way it sounds." Eric said.
"You're my father. It felt kind of disrespectful calling you Eric." Layla said, smiling. "If I can still call my mother 'mom' then I'm definitely sure I can call you dad."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Eric asked.
"Not really. I'm fine. She's doing her." Layla said. "I've got to shower, I'm sure I still stink from last night."
"I'll be over at Billy's. He's got the tournament on." Eric said. "I'll have you a key this evening."
"Thank you, Dad." Layla said.
When Eric left, Layla walked across the hall and turned the shower on and padded back to her bedroom, grabbing some clothes to change into, making sure to leave the t-shirt she was wearing on the floor. She padded back to the shower, sighing happily when the hot water hit her skin.
An hour later, Layla emerged from the bathroom, having left a couple towels in the floor, wanting Emily to believe she really needed someone to clean up after her. Layla walked back to her bedroom and pulled out her dryer and hairbrush, starting on drying her hair. When she was finished, Layla threw the towel that was on her hair into the floor, kicking it to the corner. She left her makeup and perfume out after finishing with it. She then went room to room, messing up small things for Emily to tidy up without making such a mess that Emily would be exhausted when she finished.
Layla picked up her cell phone, going to the corner of her bedroom where she got signal and dialed Kai's number. He picked up on the second ring.
"Bitch I miss you." Kai whined as a greeting.
"I miss you, too, Kai. What are you doing?" Layla asked.
"Just woke up. You'll never guess what happened last night!" Kai said.
"Tell me!" Layla said, smiling.
"I totally hooked up with Mario." Kai said. "We went to Jimmy's for a party and it was, like, the most amazing thing ever."
"Oh, my God. You are kidding me!" Layla said. "You do know I'm going to need all the hairy details."
"Girl, what hair?" Kai said. "I so miss you. You need to be here, smoking a bowl with me so we can talk about everything."
"I know. Maybe on a break I can fly out there for a few days, or you can maybe fly here." Layla said.
"So, tell me what's going on there at the rez. How many hot guys are there and how many have you done?" Kai said.
Layla and Kai talked for nearly 2 hours, talking about every single thing that had happened since Bonnie dropped the bomb and Layla moved.
"So, like, that Embry guy is just fucking that cow?" Kai asked. "You need to grab him by the balls and be like, I sat on it first so it's mine."
"Kai! No, oh gob no. I am so not going to do that! If he wants me, he knows where I am. You yourself would put a hit on me if I ever went begging after anyone." Layla said.
"True. You know Uncle Ang would fly there himself and talk some sense into you." Kai said.
"Aww, I miss Uncle Ang. You have the best family, Kai. They don't suddenly go crazy and dump you on someone." Layla said.
"True. They were born crazy and we just can't get rid of them." Kai said. "But you know you're always welcome here. And tell anyone that if they try to start shit, you know a few people that'll take care of them."
"Hell, Mama Jules would fuck anyone up." Layla said.
"My ma is pretty badass." Kai said.
"I've got to go, but I love you. And I miss you." Layla said.
"Call me when you can. I love you, bitch." Kai said.
Layla hung up, the emotions from the last few days catching up to her, spilling from her eyes and down her cheeks. She tossed her phone to her bed, letting the tears fall. How could her mother, one of the most stable people in her life, just up and pick some guy and leave her? Just send her away like she was nothing? Layla slid down the wall, in the corner of her bedroom, crying, pressing the heel of her hand to her mouth. Why did her mother just leave? Why wasn't she her mother's first choice? What if she hadn't had Eric to come to? What would have happened to her? Would she be out on the street? In foster care? Kai's parents would probably try to get custody of her, wouldn't they?
"Layla? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Emily asked, rushing into the room having seen Layla crying in the corner.
"Why wasn't I a choice? Why did she just pick him and leave?" Layla said, her voice breaking as more tears fell.
"Your mom?" Emily asked, coming to sit down beside Layla.
Layla nodded, wiping her eyes. "She just met Stefan, moved him in, and then just one day she sent me away and she left with him. How can a mother just do that to her daughter?" she asked.
"I could never do that to my baby." Emily said, her hand over her tiny bump.
"Sam wouldn't let you, anyway. You two are perfect together." Layla muttered.
"I'm sorry she did that to you, Layla. But it might turn out to be a good thing. I mean, you met your father and all of us, and that quickly you became our family." Emily said. "Sam's even glad you're here, even if you are a bit sassy." she added, smiling.
"I'm so glad to have met everyone, but I miss everything about my life in New York. Kai, Louise, Mama Jules, Big Poppa..." Layla said. "Mostly Kai's family."
"Well, fall break is in a few weeks. Maybe Eric will let you fly there for a few days." Emily said. "Come on now, no more crying. My hormones are everywhere and I'm going to start crying with you." she added, wiping the tears from Layla's eyes.
Layla hugged Emily. "You're going to be an amazing mom. Little dude or dudette is lucky." Layla said.
"Sam is convinced it's a boy." Emily said.
"He'll be a heart breaker, that's for sure. What is it with guys and long hair and then the shirtless and the muscles and then the man bun and the muscles and the shirtless and the muscles and the long hair..." Layla said, biting her lip.
"You said muscles and hair and shirtless several times." Emily said, giggling.
"I really, really like it." Layla said, smiling. "Is it hot in here? We need to crack open a window." she fanned herself.
Emily nudged her and stood up, walking around Layla's room and tidying up, making the bed. "I'll change the sheets once a week, is that okay?" she asked.
"Sounds great to me. You can avoid Paul's room...don't want him upset at me anymore then for whatever reason he already is." Layla said. "Do you want to get paid every week or every two weeks?" she asked.
"Every week is fine by me." Emily said, straightening out the quilts and pillows. She piled the dirty clothes and towels by the door then going to the bathroom, putting the towels in the floor into the pile and straightening up Layla's lotion, powder, and makeup. Layla watched her clean, making sure she didn't have to do anything strenuous. Emily picked up the laundry and headed to the laundry room, separating the loads and putting them into the washer.
A little more than two hours had passed before Emily had finished for the day.
"What days do you want to come on? Like 2 or 3 days a week should be fine." Layla said.
"How about Wednesdays and Sundays?" Emily asked, knowing those were two of the days Sam was off and that she could spend more time with him afterward.
"I love it!" Layla said. "I'm going to go ahead and pay you for this week and then, we'll do every Sunday for payment."
Emily smiled and Layla went to her wallet, pulling two hundreds and a fifty out and handing them to Emily. Emily slipped the money into her bra and then pulled Layla into another hug.
"You have no idea how much this is helping me and Sam." Emily said.
"I promise, you are helping me so much." Layla said, returning the hug.
Emily went back home after having finished cleaning for the day, going to tell Sam all about it.
Layla looked around her bedroom, seeing that it was only 2 in the afternoon. She grabbed her jacket and her purse and her keys, deciding to get some school supplies so she wouldn't be completely unprepared for tomorrow. She walked out to her Escalade, deciding it needed a good wash and wax before school tomorrow, too. She wondered if she could convince Sam to wash it and detail it and take money for it. She dialed Emily's number.
"Uley residence." Emily said, answering the phone.
"Well hello, sexy." Layla said, grinning, starting the Escalade.
"Hey! Whatcha doing?" Emily asked.
"I'm going to go get some school supplies. But I wondered if Sam could wash, wax, and detail my Escalade before tomorrow?" Layla asked. "I'll pay him $150."
Layla could hear Emily trying to be quiet in talking to Sam. She grinned when she heard Sam say, unbelievably, that someone would pay that much for a wash and detail. That he usually only got a twenty.
"He'll do it! He said just when you're finished picking out what you need to drop the Escalade and keys off with him and he'll take care of it." Emily said.
"Tell him he is a lifesaver! I'll see you all later!" Layla said.
"Bye!" Emily said, hanging up.
Layla put it in drive and drove leisurely to the entrance to the reservation before being able to pull out on the state highway. There wasn't a lot of traffic on her way to the local big box store and she pulled into a space, parking. She got out and grabbed her purse and locked her doors, making her way in. Layla went to the school supply section, figuring she'd need pens or pencils, and notebooks. The other, more specific stuff, she could get tomorrow. She walked over to the backpacks and saw a cute floral one. She picked it up as well. She bypassed the candles and scents section, stopping by and going to smell a few, picking out the ones she absolutely loved. When Layla was done, she had bought pens, paper, pencils, a backpack, three candles, two cute rugs for the bathroom, a new shower curtain, and a few padded rugs for the kitchen. She also picked up a bunch of snacks and chips and juices. Layla paid for everything and pushed the buggy to her Escalade, popping the trunk and piling everything inside. She took the buggy to the corral that was set up and then got back into her Escalade, starting it and heading back for the reservation. She was getting a bit hungry, but didn't really know what she wanted. Maybe she could call for a massive to go order, but this time, steaks. Steaks, ham, turkey, baked potatoes, all the food she loved eating in New York. Layla googled places to eat and found a local place that offered everything she was looking for, and had a great rating. She pulled into the parking lot and walked in.
"I need to place a huge to go order." Layla said, looking at the girl behind the counter.
"Sure thing! I'm ready!" she said.
Layla had figured on inviting everyone she'd met to a great big sit down family dinner. She was mentally counting each other before ordering.
"Okay, I'll need 75 steaks, 30 full hams bone in, include 5 whole turkeys, can I also get 6 dozen racks of ribs. I'll need 5 full sides of baked potatoes, 5 full sides of vegetables, 2 pounds of gravy, and 12 bags of rolls." Layla said, hoping that would be enough.
The girl behind the counter looked amazed. "This isn't a joke, right?"
"I've got a lot of family." Layla said.
The girl went to the back, to tell her manager of the massive order. He came to the front counter to talk to Layla.
"This order is legitimate?" he asked, not believing.
"I have a huge family to feed, so yes, it is." Layla said, crossing her arms. "Do you have an issue with filling my order?"
"Not at all." the manager said, turning to leave. "Fucking Quilete need to stop popping out little welfare babies." he muttered.
Layla heard him clearly, as did the girl behind the counter.
"Oh, no. He did not just say it." Layla said, taking her earrings off. "Listen here to me, you big mook, you might could be talking that shit to other people and they won't even bother. But you talking about my family there, you gump. You wanna start this shit and I will finish it. So what's it gonna be, pig? You gonna keep running your yap or are you going to show some fucking class? I'll tell you what, you don't ever mention the Quilete again, my family, and I won't have to come down here and there won't be no problem." Layla said, letting her thick New York accent dominate her words.
The manager, clearly unused to this behavior from a woman started backing up, apologizing repeatedly, citing stress and worry as an excuse for his words. He claimed to love the Quilete people.
"Am I gonna get my food here, or what?" Layla asked, looking at the manager. She looked over at the girl behind the counter and winked.
The manager had the kitchen shut down and work on her order only, so she wouldn't get upset and have to wait. In an hour, the backseat of her Escalade had been laid flat to the ground and all the food piled into it. The manager had thrown in complimentary dessert consisting of a dozen different flavored pies. Layla smiled softly, looking at her nails. She handed her bank card to the girl behind the counter.
"Ring the sale under your name, in case they want to work on commission." Layla said. "And give me the contact information for his boss."
The girl ran her card and gave her the slip to sign, as well as a business card with the owners name and number on it.
"Have a great time!" the girl behind the counter called out as Layla left.
If you all want to see Layla's first day of school outfit, I made one on polyvore. Just go to polyvore dot com and then add this at the end /cgi/set?id=191606257
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