The Misadventures of the Laundry Hag 00 - Swept Under the Rug

sure I wasn’t the first mother in history to receive this sincere promise. No doubt, two weeks in the dog would be old hat and I’d be stuck walking and feeding and cleaning up after it.
    “A dog might be good company for you during the day, Uncle Scrooge.” Neil pointed out. “And you’ll get more exercise because you’ll have to walk it several times a day.”
    And scoop its poop. And spot treat the rug and chase it off the furniture, not to mention the additional vacuuming and dust mopping… Ugh. When had my eye begun twitching?
    “A dog will just lie around all day, eating and sleeping and making a mess. I don’t need any more of that kind of company; I have Marty.”
    Neil ignored my grumping. “What do you think, Josh? You want a dog?”
    He didn’t look up from his phone. “Whatever. Not like it’ll happen, Mom always comes up with an excuse.”
    His tone sounded borderline fresh to me. “You might want to rephrase that statement, Joshua.”
    Green eyes rolled around in the kind of exaggeration only a pre-teen could manage. “’Scuse me, what I meant was, Mom’s too busy being nosy and getting locked up to bother with an animal.”
    “Hey! Now just wait a minute—” My protest was cut off as Neil slammed down on the breaks half a mile from our driveway. We all lurched forward and were held in the vehicle by seatbelts and God’s will.
    “Maggie, drive Kenny home. Josh. Out. Now. We’re walking the rest of the way.” His cold tone brooked no argument.
    “Neil, I can handle this.” I muttered as I circled the car.
    “I know you can, and would, but Josh and I need to talk. We’ll see you at home.” Neil shut the door behind me and tugged Josh to the side of the road.
    “Josh is gonna get it.” Kenny predicted from the back seat.
    I was amazed at the changes in Josh, from even a few months ago. He’d gone from the little boy whose battles I’d readily fought, to a hormonal, snot-nosed pubescent young man in the blink of an eye. And I couldn’t help thinking that my preoccupation with both crime and cleaning was partially to blame for his attitude realignment.

    * * * *
    Marty and Penny were parked on the living room sofa when I arrived home. Kenny tossed his backpack inside of the front door. “Hey Uncle Marty, do you wanna go lift weights in the garage with me?”
    “Sure thing, tough guy.” Mary handed the remote to Penny and stood, stretching his back. “I could use a little action.”
    “Keep it to half an hour; you have homework to do before dinner.” I said to Kenny. He raced down the hall to change out of his school clothes.
    I turned to face my brother. “How did it go?”
    “Well enough, I suppose. The lawyer said he’d get back to me in a few days.” Marty leaned down and pecked Penny on the cheek. “No worries, right?”
    Penny offered him a wan smile and nodded. Seemingly satisfied, Marty left.
    I searched out the front window for any sign of Neil and Josh. Fabric rustled as Penny shifted on the couch, cleared her throat.
    “You could have told me, you know.” I said, not bothering to face Penny. “I’m sorry you felt like you had to keep the truth from me.”
    “I’ll leave, if you want.” Penny’s voice was small, reluctant. “I never meant to cause so much trouble.”
    I glanced at her over my shoulder. “Don’t be stupid. You’re more than welcome to stay here.”
    “But the baby’s not Marty’s. She’s not kin to you.”
    I whirled on her. “Do you want my brother to be a father to your child?”
    Shoulders slumped, she nodded.
    “Then you and your child are kin to me. I have no idea what the two of you are planning, but you have family here, all right?”
    “I’m so afraid Marty’s going to get into real trouble. He’s such a good guy and I couldn’t bear it if he….” She stared off into space.
    I knelt down next to her. “Listen to me. Marty’s been in trouble before, and he’s always wormed his way out of it.” No need to point out that the team of Maggie and Neil usually had a hand in the extraction. “Everything will work out.”
    I could read the disbelief in her eyes. I sighed and settled on the floor more comfortably. “Did Marty tell you that Josh and Kenny aren’t my biological children?”
    Since I was watching for it, I saw surprise flitter across her face. “It’s true. Neil was in the middle of an extremely hostile divorce from his first wife. I was hired on as their nanny.”
    “How old were they?”