40
AIDEN
I had to learn how to make a house a home after given the one life dealt me as a kid, and for me, a proper domicile was tidy. Call me a Neat Nick, a control freak, but order soothed me.
The Hallmark memories I had of living with my biological mom were few. We spent most of our time dreading my father’s return or cleaning up the path of destruction and chaos he left behind. God forgive me, but it crossed my mind that her death may have been a mercy on her. Her Catholic upbringing would never let her leave him, and what kind of misery might he inflict on her if he had more time? After her death, I moved in with relatives I met once; a whole other story.
Oddly, I never felt so at home as when Scarlett was by my side, and she was messy as hell.
Watching her dip her “nuggies” in h
