Magical Midlife Madness (Leveling Up, #1)

by K.F. Breene

I wanted more than this provincial life.

“Pete, you have your testicles out. Of course the girl is going to look away!” My mother turned around, muttering, “I don’t blame her, quite frankly. You need to go to the doctor. I know those things sag, but it looks like you have a medical condition.”

I’d never been great at following convention, even back when I was trying. Maybe especially when I was trying.

“Pure dumpster fire, this place.” I smiled at the joke, then realized it wasn’t a joke and looked down at my dry sandwich.

“The tit. Lost it in the war.” “Oh…the Vietnam War, you mean?” I’d almost said World War Two. “What do I look like, a yank? No, the war on breast cancer. Yeah, it won that battle, but I won the war.”

“While you were paralyzed with fear, your happiness suffered. That’s a call to courage if I ever heard one.”

groomed themselves and wore cute clothes and didn’t forget to brush their hair before leaving the house. I didn’t have the energy for all that. If I had a bra on, I was betting aces. I jerked my

“Livin’ the dream. Haters gonna hate,” I said as she slipped out of the way. “Ballas gonna…” I shrugged, turning on the tap. “Spend money or somethin’, I don’t know.”

“I’m crazy?” I asked. “You started it! You started it, and I plan on finishing it. That’s just responsible fighting. That’s what a mother does, finishes things. Then tidies up. Trash can, unmarked grave, whatever. Garbage goes where I put it, and that’s that.”

“No, I don’t, but I wanted to provide a united front.”

The courage of a mother could not be measured. We toiled in the background, day in and day out, without thanks, so our children could become their best selves. We sacrificed ourselves for our loved ones, and we did it silently. Gladly. Full of love.

“I’m too young to feel stagnant,” he said after another moment. “I still feel twenty. I don’t want to retire or fade into obscurity—it’s time to pivot. Like you are. I feel the truth in that.”

I’d never really been supported like this in my adult life—I’d always fallen into the supportive role. So I hadn’t realized how much it helped. How good it felt to have the people around me lift me up when life was trying to batter me down. No wonder my ex had hit such professional heights—he’d always had a champion in his corner. I now wished I’d relied on true friends like Diana a lot more.