Chapter 6 - Jade
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you had a kid.” Kaleb shook his head as he stood across the island. He opened the cabinet, grabbed crackers, and pulled them out. “What were you thinking?”
I rolled my eyes, growing tired of the same questions. “Kaleb, can you maybe ask another question? This one is getting old.”
Kaleb scowled at me as he leaned onto the counter. “You’re funny. Seriously, how could you not tell me? I have a niece, and you never once mentioned her.”
“Because you weren’t here.” I shifted in my chair.
He popped a cracker into his mouth. “For three years. You kept it to yourself for three years.”
“And I don’t recall you ever coming home to visit,” I snapped back.
He remained silent for a moment, popping another cracker into his mouth. His chewing was like nails on a chalkboard, given how quiet the house was.
“Where is dad?” I asked, wanting to change the subject. I came here because Kaleb asked me to, but I figured our dad would be here as well.
“Out,” he said, leaning back slightly. He made a face. “So, how long were you and Brandon sleeping together?”
“Jesus Christ.” I leaned forward, placing my face onto the counter. “Kaleb, stop. It’s in the past, let’s leave it there.”
“Often, I’m guessing. I mean, you were only eighteen a couple of months before we left. Were you guys having sex before you were eighteen?”
I sat back up. “We slept together once. Okay. A single time.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “So, stop asking.”
“I didn’t even know you guys liked each other like that.”
“We don’t,” I grumbled.
“Clearly you did.”
“Clearly not, because I ended up pregnant and he left.”
Kaleb snapped his mouth shut. I looked at my glass of water, rubbing my thumb along the rim of the cup.
“How have things been here with dad?” he asked.
I chewed on my cheek for a moment, knowing better than to tell him the truth. I never told him how it really was here. Our dad was the way he was, and there was no changing that. Not even his prized son.
“Fine,” I said with a shrug. “Same as always.”
“Has dad helped with Ilsa? I imagine it’s been hard to raise her alone.”
I wanted to laugh at the question, but I didn’t. I nodded and lied. “Yeah, he helped.”
Kaleb smiled. “Well, that’s good.” Kaleb patted his finger on the counter and looked nervous. “I’m sorry I was gone for so long.”
My eyebrows went up, and I tilted my head, confused. “It’s a job, Kaleb.”
He shook his head. “I could have come home, and clearly I should have.” He looked out the glass door toward where Ilsa was sitting on the back porch. She was coloring in her coloring book. Her feet swung as she hummed to herself, swaying in the wind.
“You’re here now,” I said, meaning it. As angry as I was about him being gone for over three years, I was happy he was here now.
”How was your pregnancy?”
I shrugged. “It was fine.”
He gave me a blank expression.“You’re telling me no one said anything about you being pregnant? And that it was Brandon’s kid?”
“You didn’t ask that,” I countered.
“You also avoided answering.”
I sighed. “Kaleb, can’t we just get along? Do we have to dig through the past?”
Kaleb frowned. “I’m not trying to dig up the past…I just want to know what I’ve missed.”
I wanted to tell him everything. How hard it was. How I struggled constantly and how I seemed to fuck everything up every chance I could. But it wouldn’t be fair. Kaleb wasn’t the father. He was just my brother, and I knew he meant well.
“I have photos,” I said, offering him a smile. “And you can look through all of them. See what you missed. But you don’t want to know the details of how I got here, Kaleb.”
I expected him to argue, but he nodded his head, accepting that. Just then, the glass door opened, and Ilsa spoke up. “Mommy! Look at what I colored.”
I turned as she walked toward me, showing me a picture in her book. There was a princess who had colored in with pink and purple. I smile. “Look at that. It’s beautiful.”
“Looks really good,” Kaleb said.
Ilsa blushed. “I painted it for Uncle Aleb…” Ilsa was still working on her K’s, so Kaleb’s name came out broken. But I saw the way he perked up.
It wasn’t hard to introduce Kaleb into Ilsa’s life. She questioned why she’d never met him, and Kaleb told her he was away at work, but he was here now.
Ilsa walked around offering the picture to Kaleb. He held it close. “Thank you, Ilsa. It’s beautiful.”
Ilsa giggled. “Do you want me to color you another?”
Kaleb nodded at her, patting her head. I couldn’t help but smile at how close they were. Kaleb had always been someone that everyone would get along with, and it was the same for Ilsa. He bent down, picking her up. She showed him pictures of the coloring book, letting him pick out other ones.
My phone vibrated, and I looked down to see a message from Brandon. My stomach twisted up as I read the message.
Everything has been unpacked into the house. I set up everything in the two rooms that you and Ilsa will be taking.
I swallowed, glancing away from my phone. We had decided to tell Ilsa we were moving in with Brandon because he was a good friend of mine. We weren’t sure about telling her that we were married or that he was actually her father. We wanted to let her get settled first.
Ilsa had been unsure about the change. She looked around our apartment, telling me she was going to miss it. A space that was just ours.
“Ilsa, are you ready?”
Ilsa nodded her head slowly, and I could tell she was nervous. I was nervous. I wasn’t sure how this was going to go. Kaleb had offered to take us, so I wasn’t going alone with Brandon the first time we saw the house.
We headed out to my car, and Kaleb gave me a look. “How is this thing still running?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “There is nothing wrong with my car.”
He gave me a face. “Seriously, Jade. You need a new vehicle.”
I wanted to snap that I didn’t have the money, but I didn’t want Ilsa to see. So, I just glared at my brother, and he silently buckled himself up. I turned the key, and, of course, the car sputtered as it struggled to cling to life. Kaleb looked smug, and I didn’t even look at him.
“Not a word,” I growled as I pulled the vehicle out of the driveway.
I drove and turned where Kaleb said to turn.
Brandon lived in a nice house two miles away from our parents’ house.
Brandon told me it was nice. It had four bedrooms and two bathrooms. That there was an entire basement that Ilsa could turn into a play area, even.
There was a fenced backyard with a sandbox from the previous family.
Brandon pointed. “Here it is.”
He pointed to a white house with blue shutters. It wasn’t what I expected when he said it was Brandon’s house. It was charming, reminding me of a cottage. It wasn’t anything too big or extravagant.
“You look confused,” Kaleb said as he unbuckled.
“I just…I thought Brandon would have bought something else. It’s…cute.”
Kaleb laughed. “It’s nice. Brandon didn’t want anything too big.”
I wanted to ask why, but Kaleb had already started to hop out.
I got out and helped Ilsa get out when I noticed Brandon standing in the doorway of the front door.
He was wearing a pair of jeans and a plain white shirt.
His hair was a little messy, and it was clear that he was sweating from moving everything around.
He smiled as Kaleb walked over, and they chatted. I walked across the lawn with Ilsa, who took the house in with big eyes.
“We’re going to live here?” Ilsa asked as we got to the doorway.
Brandon nodded. “I have all of your stuff in the rooms.”
We all entered, and I scanned the space.
There was a small entryway that had hooks to hang coats.
You walked a little further in, and you took a left into the kitchen.
It was a light blue that matched the shutters outside, with a large wooden beam over the kitchen that had lights strung on it.
The countertop was a dark black with an island that had four deep brown chairs.
The living room featured a small fireplace and a large L-shaped couch positioned across from it. The living room itself wasn’t huge, but it was big enough. There was a set of stairs that led up and another set that led down, located next to the kitchen.
“The bedrooms are upstairs,” Brandon said.
Kaleb walked into the kitchen. “This is a nice space.”
Ilsa leaned closer to me. “Can we look at the room?”
I nodded, watching as she slid her shoe off, and we headed upstairs.
The hallway was small as you got upstairs.
It led to five different doors, all of which were open.
The bathroom was the first door. It was a matching blue to downstairs with a glass shower.
The first bedroom was dark, but you could see the bed and matching dresser.
I knew it was Brandon’s and kept walking, not bothering to snoop.
Ilsa paused at the door down the hallway. It was a large room that was painted a light pink. Ilsa’s bed was already set up. There was her small dresser sitting next to it, and the rest of the space was empty.
I frowned, suddenly wishing I had more items for her. She lived in such a small place before that we didn’t have the space to have a ton of toys.
“It’s big,” I said, watching as she walked over to the window that had a built-in reading nook. “Look, there’s an apple tree outside.”
I nodded, feeling a tug in my heart. I bit back tears and shook my head.
“Do you want to start unpacking your clothes and your Barbies?”
She smiled eagerly as she moved to her boxes.
I walked back down the hallway, pausing at the door across from Brandon’s.
I flick the light on, taking in my room.
It was a light peach-colored room with three large windows.
My bed sat in front of the windows with my dresser sitting next to it.
There were boxes of stuff, but the room itself was bigger than my previous one.
I flicked the light off, not wanting to look at it. I headed down the stairs and found that Kaleb was leaving. My entire body tensed up as Brandon shut the door and paused when he spotted me.
He gave me a nervous smile. “Thoughts?”
“I didn’t expect you to buy a house like this.”
He looked at me, confused. “What do you mean?”
I shrugged as I walked down the rest of the stairs, coming to the landing. “They have lots of new builds. I figured you would want one of those.”
Brandon shook his head. “No, besides, I thought you and Ilsa would like this one better. It’s near the school, and she will be in school before we know it. It has a fenced-in backyard, and it’s secure. Updated kitchen and bathroom, finished basement to do with what we want.”
I realized he hadn’t bought this house for his own needs, but rather for ours. I couldn’t help but feel a little touched by it.
Which brought up the questions. “What did you come back now? After three years?”
He shrugged. “I felt it was time.”
I scowled, hating that answer. “And what two years weren’t enough?”
He walked into the kitchen. “Does Ilsa have any eating restrictions?”
“You’re changing the subject,” I grumbled as I sat down on a chair.
“Because there is no point in continuing it. I felt it was time to return home and assume the role of Alpha. It’s simple.”
I frowned, hating how callous he sounded. For a moment, I had thought maybe he had changed, but he hadn’t. He was still the same person he had been before.
“She eats anything,” I said, chewing on my lower lip. I watched as he moved, his shoulders rolled as he leaned, and the way his back arched when he turned. I felt that tug to be near him, and I hated it. I hated how, after all these years, it was still there.
Brandon turned and tapped his hands on the counter. “Does she have favorite snacks?”
“Cherry tomatoes. You can’t have enough of those in the house. You have to cut them up in half, though, otherwise she thinks she can eat them whole, but she can’t.”
He nodded, taking that in.
“I was thinking of going and getting groceries since we don’t have any. I just want to get stuff I know she will snack on.”
I then noticed he was nervous. He kept shifting on his feet, kept moving. I felt the knot in my stomach, hating that I had caused it. He knew nothing about his child, knew nothing about her as a person.
“She isn’t a picky eater. The only thing she won’t eat is seafood, but I think that’s just because she’s so young still.”
He nodded, tapping his hand again on the counter. “Alright. I’ll go get groceries, and you guys can unpack everything.” He smiled at me, and I felt my heart skip a beat. My damn old heart hadn’t learned the first time.
Brandon was back to take over the Alpha role. He hadn’t come back for me. He’d only married me because of Ilsa, I was sure of that. If I didn’t have her, we wouldn’t be here. I just needed to remind myself of that.