43. Jace
forty-three
Jace
Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday until twelve hours ago. I can’t even think of smelling food let alone being around it because I know that I’ll throw up.
I kicked Kacey out as soon as Sienna walked away from me, I don’t even know what possessed my mom to invite her, but I ended up telling her and everyone else in this family off as well.
Asa and Jackson could’ve told me, hell, they could’ve warned me that my ex-girlfriend would be sitting at our fucking dinner table when I got home.
Instead, I walked in the house blind, thinking I would surprise my mom with Sienna and everything would be fucking dandy.
The thought of Sienna being alone on Thanksgiving has my chest hurting.
The look on her face, those diamond-like tears brimming in her eyes…They were enough to make a grown man cry, and I did. Vulnerability and showing emotions is masculine, and I did both last night when I cried in the shower, thinking of Sienna and her parents.
Knocks sound on my bedroom door and I groan for the fifth time as Asa and Jackson try to get into the room.
“No!”
They don’t care, instead they open the door and tumbling in like the large assholes they are.
“I don’t want to talk to you cunt pockets. Get out or I’m telling Mom.”
They have the nerve to laugh at me .
I squint my eyes, lifting my head from my pillow as Asa lays down next to me and Jackson pushes me over to be in the middle of them.
“Putting me in a brother-wich? What are y’all, five-years-old?”
They ignore me, instead making themselves comfortable before Jackson speaks.
“We’re sorry. Mom didn’t tell us her plan…She just said she had a surprise for you,” Jackson says, turning to face me, but my eyes are trained solely on the light-up stars on the ceiling of my childhood bedroom.
“I knew. Whenever Mom says she has a surprise, I just assume it’s a girl. Jacks is dumb,” Asa quips, shrugging carefully as Jackson sighs.
“You’re dumb,” he retorts with a pout.
Asa twists to his side, “In my defense, dickhead, I thought you liked Cleo…Whole time, her cousin looks exactly like her. I mean Cleo’s cute and you were always going to her house in the summer—”
“Ew! I thought he liked Georgia…But then again all they do is argue and they’re both blondes…” Jacks adds.
Closing my eyes, I say, “Both you are fucking disgusting.”
“So you went to the Jones’ every day because of the cousin? I mean Sienna is gorgeous, had she been a little older I’d—”
I cut Asa a sharp look as he rolls his lips in.
“So, she’s the one.” He smiles as I huff, turning my head back to the ceiling.
“Get out of my room, I hate you both. Go play on the side of 210,” I tut as my brothers cackle at my expense.
“The highway?”
“Did that little asshole just tell us to play on the highway, Jackson?” Asa asks, humor riddling his tone as Jackson chuckles.
“He did…He’s whipped.” Jacks smirks, patting my head as Asa copies him.
“Whipped!”
Footsteps alert us of another person's presence, and soon enough my mom’s voice sounds throughout the room .
“Boys, leave your brother alone. He’s sad and doesn’t need to deal with your jokes right now,” she reprimands them in her most motherly tone, and immediately all pets to my hair stops and both of the cowards walk out.
I turn on my side, watching as my mom walks around my room, eyeing the walls littered with paintings and sketches of the same person.
“Was she…Is Sienna the unknown girl—the dancer?”
My breath catches in my throat as I sit up, my shoulders deflating.
“She’s the only girl I’ve ever drawn. Sienna has been my muse from the moment I first saw her, Mom.”
My mom watches me, the crow’s feet in the corner of her eyes softening as she takes a seat by me.
“I should’ve did more. I could’ve told you about her and made sure she was comfortable.
Sienna has been freaking out because of her parents and I just made it worse by coming here without telling you she’d be with me.
I…I should’ve went after her or at least called out Kacey’s odd behavior last night in front of her.
Instead, I did nothing.” I sigh as my mom wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into her.
A mother’s comfort can heal all wounds, and that thought alone sends me spiraling because when I think back to Sienna, I realize that she’s never had that form of comfort before.
“Tell me everything. How do we get my future daughter-in-law back here with us?”
My eyes search my mother’s for any hint of playfulness, but there isn't any. She’s as serious as can be, and that’s how I find myself spilling my guts to my mom on Thanksgiving.
Her jaw clenches as she looks down at me, her face stone cold and impassive.
“So what the hell are you waiting for? Do you love her?” Mom asks, her tone mimicking the one that she uses in the boardroom, and it’s then that I realize that this isn’t my mother, it's Anna Heart.
“Of course. ”
“Then let’s make a plan and I’ll apologize to her myself for inviting Kacey. I just want you two to be happy. Now, get your girl and get the fuck up. You two need each other.”