Chapter 22 Welcome Home, Son by. Radical Face
Jackie
I woke up in what was becoming my favorite way, wrapped in Will’s arms.
He was still knocked out cold. We were both exhausted, but not because of anything fun.
After Will brought our stuff in, we had dinner together with Kai and all headed off to bed.
Theo and Violet had been awake since Mckinley called Saturday evening and it was Sunday night.
Kai was reaching his end, obviously still feeling his injuries.
Will and I were also exhausted from Thursday’s sexcapades.
It was my new favorite word.
After hitting the hay around nine last evening, I had woken up just a few hours later, screaming.
I had another one of my nightmares. I wasn’t sure because I couldn’t remember them or the first few minutes after I woke up. It was confusing to feel the fear that the nightmares were eliciting but not knowing a single detail as to what caused the fear.
When I finally came to, the first thing I saw were Will’s eyes.
I had never seen him so concerned and it was obvious he was worried about me.
Theo had wandered in as well to make sure I was okay.
I guess my screaming was terrifying to hear.
I hated feeling helpless but the nightmares were causing me to feel just that way.
I did eventually drift off to sleep in Will’s arms and luckily didn’t have another nightmare.
At least I don’t think I did.
I extracted myself from Will’s embrace, not wanting to wake him. As I stood I looked down on his naked back.
I recently learned he didn’t sleep with a shirt on.
Win for me.
I gave him a soft kiss right between his shoulder blades before tiptoeing out of the room and closing the door softly behind me.
I wandered down the hall, eyeing the pictures that lined the walls. I had noticed all of us James siblings were mildly obsessed with documenting our lives in pictures.
I smiled when I saw a picture of Kai and Nate in high school.
They shared almost no features in their coloring, yet were so obviously brothers.
Another picture caught my eye. It was Kai, Theo, Violet and I after Theo had given birth.
Kai didn’t come out to visit too often but he always was there when it counted.
The sound of footsteps drew my attention and I turned to see Kai standing at the end of the hallway.
“I remember that day,” He walked towards me and stood shoulder to shoulder. He didn’t have his cane, but his limp was obvious. “Theo was so happy to finally have Violet here. She hated being pregnant.”
I nodded in response.
I barely remembered that day.
“You were drunk.”
I turned to meet Kai’s eyes. They were identical to mine in the shade of brown. It was almost like looking into a mirror.
He was right, I was drunk. It was a year after Nate’s death, and I was at the height of my addiction.
“I know.”
“How many years sober?” he asked.
I smiled. I knew he knew how many years it had been, but wanted to call attention to my successes, not my failures. “Four years.”
He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and kissed my temple. “Proud of you, Jack.”
We made our way to their kitchen where we both made our morning tea. I plopped down next to him at the kitchen table and took a sip of my chai.
“So, want to tell me why you married Mckinley?”
“No.”
I laughed at my brother. We weren’t necessarily close, but when we were together it felt like no time had passed. “Well, too bad. How did that happen?”
He sighed and leaned back in his chair. “It was an accident.”
“How does one accidentally marry someone?”
“You get them pregnant.”
I choked on my tea.
He did what?
“You have a kid? Or is she pregnant now? When did you even get married?”
“I married her about three years ago. I was really drunk, she was there. One thing led to another and…”
“So you stuck your poker in her fireplace and knocked her up?”
It was Kai who choked on his tea this time. “I’m sorry, what?”
I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean. What happened after that?”
“Well she told me she was pregnant, we got married the next week. Turns out she was never pregnant.”
This time I was truly at a loss for words. I knew Mckinley was not a good person, but holy shit.
“She lied?”
He nodded in response.
“Why are you still married?”
“Well, we’re in the process of divorcing now. It’s just a lot and the judgments around town and mom and dad are not making it easy.”
I completely understood.
One thing about living in a smalltown is that everyone had an opinion on your life and often let you know about said opinion. It also wasn’t socially acceptable to get a divorce here.
“Why is she still living here?”
“When everything is final, I’m leaving Grantsville. The house will be hers.”
I stood and literally cheered.
This was the greatest news.
I knew getting out of this town would be good for him.
Kai laughed at my antics as I danced around the kitchen.
After a minute I sat down and we discussed where he would be going and when.
He wasn’t sure of either yet, and it would depend on when his transfer request to the army went through, but it was obvious he was excited.
I also learned that Mckinley went to stay with her parents last night while we were here. He was livid that she lied to us and caused us so much fear and stress. She was extremely manipulative, but always had been.
In school she was in between Kai and Nate’s age group and was oddly obsessed with the former. I don’t think Kai would have cared about her feelings, but she was borderline stalkerish, even at one point breaking into Nate and Kai’s room in the middle of the night.
“Morning, losers,” Theo yawned as she wandered in, also seeming exhausted still in her pajamas.
God, I felt so guilty for keeping her up.
Kai smiled. “I haven’t heard that greeting in way too long.”
It was her way of saying good morning to us when we were younger. Theo gave off very wholesome vibes, but Violet got her spitfire personality from someone, and it was definitely not her father.
“Why do you look like death?”Kai grimaced the moment the words were out of his mouth. He never did have the best filter.
Theo rolled her eyes as she prepared her own tea and sat to join us at the table. “Jack’s nightmare woke Violet and me up. I couldn’t get Vi back to sleep for almost two hours.”
“I’m so sorry, Theo,” I whispered to my sister.
Theo put her tea down and turned to me with only compassion in her gaze. “Don’t you dare be sorry. You’re probably twice as exhausted as me. How long have you been having them now?”
“Two-ish weeks. Since I was at your house.” She was right, I was so fucking tired all of the time now. I had kind of adapted to it after the two weeks of constant nightmares.
Kai looked at me confused, and with a look in his eyes I couldn’t place. “You’re having nightmares?” he asked.
I nodded.
“What are they about?”
“I don’t actually know. I can’t remember any of them,” I responded.
Kai continued to look at me for a moment, seeming… nervous? “You said you’ve been having them for two weeks?”
Once again I nodded. “I think it has to do with this case I’m working on. Researching a couple of missing persons who were found. I think it has some ties to a cult.”
“What cult?”
“Cult of Creatio,” I took another sip. Kai was oddly concerned as he heard the name. I was also stressed, especially after Griffin’s call and him alluding to me ‘being next’. But Kai didn’t know about any of this.
Kai continued to look at me, growing anxious by the second. Luckily, Violet entered just at that time, seeming to break Kai out of his trance.
“Mornin’ Mama,” Violet said in a sleepy voice as she rubbed her eyes. “Mornin’ Auntie Jack, Mornin’ Uncle Kai.”
I couldn't help but chuckle at the girl.
“Good Morning Vi, you want breakfast?” I asked her and watched her nod in response as she crawled into Theo’s lap. She was such a mama’s girl.
I stood and whipped together a quick hash for us all, and set aside a portion for Will when he woke up.
The four of us discussed what we wanted to do today and I caught Theo up on all of the drama surrounding Mckinley.
I could tell Kai was working extra hard to get on Violet’s good side.
It felt like old times as we enjoyed breakfast together.
We were only missing Nate.
God, I missed him.
It wasn’t and never would be the same without him.
He was the joy in our group. Always quick to crack a joke or give us a hug when needed.
Logically I knew his death wasn’t my fault.
Everyone told me it wasn’t, but a part of myself would always feel like I was to blame.
If it wasn’t for me and being out too late that night, he may be here.
Sitting at the table, laughing at our antics and fighting with Kai on who would be Violet’s favorite uncle.
We wrapped up breakfast and headed our separate ways to get ready for the day.
We were planning on heading to the store for groceries and maybe an ATV ride afterwards up the nearby canyon.
I headed into mine and Will’s room to find him still asleep.
I slowly kneeled in front of him and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
He was quickly awake and continued the kiss as he wrapped me in his arms and dragged my body over his so I was straddling him.
I could feel him growing hard beneath me as he continued his exploration of his mouth. Slowly I pulled away from the kiss, knowing I would not have sex in my brother's house and with my niece within earshot.
“Good Morning, Doctor.”
He smiled up at me, his eyes crinkling in the corners. “Good Morning, Sunshine.”
Still laying beneath me, he tucked my hair behind one ear and his eyes were so full of joy. It was weird to be the cause of that look in someone.
Unable to handle the tension between us I stood up and began to gather my clothes. “We’re heading to the store, you’re welcome to come with us, but if not, I have food in the kitchen for you.”