Chapter 33
CHARLIE
Setting my phone down on the coffee table, I test the angle in the camera before I hit call and sit back down. Mum answers before the first ring even finishes, the twins sitting beside her.
“It really is you,” Elijah and Caleb say at the same time, each with an arm around Mum’s back as their eyes stay locked on Bonnie.
“It’s me,” Bonnie echoes, smiling through the camera to them.
“You guys look the same. Except your eyes. You have really cool eyes.” My dads laugh at Charlotte’s comment, their eyes flicking between Bonnie and her daughter, their brows rising in shock.
“We’re twins,” Elijah answers after a beat of silence.
“Caitlyn and Chloe are twins, and they don’t look like each other.” Again, I have no idea who she’s talking about as she mentions kids at her school like we all know them too.
“There are different types of twins, honey,” Bonnie explains. “Some look like each other, and some don’t. Elijah and Caleb are identical twins.”
“Oh, okay.” My mum wipes the corner of her eye, watching the exchange between Bonnie and Charlotte, and it reminds me that while I was heartbroken when they disappeared, I wasn’t the only one effected by it.
My parents held themselves together and stayed strong for me, but for them it was like loosing two children of their own, and now they’re seeing Bonnie for the first time in almost fifteen years, and she has a daughter.
“Holy smokes! You really do have heaps of dads!” Charlotte gasps out as Declan and Ryan join them, Ryan lifting Mum up before setting her in his lap so there’s more room on the couch.
“You are the spitting image of your mother,” Ryan whispers in awe once he’s seated, before visibly shaking himself and clearing his throat.
“I’m Charlotte Jay Rose,” she introduces herself proudly, completely oblivious to the awestruck mood on either side of the call. “Mummy named me after Charlie and Jace.”
I don’t think that’s something I’ll ever get used to hearing. Bonnie may not have sought us out and believed she’d never see us again, but she kept a piece of us with her by giving her child our names.
“We’ve been waiting a very long time to meet you, Charlotte Jaye Rose,” Mum answers back before introducing herself and my dads.
I try to follow on with the conversation that persists, but it’s hard to pay attention to anything with Bonnie pressed up against my side as we huddle in close so we can all be seen in the camera.
Well, except for Mitchell. I look his way and frown, seeing him sitting out of view of the video call but angled so he can see everyone, including the screen.
He has his laptop set up beside him on the kitchen counter and a beer in one hand, his eyes snapping to mine the second my attention turns his way.
“Be back in a minute,” I whisper, getting up and walking over to him, leaning back against the counter and looking over the loungeroom.
“Didn’t take you for a beer person,” I mutter to fill the silence when he doesn’t say anything.
“Hard liquor is a bit of a trigger in this house, and the situation kind of called for something a little stronger than coffee.” He shrugs, looking pointedly at Bonnie as he brings the bottle up to his lips and swallows a few mouthfuls.
“Noted.” I nod, accepting the beer he holds out to me and take a sip, my eyes returning to Bonnie at the sound of her laughter.
I look back at Mitchell, trying to think of something else to say when I catch a glimpse of his laptop screen, seeing he has a profile of each of my parents displayed. Curious, I lean back further, trying to get a closer look of what information he’s pulled up on them.
Raising a brow, Mitchell turns the screen further his way, blocking my view and gives me a knowing look. “Anything interesting?” I whisper, knowing I’ve been caught and deciding not to hide it.
“Maybe. Why do you want to know?”
I shrug, watching as Bonnie talks animatedly with my parents on the couch. "Could be handy to get me out of shit the next time I pull a prank on one of my dads.”
He snorts. “Is that why you came over? To be nosey and snoop on what I’m doing? What, you wanna see your file next?”
Ignoring the comment about him having a file on me, and likely Jace too, I answer his first question. “No, I came to check on you.”
I pick at the label on my beer not meeting his eyes as I say it. Honestly, I’m a little surprised he needs to ask at all, it seems like nothing really gets passed this guy and yet, he looks…surprised.
“You’re checking up on me?”
I shrug. “Until to days ago, you had them all to yourself. They’re your family. Then Jace and I show up out of the blue with all this history between us and you didn’t even know we existed.”
Since Jace and I arrived, we’ve been reconnecting with Bonnie and a lot of that has been reminiscing, sharing stories from when we were younger. A shared history and familiarity that unintentionally excludes Mitchell.
Despite this and our rocky start, he’s sat back and quietly listened to our every word, genuinely seeming interested. So, the last thing I want is for him to think we’re intentionally excluding him or trying to push him away.
He’s quiet for several long seconds, and I can feel his gaze burning into my side, but I don’t look up straight away. He doesn’t respond until I give in, meeting his eyes with a sigh. “I knew,” he answers, taking a mouthful of beer without breaking eye contact.
“You knew?” I hiss, forgetting to keep my voice down until Bonnie looks our way with a curious glance.
I smile, letting her know everything is okay.
When she tunes back into her conversation, I turn around, so my back is to them, knowing damn well she’s a great lip reader and not wanting her to worry.
“I thought you swore to her you wouldn’t look into her past? Have you been lying to her this entire time?” I try to keep myself calm, but it’s impossible thinking the only person Bonnie has had on her side all of these years has been secretly betraying her.
What I don’t expect is the approving smile that stretches across his face at my outburst. “Charlotte grew up hearing stories about you two. I may not have known when you were coming, but I always knew you guys were out there and that this day would come eventually.”
Right before Mum hangs up, I see her look my way with a smile, mouthing the word ‘fate’ before the screen goes dark and I sink back into the couch along with the others.
It’s getting late, especially for a school night with a six-year-old involved. But I can’t bring myself to suggest we leave. We probably should go though.
Still, my mouth remains shut, and I bask in the feel of Bonnie’s leg pressed up against mine, her warmth sinking into my skin and burrowing down into my very soul.
I sigh, knowing it’s time when Charlotte lets out a deep yawn and when I look down, she’s already fast asleep, using me as a pillow. If I didn’t want to leave before, there’s not a bone in my body that wants to move and wake this adorable girl now.
“She won’t wake, you know.” I startle when Bonnie’s voice whispers in my ear, and she lets out a soft giggle followed by a mocking, “boo.”
“Hm?” I hum, completely forgetting what she said when I turn my head to see she’s right there.
So close, it wouldn’t take any effort at all to press my lips to hers.
Her eyes drop down and instinctively, I lick my lips, watching as her pupils dilate and she tracks the movement before shaking it off.
“If you pick her up, she won’t wake,” Bonnie repeats, her voice still a whisper but there’s a strain to it now, and I struggle to remind myself that she’s not trying to be enticing in the way her voice drops a few octaves.
“You want me to pick her up?” My voice comes out a little scratchy, and I cough to cover it up but the smirk she gives me tells me I didn’t do a good job.
“Yeah, she’s a little too big now for me to carry to bed. Want to help?”
Instantly, I nod my head. Honestly, she could ask me to do anything right now, and I’d agree if she continues looking at me like that. Clearing my throat; I gently shift around until I’m able to lift Charlotte without jostling her too much, despite Bonnie saying she won’t wake.
“You’ve done such an amazing job,” I tell her as Bonnie pulls the blanket up over Charlotte and tucks her in. “Then again, we always knew you would.”
“Mm, I always wanted to be a mum.” She smiles, though it turns a little sad as she stares down at her sleeping daughter.
“Of like twelve if I recall correctly,” I joke, trying to lift the mood and chuckling a little at the memory of a young Bonnie declaring to the entire class that when she grows up she wants to be a veterinarian with twelve kids who would all help walk the dogs.
It's a memory I’ve always been fond of, but when her smile cracks, replaced with a heart broken expression, my stomach sinks. Taking her hand, I gently pull her to her feet and into my arms. “Hey, there’s plenty of time for more kids if that’s something you want.”
My words of comfort seem to have the opposite effect as she lets out a sob that’s muffled into my chest. Jace steps into the room, his eyes flicking between Bonnie who is crying into my chest, and me in question but I just shake my head.
I have no idea what I did to upset her. Does she not want more kids?
If not, that’s fine. We were kids when she made those plans, but I couldn’t care less whether we have twelve kids running around or it’s just Charlotte.
As long as we’re in her life, that’s all I need. Her and Jace are all I’ve ever needed.
I feel Bonnie flinch as Jace comes up behind to wrap his arms around both of us.
It’s something I’ve noticed more than once, but like every other time, she immediately sinks into our touch.
It makes me more than a little furious to think that she’s endured so much pain that even years later, she still expects it.
“I…I can’t have any more kids, Charlie.” My heart stops with the level of heartbreak in her words and I pull her closer, holding her tighter. “Ev-Everything that h-he did to me…it’s a wonder I was able to have Charlotte in the first place, but after…”
Spotting Mitchell standing in the hallway, looking into the room, I look to him helplessly. I don’t know what to say or do to help her right now, but his eyes are locked on Bonnie, a fury in them for the injustice she’s endured.
“He stole that from me.” Her voice turns cold, completely emotionless as she continues talking. “I haven’t had a period in over seven years. Not since before I fell pregnant with Charlotte.”
What the fuck do you say in a moment like this? When someone you love tells you they want more children but can’t because of what someone else did to their body?
Nothing. There are no words on this earth that can make her feel better right now and rightfully so.