Page 4

CHAPTER 4

It was her turn to pace back and forth. Unlike Shaun, she was wearing a hole in the kitchen where her brother chastised her like a child.

She let him have it though as soon as she heard the front door slam shut. Kennedy marched right back out to the entryway.

"Are you seriously going to let him get away with talking to you like that?"

Shaun looked like he aged ten years in the mere minutes they were separated. For his sake, she wanted to let it go but this was her nephew they were talking about. Shaun could scrub his face with his hands and huff all he wanted. She was looking out for her nephew and his best interests.

"What choice do I have? You saw Jayce. Can you deny Michael is his?"

"Is that why I needed to have blood drawn?"

Neither of them had heard Michael come down the stairs. They turned around to find him sitting on one of the steps about halfway up the staircase.

"Uh . . ." Shaun completely froze.

"It's complicated." She did her best to come up with an explanation on the fly but she was drawing a blank as much as Shaun was. Quick thinking was never one of her strong suits.

"It's really not." Hurt was carved into every feature on Michael's face. "Dad just admitted there's no denying I'm that guy's son. Even I can see how much I look like him."

Shit, fuck, and damn. This would've been a bajillion times easier if Michael wasn't a carbon copy of the bastard.

"Your mother left me a note, and in it, she claimed Jayce was your father."

"How did she know him?"

She could only imagine what was going through her nephew's mind. To him, Jasmine was the best person. He was never forced to see what a shitty human she could really be. Whether she was a great mother or just that good of an actress was still to be determined.

"Jayce is your mother's ex-husband."

"How long were they divorced before you and mom got together?"

Shaun sighed. "They weren't."

"I see."

"Like I said, complicated." She was going to sound like a broken record if she had to keep using that phrase. The reality was there was nothing complicated about the situation. Jasmine was a bitch and she screwed over both Jayce and Shaun. But that didn’t mean she had to like the man.

"Your mother made a few mistakes but she loved you. Just like I love you." Shaun begged for her nephew to understand.

"And Jayce? Or I guess, my sperm donor?"

Shaun shook his head. "Don't call him that. This isn't Jayce's fault. Your mother never told him you were his son. He's reacting to the fact that a big secret was kept from him for fifteen years."

"There had to be a reason mom didn't want him to be my father."

The kid was too smart for his own good.

"Yeah, she didn't want you to be raised an Army brat."

Kennedy gasped. That was news to her. Then again, she didn't read the letter, nor did she know Jasmine all that well. She might've been her sister-in-law, but they weren't close.

"I think I'll go back to my room now." Michael pushed off the railing.

"Michael, wait." Shaun tried to get his son's attention but her nephew walked away without any acknowledgment.

"Give him some time. That was a lot to take in."

"I didn't want him to find out that way, but I couldn't lie to him either. Jasmine did enough of that for the both of us," Shaun sighed.

"I know you asked me to be nice because she was your wife, and I know it's rude to speak ill of the dead. However . . ."

"Jasmine was a bitch," Shaun finished for her.

"I mean if the shoe fits, and in this case, it really does."

"I married her because she was pregnant. I stayed married because I love Michael. Even knowing what I do now, I wouldn't change a thing. What kind of man does that make me?"

Kennedy looped her arm through her brother’s and rested her head on his bicep. He was a good five inches taller than her, but still shorter than Jayce. It was one of the first things she noticed when he walked in the door; how small he made the rest of them feel.

"It means you're a good man. Jasmine knew that. I don't agree with the choice she made and I don't know Jayce, but she picked a great man."

"The Jayce you met today isn't the man he always was. He worshipped the ground Jasmine walked on. He loved her unconditionally and it was no secret he wanted a family with her. Her decision to take that away from him was a selfish one. I have no doubt that, if she told him to leave the Army, he would've."

That made things so much worse. She was torn between feeling bad for Jayce and all he missed out on, and being selfish. If Jasmine had never tricked Shaun, then she wouldn't have the amazing nephew she did.

"It looks like he never got over it."

Her brother huffed. "No, definitely not, and I don't know what that means for my relationship with Michael. Jayce hates me and for good reason. He thought his wife cheated on him with me. I doubt a letter is going to change his feelings overnight."

She tensed. "He can't just take Michael away from you. You're his father. The man listed on the birth certificate and the only father Michael has known. Jayce has to realize he can't just yank my nephew away from everything he knows."

Shaun shrugged and the uncertainty was clear as day on his face. "The old Jayce would never have done that. He would do what was best for the kid. I don't know this new version of him and I can't tell what he will do out of anger. I just hope he’ll let it die with Jasmine."

So did she, because losing Michael wouldn't just kill Shaun. It would kill her as well.

"I think Michael has calmed down enough. Do you want me to go up and try talking to him?"

She’d always had a special relationship with her nephew. He would seek her out to talk, long before he would go to his parents. It was why when Jasmine announced two years ago that they were moving to Seattle, she was more than happy to come with. Shaun and Michael were the only family she had. It wouldn't have felt right to be so far away from them.

"No, I'll go. I don't want him to think anything has changed just because biologically he's not mine. No matter what, I will always consider him my son."

Kennedy watched her brother head up the stairs. Maybe she was a bit biased but Shaun was a great man. He always put others’ needs before his own.

Case in point, Jasmine.

He said over the years he fell in love with his wife, but Kennedy didn't for a minute think it was true love. She always got the feeling it was more of a “friendship” kind of love than anything else, but maybe that was enough for him.

Personally, she wanted the all-consuming kind. She wanted the man she married to love her so much that the thought of being without her was heartbreaking. And she wanted to feel the same about her husband. She refused to settle for anything less.

She headed toward the kitchen when she heard Shaun yelling frantically for Michael. Taking off up the stairs two at a time, Kennedy nearly tripped twice but managed to right herself. She crashed into Shaun just as she turned left on the landing.

"What's going on?"

"Michael's gone!” Shaun panted. "I checked all the rooms but he's not here. Michael's not here!"

Shit, fuck, and damn. This wasn't good.