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She smiled a lot, then turned around and saw Jaxon standing there and raced to him.
“Hey, princess,” Jaxon said as he scooped her up and flicked her nose.
When Jaxon put her down, I told her, “Can you go tell your grandparents that…” I stopped and looked at Jaxon, who told me to keep on. “Just tell them that…Clara is here.”
“Clara?” Rose said, tilting her head. “But your name is Vivian.”
“Later, I’ll explain it to you. Just go tell them.”
“But grandma and grandpa left an hour ago. Mom and Dad are here. Should I tell them?”
“Yes, please.”
She nodded and then ran back inside, yelling, “Mom?!”
I asked Jaxon, “Do you still think I can do this?”
He gripped my hand and rubbed circles on the back of my palm. “I believe in you more than anyone or anything else,” he said, kissing my head.
“Stop copying lines from Frozen,” I said softly.
He rolled his eyes and said, “That’s what happens when you make me watch that a thousand times.”
We heard someone gasp, “Clara?” before I could say anything.
“Hey, Lili,” I said with a sorrowful grin.
“Wha.. at”
Jeff exclaimed, “Clara?!” from behind her, and Rose stared at us in astonishment.
At that moment, I simply wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. I couldn’t face him.
I attempted to back up a little bit, but Jaxon gripped my waist and stopped me from running.
“Umm…I-I…came to…meet you…all,” It was hard to say anything because I hadn’t seen my brother and sister-in-law in seven years.
“Rose said, ‘Mom and Dad aren’t home. When will they be back?’”
“They must be coming,” Lili said.
“Umm… it’s okay, we can come back later,” I said, looking at Jaxon optimistically. He flashed me a deathly glance that made me swallow.
Jaxon added, “If you don’t mind, we can wait for them inside.” In fact, everyone is in a forceful tone.
“Yeah, umm… of course,” Jeff responded before moving back from the door and motioning for us to walk ahead.
When I walked into that house, all the awful memories came rushing back to me. I believed I would never see them again, but now I’m here with my husband, begging for forgiveness. Shouldn’t they be the ones to say sorry?
Lili took us to the living room, which appeared different from how it had previously. We sat on the couch, and Jaxon placed his hand around my waist and rubbed little circles there.
Lili and Jeff sat across from us while Rose stood there staring at us in perplexity.
“Emm, go play inside,” Lili murmured softly to her. She pouted bitterly before walking inside.
When she departed, there was an awkward stillness. Jeff and Lili both looked at my tummy and then at Jaxon.
Lili broke the pause by saying, “Umm…I saw your post, Vi-Vivian. Congratulations on both your wedding and your… pregnancy.”
“Thanks,” I said quietly, and I noticed Lili softly nudge Jeff.
“Yeah…congratulations!” he eventually said. I swallowed hard and said a little thank you.
“Do you want something to drink? Water? Coffee? Anything?” she asked us.
I said, “Just water,” because my throat was getting dry. She got up and departed right away, leaving us with Jeff.
“Umm…,” Jeff tried to say something, “I’m sorry for everything I said to you—”
“I think we should wait for them,” I said, interrupting him with a forced grin. He agreed.
Jaxon stayed still and watched everything. He had an extremely scary look on his face that screamed, “hurt her, and you will die.” This made Jeff almost sweat.
Lili came back with a tray and put it on the center table in front of us. I grabbed a glass of water and sipped it to soothe my parched throat.
Lili gave it to Jaxon, but he respectfully turned it down.
We heard the door open and then a voice as I put my drink down.
“Why is there a car parked outside?” Mom enquired.
“Are we having guests?” Dad asked.
And I stopped.
It’s time to deal with everything. But before that, I looked at Jaxon, who gave me an encouraging look, and we both stood up.
“Jeff—” Mom stopped talking as she walked into the living room and saw me or us.
I buried my nails into my hand to calm down. She looked the same, but she had dropped a lot of weight, and her hair was progressively becoming white. Dad froze, too, when he saw everything.
I broke the pause by saying, “I-I…came back…as I said…I got…late, I was…busy.”
What am I talking about?
“Cl-Clara?” Mom’s voice shook, and her lower lip shook, too.
If you start sobbing and make a scene about how much you miss me, I’ll be there for you. I wanted to say something out loud, but I changed my mind.
I muttered to Jaxon, “What do you want me to say?!”
“Say you’re sorry,” he muttered back. I rolled my eyes, and he glared at me.
I anxiously stroked the back of my neck and said, “I’m sorry.”
I wasn’t going to say anything else since I knew I had done something wrong, but they should say sorry, too.
I was surprised when my mum hugged me the following minute.
I stood there awkwardly, not sure what to do next, and she held me hard.
I cautiously put one of my hands on her back when she didn’t draw away after 10 seconds.
She eventually let me go, and when she did, she held my cheeks, and her eyes were moist. (I rolled my eyes in my head.)
Jaxon was smiling a little bit at me.
“You…c-came back,” she said in a low voice.
I didn’t answer; I just nodded curtly.
Dad, who had been watching us the whole time, came up and stood next to her. He softly ran his fingers over my head.
He glanced at Mom, and they both stared at each other. Then they both responded, “We are sorry.”
At least they knew they were wrong.
Dad responded, “We are really sorry. We should have never said those things to you. We realized our mistake after you left.”
“It’s…okay. I came back just like I said,” I replied gently, and Jaxon looked proud.
They exhaled and seemed relieved.
I took Jaxon’s hand and said, “This is Jaxon (as you all know). I got married, and I’m having a baby.”
They all glanced at Jaxon as he smiled at them as my parents shook hands and spoke and talked.
I’m leaving out the details, but in the end, they said they were sorry, and I forgave them and said I would keep in touch with them.
As we drove back to Florida, I unbuckled my seatbelt and moved closer to Jaxon, resting my head on his chest. Jaxon stroked circles on my belly with his hand.
“I am really tired. We could have gone back tomorrow,” I said.
“And then you wouldn’t have been able to go to their engagement party.”
“Don’t you think an engagement party is a waste of time? I never liked the idea of it.”
“Yes, but Kena was really looking forward to it.”
“Well, Tyler was excited too…”
Do you remember Kena asking me if she could date Tyler? It turned out that they were perfect for one other. Kena asked her to marry him after they had been dating for over six months.
Their wedding is in two months now.
I was quite thrilled for them. They love each other very much.
And it was a big surprise when Jona started dating Tara. What got things going?
One day, Jona ran into her at a coffee shop and spilled her coffee. To make up for it, he bought her a cup of coffee, and that’s how it all started. I know it’s a cliché, but I’m thrilled for them too.
I asked Jaxon, “Have you thought of a name?”
He stared down at my tummy with love before asking, “Have you?”
“I did. What about Monik?”
Jaxon only frowned and said, “Really?”
“Yes, really. Like your name would be better,” I said with a sigh.
“Want to hear my name? It’s better.”
“Go ahead.”
“Selena.”
“Selena,” I said again, and to be honest, it sounded great.
I couldn’t help but grin as I gazed down at my tummy and put my palm on it. “Selena Hayes Dante.”
I bit my lips to stifle my big smile and looked at Jaxon, who was also beaming.
“It’s okay.”
“I know,” he said with a grin.
He murmured again, “Selena Hayes Dante,” staring at my tummy. I stared at him with love, and he smiled the whole time.
“I love you,” I said in a whisper.
He smiled at me and leaned in closer. He muttered, “I love you, too,” on my lips and crushed his lips against mine.
He was the calm, happiness, and contentment I had been looking for all these years.
He was the one for me.
End