Page 22 of Objection

Kaos

I was still amused over what happened last night.

Every guest room in my house was occupied last night after Taylor’s birthday shenanigans.

She ended up waking up by the time Serenity and I made it home.

Lil sis was fucked up, but I was glad we helped her bring in her birthday right.

Serenity sobered up enough to see to her sister when she got sick.

Me and Tristan fried fish, chicken wings, and fries while Zander and Carson made sure the girls were straight.

After everybody ate, Serenity sobered up a bit more like she said she would. She laid in bed with Taylor until she went back to sleep, then came to bed with me. I was knocked out but felt her presence as soon as she came in the room.

This morning, she was moving sluggish but with a smile as I fixed breakfast.

“Mornin’,” I spoke as she wrapped her arms around me.

I gave her a quick kiss before she greeted me back with, “Morning, baby.”

“How’s our girl?”

“She just woke up. She does have a slight hangover and she’s still tired, but her stomach isn’t queasy thankfully.”

“Good. I’ma fix a greasy breakfast that will help if she does get nauseous. If she didn’t feel sick when she brushed her teeth, she should be good though.”

“Yeah, she didn’t get sick thankfully. Where are the guys? I wanted to thank them again for last night.”

“Out on the patio. You talked to your girls?”

She smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Nessa texted me and said they were up but going back to sleep.” Her brows wrinkled as she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

“Uh oh. It’s my mom.” Serenity plastered on a fake smile, but it didn’t transfer completely to her voice when she answered her mom’s call with, “Hey, Ma.” Her smile dropped immediately as she nodded.

“I-I kn—oh, you saw her story? Well no . . . of course I was with her the wh—ugh. Please tell Daddy to stop yelling. I wouldn’t let anyone take—it was her twenty first—a bad influence?

The girl was going to get drunk anyway. It was better that she did it with me than people she didn’t even know!

I’m not telling her to come back home. She has a job lined up and school and—Ma, please.

I can’t talk to you with him yelling in the background like a mad man.

If you want to talk, we can talk later. Bye. ”

Groaning, Serenity tossed her phone onto the kitchen table before plopping down in a chair.

Instead of addressing the situation immediately, I went outside and asked Zander to keep an eye on breakfast, then I led Serenity up to my room.

As soon as the door closed, her tears started to fall.

I wiped them then led her over to the sitting area by the floor to ceiling windows.

After giving her a few seconds to release her tears, I wiped them away.

“You wanna talk about it, princess?”

Sniffling, she avoided my eyes. “He says I’m a bad influence and that she needs to go back home.”

“Well . . . good thing she’s an adult and can make her own decisions.”

“Is he right?” she asked, and I hated that her parents had her questioning herself.

She and Taylor were so happy yesterday. I didn’t want that to be ruined because of her father’s bullshit.

“I thought I was helping her be safe by taking her out. Last night wasn’t the first time she drank, and I wanted to be with her to make sure she’d be safe and—”

“Hey,” I called softly, squeezing her hand to keep her present so she wouldn’t spiral.

“You didn’t do a damn thing wrong. Bringing your twenty first birthday in with alcohol is a rite of passage for a lot of people.

Taylor was drinking before yesterday, so it wasn’t anything new to her.

Not saying underaged drinking is okay, but she handled herself well because she was already drinking.

All y’all were fucked up last night, though, not just her.

That was proof to me that y’all had a good time.

Don’t let your parents make you feel bad about that. ”

Her shoulders relaxed slightly. “I’m trying not to. I just got her back. I don’t want them to take her away from me.”

When her lips trembled and eyes watered, I had to keep myself from getting her phone and calling her damn daddy. Instead, I pulled her onto my lap.

“God gives us free will. He lets us make our own decisions. If God ain’t the one making her go back home, I can promise you they won’t be able to either. As long as she wants to stay here, and you want her here, Taylor is staying in Rose Valley Hills. I give you my word.”

Serenity released a shaky breath before rubbing her nose against mine and resting her forehead against mine.

“I always wanted a companion for moments like this. I knew there was power in having the right person by your side, and I’m so glad I get to experience that now with you.”

Light tapping on the door kept me from responding.

“Yeah?” I called.

“Uh . . . is my sister in there?” Taylor asked hesitantly.

“Yeah,” Serenity answered as she stood and headed toward the door.

When she opened it, Taylor said, “Can you come out so we can talk? Your crazy ass daddy is blowing my phone up.”

Serenity chuckled with a nod. “Yeah.”

Turning, she mouthed thank you to me, and I was glad I was able to help her process her own feelings so she could now be there for her sister.

I’d meant what I said though. As long as they wanted Taylor here, she’d be here.

If her daddy wanted her back bad enough, he’d have to come and take her—through me.