His Ever After (Love Square) (7 page)

After the girls brush their teeth and slip into their pajamas, I help tuck Candace and Grace into their beds before heading into the bedroom to face the angry beast.

***

John and I are sitting out on their enclosed deck, drinking beers. In the summer, they have all the windows out and it functions as a screened in porch. There is a ceiling fan above us, a slate tiled kitchen counter running the length of the house – complete with sink and fridge built in underneath – along with a large wooden, rustic dining table and matching chairs. Since its early spring, the windows are still in place and a small space heater sits across from us to keep the room warm.

Surprisingly, Emma and Brooke went to the mall
alone
to go shopping together. After the stunt Brooke pulled last night, I was shocked at the turn of events. Emma pulled me aside after breakfast and told me she felt it was important for them to spend some time one on one. She was hoping that spending time with Brooke alone would help Brooke to relax. Fingers crossed on that one, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

It’s extremely important for anyone I spend the rest of my life with to get along with my family. Regardless of Brooke’s mental state, I’ll always choose them over her if she forces my hand. Them getting along and acting civil will certainly make my life easier. The way things have been going lately, I’m afraid that will never happen.

While Emma and Brooke shop, Kara is somewhere in the house keeping the girls preoccupied. God bless her for coming along and doing all the girly things they like so much. It saves me from being dressed like a princess and glitter being put in my hair. If pictures ever surfaced of me looking like that, I’d never live it down.

“You sure everything is cool? It’s really none of my business, but your sister is concerned and I promised her I would try to get you to ‘open up’,” John makes the air quotes before continuing, “and tell me your all your sad, sappy feelings.” John’s shit-eating grin tells me exactly how much he’s enjoying this.

“Well I’m not going to lie. I’m not exactly thrilled with the course my life has taken. You know I got bitched at last night for sticking up for the girls and Kara when Brooke decided to be an asshole to them? I don’t know what I’m going to do with her. I hoped by committing to her and working out our problems, she’d get better. Not only are our problems still right there, front and center, but she is getting worse. I didn’t even think that was possible.” I shake my head at the thought.

You know things are bad if I’m sharing my feelings with my brother in law. Last night was horrible. I’m sure everyone heard us screaming at each other. I tried to keep my voice down, but every time Brooke raised hers to me, I felt the need to give it right back to her. I tried to explain to her that if she would just act like herself, my family would like her better. All she does is show them her bitchy side, that’s all they know. Emma and the girls took to Kara so quickly because she was nice and didn’t come off pretentious or like she was trying too hard.

“Have you considered cutting your losses? If things are getting worse, maybe you two shouldn’t be together. It’s like you bring out the worst in each other.” John turns around and opens up a small fridge to grab another beer, gesturing to see if I need a refill. I nod my consent and grab the bottle from him.

Taking a sip from my fresh beer, I swallow it down and search for the words that will make the shambles that is my life make sense to John.

“Of course I have. If I could go back and do things over, I would have told Sam I wanted to be with her when she came for me. I can’t go back though. Brooke was pregnant and my selfishness caused her to lose the baby. I’m the reason why she is so over emotional. She’s harboring insecurities about the way I treated her before and she’s still broken up about the baby. It’s only been six or seven months since the miscarriage. I think she just needs some more time to heal, and I’m going to hold her hand while she does it. Marrying her is not necessarily what I want, but it is what she wants and I think she needs to have that show of commitment right now.” I finish with a sigh and down the rest of my beer. I feel the need to start numbing myself again from the daunting prospect of my future.

“Well you’re more of a man than I am then. I would have cut bait a long time ago. As soon as she started acting unstable, I would have ran the other way – even after the miscarriage. I get that you feel a sense of duty to her, but no one would judge you for walking away. You deserve to be happy. I don’t see her making you happy and think of it this way, you obviously aren’t making her happy either,” John states, ever the voice of reason. I have an obligation I need to see through though. There is no option of walking away, not until Brooke is better or she moves on willingly.

“I’m not sure anything will make that woman happy.” I scrub my hands down my face, suddenly exhausted from this conversation. “I have to admit, I’m fucking curious about what’s going on right now while they are shopping. I wonder if the roof has caved in or if they’ve been arrested for trying to kill each other.”

“Give your sister more credit than that. She’d wait until they were in private before she killed anyone!” We both laugh and thankfully, the mood on the deck starts to lift.

“I’m going to go see what the girls are doing. You need anything while I’m inside?” I ask as I push my chair back from the table and stand up.

“Nah, I’m good. I think I’m going to go make a sandwich and head downstairs to see what game I can catch on TV.” John follows suit and heads with me into the house.

“Where is everyone?” I call out as I walk from the kitchen through the living room, finding no little munchkins in there.

“Helloooooo!” Still no noise.

“You can’t hide from me! I’m going to find you!” I continue taunting them as I make my way down the hall. I can hear little giggles coming from behind Grace’s closed door.

“Shhh! I don’t want him to find us!” Grace whisper-shouts at her sister.

“I am being quiet! You’re the one laughing!” Candace tries to quietly argue back.

“No, you’re not!” Grace states loudly back to Candace this time. I bite my lip to hold back my own laughter. I pause outside the bedroom door and quietly put my hand on the doorknob.

“Ready or not! I’m going to get you!” I yell, as I bust through the door. Grace shrieks and runs to the left, while Candace attempts to scramble on the floor to the right.

I grab Candace, while dashing across the room for Grace. We all fall onto the bed laughing. Stuffed bears and Barbie dolls go flying everywhere as we roll around on the bed, their little legs and arms flailing around. The girls struggle to get away while I tickle them as best I can, considering all the squirming they’re doing.

“Stop! Stop! I’m going to pee my pants, Uncle Jacob!” Grace shouts breathlessly and pulls on my hand. And that right there is my cue to stop what I’m doing. I so do not need to take a bath in urine.

Grace runs out into the hall and slams the bathroom door behind her. Candace leans into me and wraps her arms around my waist. I kiss her hair and look over at Kara, who is sitting in a tiny chair in front of a table, set up for a tea party and littered with makeup. She has a wide smile on her face, and she’s wiping the tears caused by her laughter.

“You’re so good with them,” she says, looking as though she is thoroughly impressed with my interaction with the girls.

“It’s nothing really. I mean, look how great they are. It’s easy to spend time with them.” I rub Candace’s back, while her head rests on my chest.

“It isn’t nothing. Not many men would get right in and play with them like you do.” She looks out the window muttering, “It’s actually pretty damn sexy.” The last part she said so quietly, I almost didn’t hear her. Well then… Kara thinks I’m sexy. I can feel my ego swelling from her words.

“Hmmm… well that’s good to know.” I wink at her and head over to the table to see what craziness they have going on. It’s not at all because I have the sudden urge to be closer to Kara. Definitely not.

“You want to play tea party with us, Uncle Jacob?” Candace asks and then sits down in the chair across from mine.

“Sure. I can always go for a nice cup of tea with a couple of beautiful girls.”

Grace comes barreling in like her hair is on fire. “Don’t start without me!” She shouts at us.

I put my arm out to stop her from running into the table and lower her into the chair next to me.

Candace sets the white and pink cups with saucers in front of each of us while Grace prepares the “tea” in her pink pot. She pours us each a cup, and we pick them up and pretend to sip our tea.

“This is the best tea I’ve ever had,” Kara says in between sips.

“I agree.” I pick up a plastic cookie and pretend to chew. “And these cookies are even better. Did you make them yourself?”

“Noooooo! Momma made those!” Grace laughs and picks up her own cookie, looking at me like I’m crazy for even asking the question.

We continue playing tea for a while before the girls turn their attention to the makeup Kara had gotten out for them earlier. I’m beginning to feel hive-ish watching them pick up the different tubes and jars. I have a feeling I know what’s going to happen if I stay in here much longer. Don’t get me wrong, there have been times when I’ve worn a feather boa or had some sort of necklace or bracelet dangling from my body. I’ve even played Barbies with my nieces. I mean – I pretended Ken was a secret spy while doing so, because if I’m going to be forced to play with dolls, they better be as cool as James Bond. But never – and I mean never – have I worn makeup, and I really don’t want to start now. There are some streaks that are meant to not be broken.

“I think I’m going to head down to the man cave and see what your dad is up to,” I say while making my move towards the door.

“No!” Grace shouts and starts to push me down by my shoulder. “I want you to play dress up with us. Please!”

“Yeah. We hardly ever get to see you anymore. You can’t leave us to go watch TV with Daddy,” Candace adds in with a cute, little pout on her face.

And that’s how I find myself – hook, line and sinker – wearing eye shadow and having glitter dusted on my face. The amount of fun the girls are having is well worth it. The smiles and laughs are priceless, in my opinion. As long as it doesn’t leave these four walls, my rep will still be intact.

“So, how do I look? Hot, right?” The girls just smile big and nod politely. “Maybe you guys should give me a mirror to look at and see for myself.” I reach for the mirror across the table, but Kara gets there before me.

“You have a little smudge, let me just…” Kara trails off while her thumb swipes my temple where I must have eye shadow smeared. Her hand rests on the side of my face, while she gently moves her thumb back and forth. Her eyes look over into mine, and you can hear her sharp intake of breath. For several seconds, we do nothing but stare at each other. Her blue eyes are like looking up into a bright, cloudless sky. I watch in fascination, as her pupils slowly dilate and fill with desire. Her pink tongue darts out and wets her lips. Without my consent, my body starts leaning towards her. She’s pulling me into her, like a moth being drawn to a flame. Just as I’m about to cover her mouth with my own, Grace and Candace start arguing, effectively breaking the moment. Kara pulls away quickly, stating rather weakly that she needs to make a call before leaving the room.

Shit.
What the hell was I about to do? I can still feel the breath from her mouth on mine, and her damn blue eyes are burned in my brain. This is not good whatsoever. Haven’t I learned anything from all the shit that’s happened this last year? Keep your tongue in your mouth and your dick in your pants. I just need to keep reminding myself of that.

***

“Right there! Yes! Just like that!” Brooke shouts out in between moans.

I slam into her again and grind my hips slowly. Her head flies back, and her orgasm crashes in on her. I continue to move inside her, taking my time, building it. Brooke wraps her legs tightly around me, her whole body tightening through her climax. Minutes after she’s come down from her high, she starts squeezing her cunt muscles rhythmically, pulling my orgasm from me.

I roll off her to take care of the condom, pull on a pair of boxers and return to bed. Brooke reaches over and turns off the lamp, tucking into my side before falling asleep.

It’s Sunday night, and we’re back from Emma’s house. The rest of the weekend I tried to stay away from Kara and all the mixed emotions she’s creating in me. My life is complicated enough without all that shit. The only other person who has ever made me feel the way Kara has, is Sam. Maybe I have those feelings for her because I know I can’t have Sam, so I’m looking for her in someone else. Or maybe it is just Kara’s unique and exquisite way that gets to me. Either way, I won’t allow myself to get caught up in that drama.

Surprisingly enough, Emma and Brooke seemed to make peace on their shopping trip. I don’t see them braiding each other’s hair anytime soon, but hopefully this is the beginning of some level of friendship. The only thing Emma said to me about it was, “She’s trying Jacob. That’s all you can ask of her.” Her about face confused me and excited me at the same time.

Brooke’s demeanor with the girls was better too. Instead of looking put out by them, she listened to them and even smiled a few times. The girls didn’t seem as tense around her either. Definite progress.

We all went out to dinner at Emma’s favorite Italian restaurant on Saturday night. The whole evening was light and jovial. Brooke didn’t sneer at anybody. She didn’t make any rude comments, and she was friendly to Kara again. A few times I looked over to find her laughing or giving me a tender look. More progress.

Kara was quiet though. She looked a little uncomfortable, and I felt bad for the position I put her in earlier. She probably thinks I’m a sleazeball for almost kissing her, especially since I’m engaged to and living with one of her good friends. I need to make sure I don’t send her anymore mixed signals. She’s a great catch, but she is someone else’s catch.