Pretend (84 page)

             
"No
,
you two won't otherwise you'll have me to deal with. Now you go and get some rest and you put your tongue back in your head and get back to your party,
" I said as I stared at the two
of them.

             
"Can I come?" Mimi said in an excited voice.

             
"No squirt,
its
way past your bed time," Kyle said as he messed up her hair.

             
"But I want to go to
Aidy
's
house, I haven't been before," she said in a sad voice.

             
"You can come another day, princess, ok?" Aiden said.

             
"Ok, but you better take me or I'll never speak to you again,"
s
he said as she frowned at him.

             
"Oh no
,
we can't have that now
, can we?
" he said as he picked her up and span her around as she giggled, loudly.

             
"Ok time for us to go now,
nighthy
, night," Aiden said as he gave Mimi a little squeeze and placed her back on the floor.

             
"Bye April, I love you," she said as she latched onto my leg and squeezed tight.

             
"I love you too baby," I said as I bent down and kissed her on the head.

             
"I'll see you tomorrow," Aiden said as he turned to Kyle.

             
"What! It's Saturday tomorrow. I thought that
that was our day off?" Kyle asked in shock.

             
"No, I told you that once I see some improvement I'm going to work you harder," he said with a smirk on his face.

             
"That's so backwards," Kyle said as he scoffed.

             
"Yeah, yeah.
Just be ready for nine thirty," Aiden said as he bent down and gave Kyle a 'man hug'.

             
"Mr and Mrs E, I will see you both in the morning," he said as he shook Kyle's dad's hand and gave his mom a hug.

             
“See you tomorrow son,” Mr Edwards said.

             
"W
e'll have some
breakfast waiting for you," Mrs Edwards said as the smile on Aiden’s
face doubled in size.

             
"April, it was lovely seeing you, you must visit more often
,
ok?" She said as she tu
r
ned to face me.

             
"Yeah
,
please!" Mimi agreed.

             
"I will," I said as I gave Mr and Mrs
Edwards a hug.

             
“You take care and please don’t leave it so long next time,” I whispered in Kyle’s ear as I gave him a tight squeeze.

             
“I won’t,” he said as he held me tight.

             
“Love you,” I said before gently pulling away.

             
“You too,” he said as he winked at me and then smiled at a happy looking Aiden.

             
"Bye," Both Aiden and I said before walking out of the door and heading towards his car.

             
As we stepped outside I instantly threw my arms around Aiden.

             
“What was that for?” He said as he chuckled.

             
“You are amazing,” I said as I held him even tighter.

             
“I learnt from the best,” he said as he kissed the top of my head and then led me to his car.

             
"That was
really
nice," I said as he started to drive.

             
"Yeah," he said with a smile on his face.

             
"I'm really proud of you, with the way that you've helped Kyle, you know," I said as I sat smiling at him.

             
"I wanted to," he said as he kept his eyes on the road.

             
"You don't have to feel guilty you know," I said as I kept my eyes on him.

             
"I don't anymore. I did at first but he helped me to see it differently," he replied.

             
"How?"

             
"H
e asked me one question. He asked me,
if I had been in his position and knew that
him
getting hurt would have broken your heart wo
uld I have done the same thing."

             
"What did you say?"

             
"I
said
yes. Since then I stopped feeling guilty. He was right, I would have done that, I would do anything for you," he said as he gently squeezed my hand.

             
"Thank you," I said as I smiled at him.

             
As we pulled back up outside of Aiden's house I saw a car parked up that hadn't been
there
before and I knew that my surprise had arrived.

             
"You know the saying 'great minds think alike'?" I asked.

             
"Yeah."

             
"Well
,
it's definitely true. I guess we both had similar ideas when picking a gift for each other," I said as I watched Caitlyn jump out of the car and run towards us.

             
"Hey!" Aiden said as he jumped out and took her into his arms.

             
"Now this is what I call a nice surprise," Aiden said as he gave his sister a kiss on the cheek.

             
"How's your day going?" She asked as she looked up at him.

             
"Even better now that you're here. Who's car's that?" He asked as he pointed towards the green
Cadillac
that Caitlyn had just emerged from.

             
"Mine, S
on," a deep voice said as Aiden's head snapped up.

             
"Dad?"
He asked in shock.

             
"The one and only."

             
"Come on
sweetie
,
let's go and get you some food, shall we?" I said as I took Caitlyn's hand in mine and walked back into the house.

             
I hope that Aiden wasn't angry that I'd asked his dad to come. I remember that he had told me that he wanted to go and help him and start seeing him but with everything that had been going on he hadn't managed to just yet. Crystal and I therefore made it our
duty to do just that whilst he busied himself with Kyle. We snuck off at every opportunity to visit their dad. He had been going to AA meetings, counselling and anger management sessions. He hadn't touched a drink in two weeks and Kate
had
even said that there hadn't been any
violence
in all
of
that time. I know that it won't be an easy journey but I think that if he has his family around him then he has a fighting chance. I just hope that Aiden will stick around to help him.

             
I was suddenly brought out of my thoughts as I felt a pair of arms snake around my waist from behind.

             
"Thanks," Aiden whispered before planting a gentle kiss on my cheek, causing me to smile, especially when I caught Grandma giving me the thumbs up.

             
I placed my hands on top of his and closed my eyes
,
dreamily as I thought about how amazing everything has managed to turn out. It seems like I've been thrown into a film these past few weeks and only just managed to escape but if Aiden is the result then I would happily do it all again.

* * *

             
As the night went on, we played games, talked, laughed and just enjoyed ourselves. I could tell that Aiden was enjoying himself because there was a constant smile on his face throughout the night that just made me feel so happy.
 

             
"Hey," Crystal said as she sat down on the couch beside me.

             
"You ok?" I asked as I smiled at her.

             
"Yeah, I'm just happy that we managed to pull this off without Aiden suspecting a thing," she said as she let out a breath.

             
"I know, I think we deserve a medal," I said as we both laughed, quietly.

             
"Who would have though
t
it hey, you and Aiden, Anthony and Jess, Kyle and Aiden-"

             
"Now that just sounds strange," I said as we both burst out laughing.

             
"It is crazy though, you should have seen them. They've gone from being mortal enemies to acting like brothers who grew up together," I said with a smile on my face as I thought about how happy it made me to see Kyle and Aiden getting along.

             
"
It makes sense though. Even I can never forget what Kyle did for Aiden. I guess I can’t call him a jerk anymore,” she said as we both burst out laughing.

             
“Yeah, I guess you can’t,” I replied.

             
"Hey, what
are
you two chuckling about?" Jess said as her, Jinnie and Erica came to sit by us. Well apart from Jinnie who saw it fit to
lie
across the four of us.

             
"I told you that you weigh
too much for that didn't
I
!" Erica complained.

             
"Oh please, your
mouth weighs more than the five of us put together!" Jinnie
spat back.

             
"Don't you two
start!
" Crystal said as she gave them both a look that silenced them straight away.

             
"That's it M
ommy you tell of the naughty children," Jess said as she winked at the twins.

             
"So
,
what were you two giggling about before," Jess asked.

             
"Aiden and Kyle," I said as I smiled.

             
"Oh gosh yeah they've got like this whole new bromance going on
, haven't they?
" Jinnie said as we all burst out laughing.

             
"It's true!" Crystal agreed.

             
"Don't say it too loud
,
Anthony might get jealous. You know that Aiden's his bestest BFF in the whole world," Jess said in a baby voice as we all burst out laughing.

             
"Now you see, this is why you don't get them real kisses like April, because you're always insulting me," Anthony said, as he crept up behind us
,
making us jump.

             
"Oh
,
is that the stupid reason?" S
he said as she rolled her eyes at him.

             
"I thought that it was down to you trying to hold on to your player reputation," she scoffed.

             
"Is that what you think?" He asked with a smirk on his face.

             
"Yes," she grunted.

             
"Ok, Jinnie wou
ld you care to excuse me please?" H
e said.

             
"No, don't move," Jess said as s
he clamped her hand down on
Jinnie
'
s
waist so that she couldn't move.

             
"You either move by yourself or I
’ll
move you," Anthony said with a big smirk on his face.

             
"Sorry but that boy has muscles," Jinnie said as she jumped up off of our laps.

             
"Traitor," Jess mumbled as she tried not to look at Anthony.

             
"Jess
,
can you come here for a minute please?" He asked politely.

             
"Nope," she answered as she loo
ked away from him, causing us
all
to
burst out laughing. As you can imagine a whole crowd had started to gather now a
nd the room was silent other tha
n their two voices.