Ruby felt like she had been stabbed straight into her heart. All her life she has been nothing but an amazing sister who places the needs of her Kimberly before her own and now just because she couldn’t grant this small request she was called a bad sister.
Her heart ached as she stood up from the bed. She felt a heavy headache coming on as she thought about how she was going to deal with the issue at hand.
She loved Kim. After all, she was the only surviving family she had left and she had never refused to give her whatever she wanted but why won’t she understand that things are now more complicated?
She couldn’t bring herself to reject her. In her eyes, Kim looked really scared and just wanted to feel safe in her sister’s company but then there was Jaxon.
He has made it clear to her that he doesn’t like people invading his private space so how would she convince him to allow Kimberly to stay with them?
“I’m sorry Kim, you can stay with me for as long as you want.” Ruby sighed and Kim beamed immediately when she heard that.
All her tears dried up and she squealed as she stood up and hugged Ruby.
Ophelia stared at both of them in shock and groaned internally. She knew that Ruby had always been weak to Kim’s tantrums but she could have sworn that it wouldn’t work this time around.
She stood up from the bed and forcefully dragged Ruby to the attached living room.
“What do you think you are doing?” Ophelia asked slowly.
“You saw it all. What else could I have possibly said?” Ophelia sighed as she placed her hands on Ruby’s shoulders.
“You could have said No over and over again. Why do you always have to give in to her demands? She is not a child anymore Ruby, she can take care of herself and attend therapy or whatever if she truly feels traumatized… you are not a rehab for goodness sake!” Ophelia angrily ranted.
“She is shaken up from the whole incident, Ophelia, I’m sure she just wants me close to feel safe.” Ruby tried to reason.
“She doesn’t have to be in your home to feel safe. You have already made all the necessary arrangements for her safety don’t you think she is overdoing it?” Ophelia couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was wrong somewhere. She didn’t want Kim to go to Ruby’s home.
“It’s natural for her to want to have her sister close by when she is feeling some kind of way. She has suffered because of me, I need to make sure she is well taken care of… besides it won’t be more than a month.” Ruby smiled softly and Ophelia felt like pulling her ears.
Why didn’t she understand that it was a bad idea to keep Kim so close to her? Ophelia knew that Kim was just being dramatic and trying to get her way like always and she hated how quickly Ruby always complied with her demands.
“What if she wants to stay longer? What would you do Ruby?” Ophelia stared straight into her eyes.
“I’ll ask her to move out. I’m very sure she would understand.” Ophelia didn’t feel convinced even in the slightest. She knew for sure that Ruby would never be able to kick Kimberly out.
“What are you going to tell your husband? And would he even agree to her coming to stay with you guys? How will you convince him?” Ophelia asked.
“I’ll talk to him. I’m sure he will understand.” Ruby didn’t know if she was trying to convince Ophelia or herself. She had no idea how she was going to break the news to Jaxon.
She knew he would hate the idea but she wanted to convince him somehow. Ruby felt drained from just thinking about it.
If there was one thing she knew about Jaxon it would be that he hated bringing strangers home. And she could tell that he wasn’t fond of Kimberly and was merely tolerating her because they were sisters so how would she convince him to allow her to stay with them?
Ruby excused herself from Ophelia and walked out of the room.
Jaxon was going through some mail on his phone when he heard the side door open. He turned in the direction with a cold face that immediately turned into a soft smile when he saw Ruby entering the car.
“Welcome back Gem, how are they?” Jaxon asked.
“Ophelia is fine but I’m not too sure about Kim.” Ruby sighed.
Jaxon softly caressed her cheeks gently and Ruby felt all her worries getting washed away as she leaned into his touch.
Jaxon smiled as he thought about how she looked like a cute kitten at that moment. “What’s wrong with her?” Jaxon whispered.
“She is a bit shaken up by the incident and she refuses to stay with Ophelia again.” Jaxon’s eyebrows creased.
“Why? They have been staying together for a long time now.” Ruby nodded.
“She is scared Jaxon. She was crying and shaking so terribly.” Jaxon leaned forward and pulled Ruby into a side hug.
“I’m sure she will be fine once she gets to the new apartment,” Jaxon whispered.
“That’s the problem. She doesn’t want to go to the new apartment.” Jaxon tilted his head to the side and stared down at Ruby.
“Does she want her own separate apartment? Or maybe more guards? It can be arranged if it would make her feel better.” Ruby felt like crying at Jaxon’s words.
“She doesn’t want either of those.” Ruby timidly said.
“Then what does she want?” Jaxon asked.
“She said she wants to stay with us.” The car got silent and Ruby felt like her heart would beat out of her chest.
She pulled out of the hug and placed her arms around Jaxon’s neck as she stared at his blank face.
“Jaxon…” Ruby whined softly.
“No,” Jaxon replied. Ruby felt tears prickling in her eyes as she stared at Jaxon with pitiful eyes.
“Jaxon, please. She is all that I have and I would never be happy knowing that she is not completely okay… Please.” Ruby pleaded and Jaxon groaned in annoyance.
“Stop giving me that look and I don’t want to see a single tear falling out of your eyes. Why does she want to stay with us? You know how I feel about people.” Ruby hugged him tightly.
“I promise it won’t be for long. Please just do this one thing for me.” Ruby mumbled into his chest and Jaxon sighed.
“Please,” Ruby whispered and Jaxon tightened his hold around her.
“Promise it won’t be for long?” Jaxon asked.
“I promise,” Ruby whispered
“Okay.” Jaxon was not pleased with the thought of another person invading their private lives but he couldn’t bear to say No to Ruby.
“Thank you! Thank you so much, babe.” Ruby squealed happily as she placed kisses all over his face.