CHRISTIAN
“Uncle Chris!” Regalia squealed as she stood up and ran towards me. I caught her with my left her and put her back in the ground quickly before she started touching me all over.
My dad snorted , I looked at him and his face was serious.
“Where have you been?” Regalia asked.
“I had to take care of something” I said, keeping my voice curt.
“Too busy that you abandoned my soon after smashing his face?” My dad asked angrily.
“Marcellino would be fine. Next time he’d watch his mouth”
The tension between us was like burning wood. I could feel the heat in our state, it’s been years since I saw him, I left his house at such a young age and he didn’t see me for years.
I got a call from him when my company was fully established. He sounded desperate, he wanted to ensure I still remembered him, he didn’t apologize for treating a kid so poorly.
How could I forget him?
The only real people in my life is Jenna and Kylee, everyone else wanted or needed me for survival. Kylee worked for me but she had no other family but me. Jenna was my family and my future, I was starting a family with her.
Right from the beginning, I didn’t need to give her anything in exchange for her love and support.
I have regalia a short nod and I walked out of the living room, I reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped.
Elisa had her hands in Jenna’s hair, she picked some strands and twisted it around her fingers, after than she dug her finger in.
“I could wash it for you” I heard her say.
I did not realize I was frowning until I felt the tension forging in my forehead.
“Don’t worry, I can just do it while I shower. Tell me what my birthday gift is” Jenna said.
“Someone can wait, I’ll give you a clue… What’s so sweet you can’t resist?”
Jenna scoffed.
“Strawberry pound cake?”
“No” Elisa said sharply.
“Hot chocolate?”
Elisa sighed and shook her head.
“No sweetheart, no, no, you don’t have to guess again, you’ll know it when you feel it”
Elisa’s voice was wet and promising in a way that I wouldn’t have mind if she was directing that tone to anyone else but Jenna.
“I’m so eager, I can’t wait” Jenna ran up the stairs and I held back a warning that she should slow down.
Elisa trailed after her but she was slower.
“Elisa?”
She stopped and turned to me. Her eyes darkened.
“Chris ” she whispered, from where she was standing I didn’t hear but I read her lips.
“I overheard, you’re planning a birthday present for Jenna?”
She froze and blinked frantically as if she was clicking her eyeballs and telling her brain to reboot.
“Yes” she admitted rigidly.
“What’s going to be?”
“It’s a surprise” she said.
“Can we surprise her together?” I asked her.
“Oh, Chris. She is turning twenty three and I want to ensure that this time I get her birthday gift right, all by myself. The last birthday gift you have her was bizarre, I have never seen her so happy. I want to do this one alone”
I climbed till were merely just feets away.
“She doesn’t have to know, it’s just going to be me and you picking up gifts”
Her eyes sharpened, as if someone had oiled it and she nodded her head.
“Yes. Please, thank you. Just me and you”
“Good” I said. “When you’re ready to leave tell me”
“Would this evening be good?” She asked.
“Yes ” I said stopping in my tracks. “Why so urgent, her birthday isn’t until next week ”
“The earlier the better ” she said “When would you be free?”
“Anytime after three pm ”
That was that.
We had a deal. If she was going to get something for Jenna, I would supervise it and if it’s stupid or unsafe I would exchange it.
I left her on the stairs and I knocked on Kylee’s bedroom door. She must be worried.
There was no reply. I knocked again and she still didn’t say anything.
Elisa was standing behind me, snooping.
“Josef left her earlier, with his things”
“Did he leave with Kylee?”
“No, he left alone. He looked angry”
“Thank you” I said expecting her to leave but she stood there.
“Kylee, open up it’s me” I said.
I waited a few seconds, I heard footsteps coming from behind the door.
“Christian, I’m kind of occupied right now, can we talk later?”
Jenna opened the door of her bedroom. She was in a robe, it was pale pink and silky. She was in many ways beautiful. My heart was doing a somersault in my chest because she was mine, I was lucky enough to have her. My brain forget place or time and what I saw was only her.
“Going somewhere honey?” Elisa asked breaking the trance that had the both of us staring at each other without blinking.
“Yes, I want something that has citrus in it” Jenna said.
“You can ask Merritt to make orange juice for you” I told her.
She shook her head.
“Not orange juice, something else” she walked past us without looking back once.
Do cravings start this early into pregnancy, if yes then I’m ready to spoil her. What if the baby bump starts showing before we announce the status of our relationship?
The door swung open to reveal a calm and collected Kylee.
Her eyes landed to Elisa and I turned fast enough to see a disappointed look cross Elissa’s eyes.
“Come in?” Kylee asked uncertainty, she looked over at Elisa again but she held the door wider.
Jenna was returning, she was holding a family sized ice cream bowl and only one spoon. It was vanilla not citrus related, was this a pregnancy cravings or not?
“Hey Kylee” she said as a form of greeting and she pushed me aside and entered into Kylee’s bedroom.
I closed the door, shutting Elisa out.
Jenna walked to the bed and sat on the edge, she didn’t wait another heartbeat before pushing her spoon into the ice cream and pulling out a fat greedy scoop.
It was more than amusing to watch her, she didn’t even know what was happening yet. I just couldn’t stop stop smiling, until Kylee’s sobs filled the room.