The Kings IV II

48

Josie

"Thank you guys for letting me stay for a few nights," Cecilia said, smiling as she placed Lily on the ground.

"Of course," Dad said, "I think of you as one of my own. You're welcome to stay as long as you need."

I grabbed one of Cecilia's bags, excitedly leading her to the staircase. "We can either have a sleepover-"

"Josie, I think you forget I have a child now," she laughed out.

I shrugged. "I don't care. She can join us."

Cecilia laughed and followed me upstairs, making me place her bags in my room. I bit down on my lip and fell back on my bed, leaning back on my hands.

Cecilia wasn't Cecilia. Even her laughs were a little broken, and her smiles weren't as radiant as before.

"You okay?" I softly asked, biting down on my lip.

"I still can't understand what exactly it was I did so wrong," she said, keeping her eyes lowered to her hands.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Cecilia. You're proof that you can literally bend over backwards, break your fucking back, and an easy man will still cheat."

She shrugged, shaking her head. "I-I guess I thought differently of him."

"Are you, like, seriously ending things?" I asked.

She sighed. "I don't know. I mean, we have Lily. It's not as easy when there's a child involved. And it was once."

"As far as you know," I deadpanned.

Her eyes met mine, making me shrug. "I'd trust him about as far as I can see."

She let out a heavy sigh and placed her hands in her back pockets, shrugging. "I-I don't know. I'm hoping I'll get some clarity, being away from him."

"Well, if you're looking to, like, forgive him, I'm not the person you need to surround yourself with," I muttered, lifting my eyebrows.

She laughed, nodding. "Yeah, I can see that."

I stood up, hooking arms with her. "Come downstairs. I made you some lemonade."

"You made lemonade?"

"Don't sound so excited," I deadpanned, earning a giggle from her.

We walked downstairs and saw Dad sitting at the piano, Lily sitting next to him. Cecilia smiled and walked over to the pair, pressing a kiss to Lily's cheek. "Grandpa Fred playing piano for you?"

I bursted out into laughter, earning Dad's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa and Fred in the same sentence makes you sound like you're, like, a thousand years old."

He rolled his eyes and stood up. "Well, Lily, it was nice knowing you."

I laughed, my laughter dying down when Henry jogged upstairs. His eyes lit up and he opened his arms. "I didn't know you'd be here so early."

Cecilia walked into his hug, grimacing at his obviously sweaty body. "Hi."

"Sorry," he laughed, "I-I'm sweaty."

"I wouldn't have known if you wouldn't have told me," she said, nodding up at him.

He shot her a sarcastic smile, walking over to me. "Cordelia and I are meeting for lunch."

"So I need to beat a bitch up today," I said, nodding up at him.

He laughed, shaking his head. "No. She apparently wants to talk. We'll see how that goes."