Undercover Royals

10: Sibling shockers

 When I get home, Celeste and Jesse are already there. Cage looks torn over asking them to leave so that we can talk and prolonging our chat for as long as possible. While he ponders that mental dilemma, I cuddle with the other cutie in the room: Jesse. He seems nice enough, goo-goo gah-gahing at me in the most adorable way. He doesn't hide stuff, like Mr Garrison, he doesn't hate me like Kalvin... he's just perfect.

So much like Cage. The little cutie even has his charm, no doubt he'll be streamlining women from an early age; hell, he's even got Cage's nose and facial structure! Poor Celeste, she's gonna catch hell with this kid soon.

"Angel," says Cage, "Do we need to talk?"

Not glancing away from Jesse, I shake my head, "No, just avoid him and we'll be fine."

"You-" he stutters, at a loss for words, "but what about your...?"

"Relationship?" I ask, cocking my head at him.

He throws himself back into the couch, his hands splayed in the air in an exasperated gesture. "Well at least you can admit it!"

Placing Jesse calmly into his mother's hands I lean closer to him, "What the hell does that mean?" I demand.

"You don't admit things." He snaps, "It's what you do."

"Oh," I say, injecting false humour into my voice, "Just like you admitted that you loved a girl enough to marry her and mom and dad made her go away."

He jumps out of his chair and prowls over to me, "You don't have the right to say that!"

"Did you love her?"

"Yes."

I shove him back, "I loved him. And I didn't keep it bottled up for six years and then move continents away with a conveniently set up bank account and hitch a woman with a five year old... so don't tell me how to run my goddamn life!"

His eyes dart to Celeste then back to me, he doesn't even look mad at me for outing his past girl to his present one. Odd. He looks guilty... he looks just like Jesse.

The anger falls from me and I go numb.

"The girl from six years ago..." I trail off as he watches hesitantly, "Her name is Celeste isn't it?"

"I wanted to tell you." he buts in, "I was planning to take you here with me, I know how much you hated it in England."

"And Jesse?" I hiss, "You think I'm an idiot? He looks just like you! Don't you think I can add?!"

"I didn't want you to know." Says Celeste.

My head snaps to her. "Why?"

She stammers and glances at Jesse and then at Cage, "When I realized that you were my brother's new partner, I didn't want it slipping out to him. He thinks that the father abandoned me once he realized I was pregnant; and he doesn't care to hear anything else."

My eyes narrow. If this is true, then I could be forgiven... "So what really happened?"

"After your parents ran me out of England, I realized that Jesse had come into being and I sent a letter to Cage. He replied a few days later, to my address in America that he would be coming over soon, possibly with you." she says, at least Cage would have offered to let me tag along... which is more than I did for him when I escaped. "But Ruspin realized that I was pregnant and concocted a story that made Cage the bad guy. He said that if he ever found out who fathered the child he'd annihilate them, so I told Cage to stay away. Things have finally calmed... and I was just being selfish; I didn't want to ruin our happiness."