Emotional

Chapter 6

"What is it baby?" she whispered when he stayed quiet and more tears fell.

"I never wanted to be him. I hated the way he treated them, but I did what he wanted, what was expected of me. I let my mama and my brother down over and over. I never wanted to be him," he cried.

"You're not like him Will. I don't know what he was like, but you're not abusive and you're here for Jay now. You've made amends and you made things right. I bet he never did that."

Will shook his head as Natalie rubbed his cheek. "But I started out treating you awful…" he whispered but Nat stopped him.

"But you stopped and you realized what you were doing. We're fine Will I promise." He pulled her up and kissed her.

"I swear Nat, I'll never intentionally hurt you or Owen. I'd rather die first."

Natalie rubbed his cheek. "I know sweetheart. I know you'd never hurt us." Will nodded as she wiped his eyes.

"I love you Nat," he whispered.

She kissed him hard. "I love you too Will." She curled into him and rubbed his cheek until he fell asleep. There was so much mystery to these brothers, but they were slowly revealing themselves, and there was so much to love about them. Natalie was hopelessly in love with Will, and she was looking forward to spending the rest of forever with him.

/

Jay woke up around three and saw Erin curled up beside him. He had no idea when she got there, but he was glad to see her. He gently brushed the hair off her face and kissed her cheek. "My girl," he whispered.

He loved her more than anything, and he always would. He'd never intentionally hurt her, and he knew right then, Will was right. He wasn't their father, and he never would be. He gently pulled her where her head was laying on his chest and fell back asleep holding her close.

Around seven, Jay awoke again. Erin was still sound asleep. He gently rolled her back on the bed, and he slid down. He carefully pulled her shirt up and looked at the bruise. It was still every shade possible, and he felt really awful about it. He knew, though, that it was truly an accident.

He softly kissed all around it, and he felt her shift a little. He wanted forever with her, and he knew he had to tell her what all this was about. He felt Erin run her fingers through his hair.

"Good morning beautiful," he whispered.

"Morning," she whispered. "You ok?"

Jay smiled; "Yea Er I'm fine I promise." He leaned up and softly kissed her. Erin smiled against his lips. "I'm glad," she whispered.

"I wanna tell you; you deserve to know," he whispered.

Erin ran her fingers through his hair over and over. "Whenever you want Jay, I'll listen."

He nodded. "Let's eat breakfast and then go home." Erin nodded her agreement.

They got up and Will and Nat had breakfast waiting. She'd fed Owen, and he was sitting in his swing watching Will and Nat in the kitchen. Jay knelt down by the swing; "Hey little man," he cooed and Owen cooed back at him.

Erin smiled watching them; he would be a great dad one day and she hoped she was the lucky one that he chose to have kids with. She kissed his cheek as she walked by to go help Will and Nat in the kitchen.

"Everything ok?" Nat asked.

Erin smiled. "Yea everything's ok. We're gonna eat and then go home. He said there was something he wanted to tell me so we'll see." Will and Natalie nodded. They sat down to eat and shared easy conversation over breakfast. They talked about what the girls had done yesterday and stories about things Owen had done. Once they were done, Jay and Erin helped clean up and said their goodbyes.