JADE

Chapter 43

Chapter 43
December 16, 2024

Every now and then, small bits of my memory comes back to me in flashbacks. They all seem to be memories of my sons and happy memories of Braxton. It's been a month since I last saw Braxton, I cannot recall any of the abusive things he has done to me. No one mentions it because that's the reason why I was in therapy in the first place.

Shane is here almost every day to talk to me and just hang out. In my brain, I couldn't see him in a romantic way, only in a friendly way. He has tried to make passes at me, try to kiss me but I dodge it. The other day I told him the truth, I no longer saw myself being in a relationship with him. The look in his eyes made me feel terrible. I'm glad I told him either way, I didn't want to live a lie. He understands and is willing to be friends but I know that won't stay that way.

Dawson loves Shane as if he was his father, always playing with him and being close. I didn't know about Braxton, I would love to be with him again. I think about it every day, all the things we used to do together now it's gone. My brother says that Dawson despises Braxton more than anything else on this earth, I don't understand what I'm going to do.

I glanced outside from the window in my room. The whole property was covered in white snow as well as the trees. Dawson wanted to go out and build a snowman but the snow wasn't strong enough for that. It would have fallen apart in his hands if he tried to make a snowball. I yawned loudly into my hand, it was around 5 p. m. and I was exhausted. I haven't been able to sleep the past couple of nights and the reason remains unknown. I would twist and turn, trying to get comfortable but would never succeed. My thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Was someone supposed to come over today? The only other people in the house was me, the boys, Xavier, Jackson and Shane. My brother and Jackson refuse to leave the house, they didn't want me to be alone.

I moved away from the window and went to open the door. Braxton stood in a hoodie that was sleeveless and a pair of jeans. It was freezing outside, how could he possibly wear that? I didn't even like opening the front door. That's the one downside of New Jersey, the winters were wicked. The school would close so often due to the ice on the road which caused the kids to stay in school until late June. He grinned at me as his bare arms enclosed me in a wonderful hug. Being in his arms again felt so right and I had missed the sensation. "Jade is it alright if I eat the-" Xavier started to say while holding a container of food until he saw Braxton. He stopped in the middle of his sentence and stood there in shock after dropping the food which made a loud bang. His eyes were concentrated on my husband for quite some time.

He finally spoke again, "what the actual fuck is going on? Jade, did you poison me? Am I seeing things, I didn't take any shrooms-" I cut Xavier before he confused himself even further.

Instead, Braxton decided to joke around with my brother. "I'm actually here, Xavier. Sad to see me?" He teased and walked up to him then gave him a bro hug. Xavier stood completely still, not knowing what to do. So many thoughts were flowing through his head, he couldn't piece the situation together.

"Of course I'm happy to see you, just very shocked. You are supposed to be 6 feet under for over 6 months," Xavier stated. My husband let out a small laugh until he saw another body appear in the doorway.

"Let me guess, this is Shane?" Braxton asked me. I nodded. He walked over to him and stuck his hand out to shake Shane's hand. "Nice to meet you, Shane. You probably know me, Braxton, Jade's husband."

My ex-boyfriend's face scrunched up in confusion. "I was told you were dead. If I would have known you were still around I wouldn't have dated her. I'm sorry." Shane apologized to Braxton who was much taller than him.